Gasoline versus diesel

[4570Man]

I like using my diesel mower a lot more than my gas one. It’s quieter and just works better. It saves me probably $20 a day in straight up fuel cost. Then considering the diesel mower has enough on board storage to mow all day and gas doesn’t and requires gas cans pushes the gap farther apart. Gas cans are a hassle to deal with and get stolen.

 

[joecoin]

Solution!
Don't live where it is cold!

Now why didn't I think of that!

 

[wesp521984]

I didn't read all of the post, it sort of went off into the weeds when he said that both gas and diesel have their advantages. What advantage does a gas engine have over a diesel when working on the land? The reason there are no modern gasoline tractors is because of the simple fact that a diesel engine is far superior at developing the most power at the ideal RPM's needed for tractor related work.

You should have. He was speaking in reference to BCS 2 wheel tractors. The Honda GX 390 gas has more power and torque than the equivalent diesel offering.

 

[Jens767]

Hi Andrew

Thank you for your positive comments!

You are absolutely right about operating temperatures being an important factor to consider when deciding which engine type to choose. Other considerations might be the price and availability of a particular fuel, and whether you have other engines using a particular type of fuel already. A friend of mine is a gardener, and although he uses his 2-wheel tractor a lot, he chose one with a gasoline engine, as he has several of those already, and didn't want a second type of fuel to worry about.

Most of us probably only have either a gasoline or a diesel powered tractor, but as you have both, it could be interesting to hear what kind of experience you have regarding their power and performance. If your diesel engine has a lower power rating than your gasoline one, it would be especially interesting to hear if it feels more powerful in spite of that, confirming my point on engine elasticity.


Best regards

Jens

 

[Jens767]

Hi Ford850

Thank you very much for your replies, and my apology for being so late with my comments

I am familiar with Earth Tools very professional and informative homepage. - By far the best homepage from any 2-wheel tractor dealer that I have ever seen! In fact, studying Earth Tools homepage in 2011 when I was looking for a 2-wheel tractor myself, had a big influence on my decision to go for a BCS tractor, and not one of the many other brands available here. The same goes for my decision to get a Zanon mower, as Joel often praise these mowers for their heavy-duty built quality, and many useful design features. After more than 8 years, I am still very pleased with both

I guess that when most of us talk about gasoline engines versus diesel, we like to praise the low end torque of the diesel engine as one of its user-friendly features, on top of its much lower fuel consumption of course. After 25 years driving gasoline powered cars, I switched to diesel 20 years ago - and I simply love driving diesel

Most of us probably have the same experience as the one that Joel describes on his homepage, i. e. that a diesel engine with a lower power rating than a comparable gasoline engine, performs as well or even better at low engine speeds; presumably due to more low-end torque.

This might in many cases also be correct and what we might expect, and thats why I was so surprised to find out that when comparing the Honda GX390 gasoline engine with the Kohler KD440 diesel, this is not the case! (See the torque- and power curves I my original post)

As the torque curves shows, the gasoline engine does not only have the highest torque at rated engine speed (3600 rpm), but all the way down to the lower end of the torque curve at 2000 rpm! If the diesel engine should have had more torque at low engine speed, the torque curves had to cross at some point, right, but they don't. This might happen below 2000 rpm though, which is outside the recommended operating speed range of the gasoline engine.

As i tried to say in my original post, I think that we often talk about low-end torque, when we should actually be talking about engine elasticity.


Best regards

Jens

 

[Ford850]

Hi Jens767,
I had a BCS 605 with a Briggs Vanguard 12hp gas that I used hard for 24 years. I liked that engine with plenty of power, but especially liked that I could use it for trailering and light sulky use with it idled way down. Idled down, it was very quiet. But I wanted to replace it with a new BCS 830. I really wanted a diesel to make sense for me, since I have a diesel tractor and 2 diesel Grasshopper mowers. But the Honda GX390 made more sense for me, and how I use the BCS. I did get the new 830 a few months ago, and I really like this gas engine and the 830 overall. More than enough power and the engine purrs at lower RPMs. I'll see how it works with blowing snow in a couple more months.