BCS with Yanmar Diesel?

[Shrew_Gardens]

Anyone have a BCS 853 with a Yanmar Diesel?

I have a gas 749 that it great but I wonder about the diesel, especially since I got a diesel compact utility tractor for some heavy landscaping -it’s been great.

I have read numerous threads re the difference between the engine types -including hard starting in the cold, which is definitely a consideration- but haven’t seen much about the Yanmar powered units specifically. Anyone have any comments?

Thanks
SG

 

[bmaverick]

Anyone have a BCS 853 with a Yanmar Diesel?

I have a gas 749 that it great but I wonder about the diesel, especially since I got a diesel compact utility tractor for some heavy landscaping -it’s been great.

I have read numerous threads re the difference between the engine types -including hard starting in the cold, which is definitely a consideration- but haven’t seen much about the Yanmar powered units specifically. Anyone have any comments?

Thanks
SG

You are asking about this,

FWIW, the price is a bit high, even for this old ad. I wouldn't want to see the price today,

Vermont BCS Professional 853D 10hp Yanmar Diesel Roto Tiller

BCS Professional 853D 10hp Yanmar Diesel 2-wheel tractor with 30" RotoTiller attachment

www.newhavenpower.com

 

[5030]

I was under the impression that they came with a Hatch diesel, not Yanmar.

Whatever they came with, the price of the diesel would increase the cost substantially.

You could always retrofit however. I know Hatch sells their single cylinder diesels even today. Not sure about Yanmar however.

 

[Jrasband]

You can retrofit a diesel pretty easily. I have run both and for a 2 wheel tractor it's great but not worth swapping a running gas engine for.

 

[arto98607]

I was under the impression that they came with a Hatch diesel, not Yanmar.

Whatever they came with, the price of the diesel would increase the cost substantially.

You could always retrofit however. I know Hatch sells their single cylinder diesels even today. Not sure about Yanmar however.

There are Yanmar clones selling pretty cheap, but anyone buying one of those should probably be mechanically inclined and prepared to work on them sooner or later...

eBay:
10 hp clone

Lots of discussions about small air cooled Diesels here on TractorByNet:
Forum for air cooled diesel engines and clones

 

[5030]

I suspect BCS dropped the diesel motor simply because of the cost. The Honda motor is much less expensive and reflects in the asking price. Having said that and my bad experience with Honda engines, I would never purchase anything that is Honda powered.

 

[bmaverick]

There are Yanmar clones selling pretty cheap, but anyone buying one of those should probably be mechanically inclined and prepared to work on them sooner or later...

eBay:
10 hp clone

Lots of discussions about small air cooled Diesels here on TractorByNet:
Forum for air cooled diesel engines and clones

I monitor the air cooled diesel engine thread too. I have like a zillion manuals for them.

Some clones are better than others, but their fit/form/function is lacking a good deal to have miss timing or too much soot or air sucked into with the fuel. Clone gaskets are the worse. LOL

I was under the impression that they came with a Hatch diesel, not Yanmar.

Whatever they came with, the price of the diesel would increase the cost substantially.

You could always retrofit however. I know Hatch sells their single cylinder diesels even today. Not sure about Yanmar however.

Both Yanmar and the 3rd party repower/rebuilt Yanmar engines are sold separately from any machine too.

 

[bmaverick]

Or just get a Yanmar 2-wheel tractor and still use the BCS attachments.

Yanmar MRT6DX or other models

Anyone here have a Yanmar 2-wheeled tractor? If I had to get one, the Yanmar has these really neat structural steel wheels for all kinds of muddy fields to work in.

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[Shrew_Gardens]

thanks for the replies, the unit I’m looking at is very lightly used and the price is really excellent

I’m a pretty limited mechanic for things beyond general maintenance and adjustments but my nephew is a diesel mechanic and was encouraging when I asked him about trying one

I’m mostly wondering whether people like them or find they are not as useful for some applications such as mowing

 

[2manyrocks]

If I came around a lightly used BCS/yanmar at an excellent price, I'd be inclined to buy it.

The gas engine models were less expensive to buy and probably lighter. I'm not sure that any diesel engine option is now available on new BCS. Didn't look at all the options, but what I did see was a choice between Honda gas or Briggs Vangard gas.

 

[bmaverick]

I’m mostly wondering whether people like them or find they are not as useful for some applications such as mowing

only for mowing with a beast being more capable ???

 

[bmaverick]

Want to know why BCS time with Yanmar was short lived, it's because of Kohler pulling a fast one.

Read the BCS history records in the early 2000s here, the real reasons why the company totally changed,

https://www.earthtools.com/pdf/Walk-behind-(ET)-History.pdf

 

[2manyrocks]

I've never seen that history before. Very interesting and worthwhile reading. Thank you very much for posting it.

 

[bmaverick]

I wish I had a Yanmar 2-wheel tractor. There are things I can not do with the compact utility tractor a 2-wheeler can do.

For awhile, a company in Portland, OR and another in Wenatchee, WA imported the Yanmar 960 machines in. These turn up at estate sales and auctions on the west coast.

 

[2manyrocks]

Apparently, the Chinese still make clones of these, but I don't know where you'd get one in the USA.

 

[Shrew_Gardens]

Want to know why BCS time with Yanmar was short lived, it's because of Kohler pulling a fast one.

Read the BCS history records in the early 2000s here, the real reasons why the company totally changed,

https://www.earthtools.com/pdf/Walk-behind-(ET)-History.pdf

Thank you for posting this link. It doesn’t particularly make me want to pursue the Yanmar engine.

 

[2manyrocks]

You could call Joel at Earth Tools and ask his opinion.

 

[bmaverick]

Thank you for posting this link. It doesn’t particularly make me want to pursue the Yanmar engine.

Well, the Yanmar engines are super easy to work on and very robust for longevity. Parts are easy to obtain globally no matter where you are in the world. Yanmar is heavy in both Ag and Marine. Either dealer for Ag or Marine will carry parts if needed, even 40 years out of production.

With Kohler engines, when something is out-of-production, good luck.

 

[oughtsix]

You could call Joel at Earth Tools and ask his opinion.

I recall him saying in one of his videos that the torque of the Diesel engines are great but the noise and smell of small diesel engines makes gasoline engines nicer to work with.

 

[arto98607]

..............snip...........

With Kohler engines, when something is out-of-production, good luck.

So far I've had no problems getting spare parts for 1976 Kohler K341 engine on my old lawn tractor!