Diesel Powered Mowers

[The Cleaning Doctor]

Originally Posted by dpld off road diesel is the same as home heating oil and it has the dye in it as well as it is not nearly as clean as the diesel fuel plus home heating ol cost about the same so combine that with running dirtier fuel through your machine you are better off running the real diesel fuel. until i switched my home over to natural gas i only used diesel fuel for my furnace over the conventional home heating oil and as a result i got double the time per tankfull as well as my furnaces efficency was a lot higher and my maintenance was almost eliminated compared to the crap they sell as #2 home heating oil. That is like comparing apple to oranges. Those are 2 totally different technologies as far as combustion. One requires and ignition source that does not burn as clean (I used to repair boilers) while the other burns more completely because of the sealed chamber and the compression of the fuel air mixture.

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[dpld]

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Originally Posted by The Cleaning Doctor That is like comparing apple to oranges. Those are 2 totally different technologies as far as combustion. One requires and ignition source that does not burn as clean (I used to repair boilers) while the other burns more completely because of the sealed chamber and the compression of the fuel air mixture. i was not compareing natural gas to diesel i was comparing diesel fuel to #2 heating oil. i only reffered to the natural gas because i recently switched over to it when they ran the line down my street and i was speaking of the diesel and #2 heating oil as in past tense as far as heating my home. as far as the diesel and #2 heating oil or otherwise known as off road diesel the #2 fuel oil is much dirtier and there is obviously a reason for that. a diesel engine can not run as efficiently off of #2 because of the impurities in it and as a result will cause problems for the diesel engine mainly the injector pump and injectors by running it long term whereas the oil burner furnace can tolerate the impurities but even the oil burner can benefit and run more efficiently off of the diesel fuel. also the #2 oil has a dye in it that causes a blue smoke to appear in the exaust to tip off law enforcement that you are running the #2 in your vehicle to avoid the road taxes which will result in impounding the vehicle and heavy fines and that dye also causes excessive soot build up in the burner plentum.

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Last edited by dpld; 02-23-2012 at 02:31 PM.

[picframer]

Originally Posted by dpld

i was not compareing natural gas to diesel i was comparing diesel fuel to #2 heating oil.

i only reffered to the natural gas because i recently switched over to it when they ran the line down my street and i was speaking of the diesel and #2 heating oil as in past tense as far as heating my home.

as far as the diesel and #2 heating oil or otherwise known as off road diesel the #2 fuel oil is much dirtier and there is obviously a reason for that.
a diesel engine can not run as efficiently off of #2 because of the impurities in it and as a result will cause problems for the diesel engine mainly the injector pump and injectors by running it long term whereas the oil burner furnace can tolerate the impurities but even the oil burner can benefit and run more efficiently off of the diesel fuel.

also the #2 oil has a dye in it that causes a blue smoke to appear in the exaust to tip off law enforcement that you are running the #2 in your vehicle to avoid the road taxes which will result in impounding the vehicle and heavy fines and that dye also causes excessive soot build up in the burner plentum.

I was confused by this comment as I have since I was a kid interchanged furnace oil with off road diesel for diesel tractors, I was always told they were the same, so I asked a long time friend who owns a fuel depot (Esso), he has been in the business for 36 years, he said they are the same although he did however state that the refining process here in Canada is very different than the USA, it could well be that the furnace oil in your state is not refined as much as it is here.

What got me to thinking about this is I have a diesel generator here at home, installed it I believe in 1996, the fuel for it is supplied from a T off my furnace oil barrel (located outside the house), it does a weekly test so it does see quite a few hours of use over the year, we also tend to loose power at least three times a year, I have run off the generator for a max of 5 days, generally it's less than 24 hours.

The engine is a Yanmar, other than changing the oil and fuel filter once a year, I have never touch it.

Here is an article on the various grades.

http://www.enviroharvest.ca/dieselvsheating.htm

[dpld]

Originally Posted by picframer

I was confused by this comment as I have since I was a kid interchanged furnace oil with off road diesel for diesel tractors, I was always told they were the same, so I asked a long time friend who owns a fuel depot (Esso), he has been in the business for 36 years, he said they are the same although he did however state that the refining process here in Canada is very different than the USA, it could well be that the furnace oil in your state is not refined as much as it is here.

What got me to thinking about this is I have a diesel generator here at home, installed it I believe in 1996, the fuel for it is supplied from a T off my furnace oil barrel (located outside the house), it does a weekly test so it does see quite a few hours of use over the year, we also tend to loose power at least three times a year, I have run off the generator for a max of 5 days, generally it's less than 24 hours.

The engine is a Yanmar, other than changing the oil and fuel filter once a year, I have never touch it.

Here is an article on the various grades.

http://www.enviroharvest.ca/dieselvsheating.htm

well being in the united states and you being in canada i would not have a clue as to what the differences are if any at all.

both fuels are the same with the exception of the dyes and impurities.
pretty much in a nutshell, the #2 oil is the bottom of the barrel and the obvious differences between a diesel engine and a furnace are vast but the furnace is more tolerent of the swill that goes through it then the engine is.

but with that said anytime you have a cleaner grade of fuel it will burn longer and cleaner regardless of how it is used even if it were burned in a can.
for me i was not satisfied with buying the #2 oil because being it had more inert properties in it you were only getting about 75 to 80% real fuel compared to the good grade and as i said i got more bang for the buck by just useing the quality grade.
the easiest way to see the difference is put some diesel and #2 oil in two different clear glass jars and the diesel is golden and translucent and the #2 is dark and merky with all kinds of swill floating around and if you let the #2 settle out you will see all kinds of crud on the bottom.
i have a 200 gal fuel cell in the back of my truck with a pump and nozzle on it so it was easy for me to drive to the station and fill it up and drive home and transfer it into my home heating oil tank.

obviously most people don't have that option and being i did i took advantage of it.
i have a lot of good freinds that are mechanics and two of them are diesel mechanics on big rigs and they concur with my opinion and that solidified my original thoughts.

as far as diesel engines go, they are great motors and do have less parts but at the same time they are very expensive to fix and the heart and sole of the engine is the injector pump as well as the injectors and if they get screwed up your engine will not run properly and just like," we are what we eat " the same holds true for a diesel engine.
my main reason for even getting into this part of the debate was to convey to anyone who chooses to use a diesel equipted peice of equipment and spend that extra money was to spare themselves the trouble of saving a few bucks on cheap fuel because in the long run they will not get the optimum efficiency out of the motor as well as cause themselves some mechanical related issues with the engine that will result in unwanted repairs as well as more fuel filter costs and oil changes.

[B-2 Lawncare]

Originally Posted by thegroundscrew

I have a 2005 diesel truck that has a 140 miles on it and it continues to run like a charm. I also have a 2011 diesel that is just bar none the best ditruck out there. I love diesel because they last forever and that is why I only buy diesel trucks. I think all gas trucks should go away and make everything diesel.

But to get to the point. I have heard about diesel engines in mowers and I only know of Grass Hopper having a few diesel but there are no dealers in my area. I wanted to ask you guys a few questions regarding diesels in mowers.

What companies are using diesel mowers?
Is diesel in mowers a good choice (as I'm guessing they will last forever)?
Are they comparable in price of gas mowers?
And in general what are all your thoughts or experience using diesel powered mowers?

1 what I would look at is who is going to take care of you.
2 yes the diesel motors will last longer, but you are still using the same mowing platform as a commercial gas mower.
3 yes they are comparable to gas.
4 we run tractors both gas and diesel, but come winter the gas tractors get parked and the diesel tractor get changed over to snow removal. If all I was going to do was mow I would only buy gas, because of the price.

[The Cleaning Doctor]

Originally Posted by dpld

i was not compareing natural gas to diesel i was comparing diesel fuel to #2 heating oil.

Neither was I. I was talking about the combustion in a boiler as compared to a diesel engine.

[dpld]

Originally Posted by The Cleaning Doctor

Neither was I. I was talking about the combustion in a boiler as compared to a diesel engine.

well then, i was not comparing the combustion proccess of either of the two i was talking about the differences on how one fuel burns better and more efficiently then the other as well as the differences of how the dirtier fuel will effect a engine.

a diesel engine has so much compression that it can ignite coal dust in the cylinder chamber but you would not want to run that through your injector pump either.

[musimowing & more inc.]

Originally Posted by thegroundscrew

I have a 2005 diesel truck that has a 140 miles on it and it continues to run like a charm. I also have a 2011 diesel that is just bar none the best diesel truck out there. I love diesel because they last forever and that is why I only buy diesel trucks. I think all gas trucks should go away and make everything diesel.

But to get to the point. I have heard about diesel engines in mowers and I only know of Grass Hopper having a few diesel but there are no dealers in my area. I wanted to ask you guys a few questions regarding diesels in mowers.

What companies are using diesel mowers?
Is diesel in mowers a good choice (as I'm guessing they will last forever)?
Are they comparable in price of gas mowers?
And in general what are all your thoughts or experience using diesel powered mowers?

Check out the Walker Super B MBSY - they have a new out front mower with a rear discharge / mulching deck with a YANMAR DIESEL ENGING. Purchased last year and with just over 200 hours on it, still runs like brand new and just sips the fuel.

[thegroundscrew]

Great post so far. It appears that their are mixed feelings about diesel powered mowers. I'm still thinking whether I follow through on purchasing a diesel. My uncle runs diesel for his trucks and he actually makes it himself. He can make 60 gallons a batch which takes 24 hours to make. He said it only costs him 70 cents a gallon. I did some research on making your own diesel fuel and this is a machine you can buy for only $1,500. All you need to do is get all the material required and mix it (most importantly get the oil). But i can go around many restaurants in the area and get their oil. I know at the golf course i work at they have 15 gallons of oil a week. Here is what a biodiesel processor looks like http://www.saferwholesale.com/Search...&Submit=Search.

What are all your thoughts on this?

[dpld]

Originally Posted by thegroundscrew

Great post so far. It appears that their are mixed feelings about diesel powered mowers. I'm still thinking whether I follow through on purchasing a diesel. My uncle runs diesel for his trucks and he actually makes it himself. He can make 60 gallons a batch which takes 24 hours to make. He said it only costs him 70 cents a gallon. I did some research on making your own diesel fuel and this is a machine you can buy for only $1,500. All you need to do is get all the material required and mix it (most importantly get the oil). But i can go around many restaurants in the area and get their oil. I know at the golf course i work at they have 15 gallons of oil a week. Here is what a biodiesel processor looks like http://www.saferwholesale.com/Search...&Submit=Search.

What are all your thoughts on this?

a lot of people have jumped on that wagon so getting the used cooking oil may become a little tricky.

and the mower as you buy it will need to be modified slightly for the use of bio-diesel and if purchasing new you might want to see if it will need to be modified as well as if it will affect the warranty.

we have a huge senior development by me that has about 3,000 units and it is so big they have their own bank,church,temple and several resturaunts and the in house maintnence for the grounds has a proccessor for the bio-fuel and they use the stuff exclusively.
it works out well for them because they get 250 gallons of oil a week and they always have plenty but it also serves them well because before they made their own fuel they had to deal with the issue of getting rid of the oil so for them the benefit is two fold.