Welcome to a great forum:thumbsup:...
If you have the chance to get the diesel engine... You will soon know the advantages of diesel.
The initial cost of the better engine will eventually pay itself out in greater fuel economy and long life dependency... If you are going going to keep this machine for a long time OR if you are going to put a lot of hours on it... you will not regret getting diesel...
Having said that there are times that you simply will not be able to justify the price difference... But if you can you will really come to appreciate a diesel... :smile:KennyV
Hi there,
when it comes to little diesel engines, the
benefits arent always as great. The air cooled
units are noisy, hard on starters, and generally
short lived if they have an aluminium block.
I wouldn't touch one without cast steel or
nodular iron block, water cooling spreads the
heat load from the extreme high compression
area down the bore and rigid head to crank
support is vital. Thin cast aluminium just doesn't
cut it, even with iron liners. Kubota make a few
mowers with three cylinder engines and they are
superb. I've seen lightweight aluminium diesels
fail catastrophically in under a thousand hours,
one on a logsplitter cracked the block in
100 hours. I'd stick with petrol under 20 hp,
and proper diesel over 20.
I would say it depends on if you are lucky..
I have a 1985 430 John Deere with a Yanmar diesel and it has been trouble free.
I have a 1986 John Deere with a gas Kawasaki and it has been trouble free.
I bought a Grasshopper with the Kubota diesel and at 880 hours it was running poor and pouring black smoke. I took it to a diesel service shop and they charged me $440.00 for new injectors.
I brought it home and tried to mow with it but it still smoked bad.
I called the diesel service shop and they said I would have to rebuild the pump at a cost of $1200.00
I knew that I could rebuild a gas engine for that so I traded it for a new 725 Grasshopper with 72'' deck and a water cooled Kubota, 20 years later it is still going.
Factor the extra cost plus the high cost of repairs and you will not save enough in fuel to ever get your money back unless you get lucky with the diesel.
Diesel fuel cost more than gas with such a small engine the savings is very small.
Most want to compare a diesel to a air cooled engine when talking about engine life but a good water cooled gas engine will run for years and you won't need to take out a second mortgage to pay for it.
If for some reason you do decide to go diesel, display the word DIESEL prominently near your fuel fill. Please don't ask why I know this 1400 dollar education.:wink::frown:
If for some reason you do decide to go diesel, display the word DIESEL prominently near your fuel fill. Please don't ask why I know this 1400 dollar education.:wink::frown:
Your right... Diesel Injector pumps do not like gasoline... :smile:KennyV
#8
scott47429
i know the diesels are better engines but once its out of warranty there alot more to repair when something goes wrong if your not able to do it yourself and i can't see where you would save that much in fuel to pay for the extra cost of the engine and repair cost but as far as engine life yeah it will last and have alot of power but it would take alot to convince me to buy it over gas i have a diesel truck and i love it but if i had it to do over again i wouldn't pay the extra price they cost
