What size Deere engine are you installing?

This has not yet been finalyzed. We are looking at a variety of engines.

I'm considering one of the newer electronic engines from Deere as well. The negatives on this is that I will need to carry a spare ECU and the engine will need power to run.

The positives are improved diagnosics, better fuel economy, much less soot, and redundancy in gauges (Raytheon's E series display will be able to take data from the engine and display primary data as well as fuel economy/usage) This will be a back up to the mechanical gauges. And I will not need a separate fuel usage meter.

My concern with Deere's 4 cylinder engines is that the horsepower in M1 rating is a little low (100hp). The M1 rating is the RPM that Deere recomends for continuous use (there is a little more to it than that but you get the idea.) When most people look at the 4 rating in hp they quote the M4 or 5 rating at 140-150hp which is only for short duration use. The 6 cylinder is substantially larger. It is available only in turbocharged form not NA.

Hugh

Hugh

Hugh

You can still get a 6-cyl Perkins N/A engine non-electronic I believe. It was the engine I was going to use until I discovered it would take up too much room on the 462. I don't think you have space limitations on the sedan

Has anyone thought about one of the rebuilt Gardner's they are offering now? I would think a rebuilt or re-con Gardner would be at least as good as or a better bet than a new electronically controlled domestic engine.
Just my .02.

John

John,

Nobody argues with the reliability of the Gardner's but when you buy rebuilt you can never really be sure. Also, these engines are going to be harder and harder to find good service locations and get spare parts.

The perkins engine is good but it has the dry cylinder liners, which means you have to remove the engine to rebuild it, and the hp curve isn't much different than the hp curve of the Deere Turbo 4(also a mechanical governor). The slow turning diesels handle turbo's pretty well so the real risk isn't the long term wear, as that is offset by the cheaper install and rebuild costs, but the reliability of the turbos.

Caterpillar does have an NA 6 but it is a fair amount larger and the fuel consumption goes up as does the cost.

I'm waiting for Bill's reccomendations. If I get more comfortable with the HP curve of the Deere engines (ie does it have enough in reserve for really nasty situations) the decision might be more between the non certified mechanical governors and the Tier II engines, 4 or 6 cylinders.

Another issue is how much more does the Sedan weigh than the standard duck. The specs on-line have them weighing about the same but I doubt that can be true. I would guess that the Sedan will weigh 8%-12% more empty.

The engine decision is probably at least 3-6 months off.

Hugh