gas or kerosene

[Kenh 37]

Referring to this post about gas or kerosene operation http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=88009 I didn't know one of these engines could run on kero. What are the advantages/disadvantages on doing this????

[Dark 0]

Not all engines have a movable mounting bracket. offset keys work best for this purpose race engines use a #5 offset I would expect that anything between standard and #5 would be applicable Kero burns hotter so does racing fuel the offset changes the timing so that detonation (spark ping) doesn't occur. I have seen engines that run gasoline and diesel mixed and have the same key set changed for this same reason

[PatRarick 1]

Economy was the main reason for running on kerosene. Kerosene was a lot cheaper than gasoline. An engine that was set up to run kerosene from the factory came with a two compartment fuel tank. A small compartment held gasoline for starting and the larger compartment held kerosene for running. You started the engine on gasoline and switched to kerosene when the engine reached operating temperature. Kerosene required less compression. Two head gaskets were used to reduce the compression ratio. Farm tractors were also built to run on kerosene. These had either a two compartment fuel tank, or a separate, small fuel tank for gasoline. They used lower compression heads. As Mark stated, kerosene burns hotter than gasoline. Some tractors utilized water injection into the intake manifold to cool the combustion.

[B.Ikard 2]

Also in this application keep in mind you will lose considerable power. Brent

[moseed 0]

As I understand it "Old Timers" would commonly opt for Kerosene on motors if they were stationary power units (pumps, grinders etc.)for economy as well as wear. Apparently the valves and rings last longer with Kerosene as long as engine oil was changed out according to specs. The Kerosene mode would decrease available power by 20-30% when compared to gasoline. I am no expert but the fellows I visit with are pretty good.

[GregB 934]

Of course with Clear Kerosene running at the same price as regular Gasoline, there is not much reason to switch an engine over. Here in Lancaster PA, Kero runs $2.99/gallon. Regular unleaded $2.99-3.02/gal. GregB

[JimDk 0]

Here is a tractor designed to run on kero or distillate tractor fuel. It is a nice Rumley Oil Pull owned and restored by George Enggeser from our Pioneer Club. Here he is hooked to the pulling sled. It pulled quite well for a steel wheeled tractor. It also does a great job belted up to our saw mill. The Oil Pull used oil in the radiator so they could run higher engine temps.

[Kenh 37]

Many years ago I took a small engine class at Bemidgi State U in Bemidgi MN. They had a “glass” engine that used no oil. You could see everything move and watch the combustion process. I got the thing running on Kero and water. Was supposed to be 1/3 HP but I was pulling about ½ Hp on the built in dyno. I kind of got in trouble for that cause the instructor said that it ran to hot on that mix and would have a melt down. He said I was lucky. The darn thing would run on anything you could throw at it that would catch on fire!! I forgot all about the above until Pat mentioned the water injection.