Or production tractors propane powered. NOT converted but manufactured to run on propane.
Are there any "PROPANE" powered ATV's or UTV's current production..??
- Thread starter Sourdough
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'New technology' lol!
They were all over the place in the mid-late 70's. I worked on several.
Farmers figured out that if they had that big silver tank that 'the guy' kept filled, they didn't have to make trips to town and mess with no stinky diesel cans, they just needed a hose
.Here's your 'new technology'
:
Yes, that is 'factory', and yes, I worked on ones just like that
.
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Propane cars rock.
What's old is new again?
Another "new" technology is no-till farming.
Another "new" technology is no-till farming.
Most north american farm tractor manufacturers had propane tractors in the era that S 42 mentioned.
there is very little difference in the engine, higher compression is nice to take advantage of the higher octane, and higher flow cylinder heads help a bunch because of the pure vapour fuel stream. A factory built unit often had one off mixers and evaporators and were hard to find parts for.
A little more depth in the question would make providing answers more pointed.
there is very little difference in the engine, higher compression is nice to take advantage of the higher octane, and higher flow cylinder heads help a bunch because of the pure vapour fuel stream. A factory built unit often had one off mixers and evaporators and were hard to find parts for.
A little more depth in the question would make providing answers more pointed.
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I remember a lot of Ford engines from tractors and generators that ran on propane. As I recall, it was an easy conversion to switch to gas.
Mother earth had several kits and self mods to use propane, MAP or Methane.
My Pops loved LP tractors!
We had several when I was a kid. The two I remember most were an Oliver 880 and a Deere 4010. I hated them, because they stank to high heaven and the 4010 was somewhat difficult to start. They were reliable although somewhat down on power compared to the same model with a diesel engine.
That 4010 had the loader on it as long as I can remember. In fact some of my earliest memories are of that tractor with the loader and grapple on the front, hauling silage to the cattle. The valves went bad in the 90s and rather than rebuild a 40 year old tractor, Pops sold it to a guy who built a Modified class pulling tractor out of it!
Edit: we had two of the "big silver tanks", although ours were light blue instead. We didn't have to make trips to town for diesel either because we had a 500 gallon tank on the farm. And a 500 gallon gasoline tank. We don't have the gas tank any more, but we have three 500 gallon diesel tanks now. I'd hate to think how much diesel my brother goes through in a year. I don't actually have any idea what the number is, but I know he goes through a hundred gallons a day or so during harvest...
We had several when I was a kid. The two I remember most were an Oliver 880 and a Deere 4010. I hated them, because they stank to high heaven and the 4010 was somewhat difficult to start. They were reliable although somewhat down on power compared to the same model with a diesel engine.
That 4010 had the loader on it as long as I can remember. In fact some of my earliest memories are of that tractor with the loader and grapple on the front, hauling silage to the cattle. The valves went bad in the 90s and rather than rebuild a 40 year old tractor, Pops sold it to a guy who built a Modified class pulling tractor out of it!
Edit: we had two of the "big silver tanks", although ours were light blue instead. We didn't have to make trips to town for diesel either because we had a 500 gallon tank on the farm. And a 500 gallon gasoline tank. We don't have the gas tank any more, but we have three 500 gallon diesel tanks now. I'd hate to think how much diesel my brother goes through in a year. I don't actually have any idea what the number is, but I know he goes through a hundred gallons a day or so during harvest...
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I'd love to have a stump hopper or a dune buggy that ran on methane!
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Just curious, why would you want a propane powered atv or utv? Seems to me it would be more hassle than it's worth.
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I've got a lot of propane here too, plus gas and diesel. Unless there's been some great breakthroughs in the last few years, LP and NG don't have the same mpg as gas or diesel.
But you will be saving the planet!!!
Personally, I think ATV's and UTV's will skip right over propane to battery power.
Propane never goes bad, and is easy to store in large amounts.
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True. I just don't see a propane powered atv or utv as being feasible or practical. How can you carry enough propane to get any range out of it?
I treat my fuel now so it doesn't go bad either. Plus I refill my bulk tanks once or twice a year.
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The density of liquid propane is about 0.55g/cc.
The density of liquid gasoline is about 0.68g/cc.
A gallon of propane has about 27% less energy than a gallon of gasoline.
If you retrofit a propane kit onto a gasoline powered ATV/UTV, then the increase in fuel tank size/volume to keep the same range would not be very substantial and certainly less than double.
Propane is a common fuel for forklifts being used in warehouses (less toxic exhaust gases) - the fuel tanks are fairly normal sized.
"WHY" need the vehicle have range......??? A forklift need only range inside a warehouse. This application is not a "BUG'OUT" vehicle. It is not for playing, hunting or recreation. It is for work on a Ranch, Farm, Homestead. For myself it would be for hauling firewood, or water, or supplies up the logging roads. It is not a toy.
Fully agreed, and if it runs on propane, it can be adjusted to run on methane, which is easily produced and renewable and even the pump used to pressurize the tanks can be made to run on it. three 55 gallon methane generators can easily supply an off grid homestead with cooking fuel indefinitely. a bank, or an even larger, say 300 gallon generator can make fuel enough for light and heat. bad news is, you need backup when its clean out time, good news is, that slop is probably the world's best fertilize!
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Maybe some people don't care about the range or power of an atv or utv, but I do. I have 2 ATV's and a side by side, none are toys. My ranch is several miles across and very steep in places. Maybe a limited range and underpowered vehicle will work OK for some on the flat lands, but I don't see any use for it here. Besides, I don't think anyone makes a propane powered atv. Also, there's a reason why auto manufacturers don't mass produce propane vehicles, majority of people don't want them.
Propane used to be considered a waste product of making gasoline. The price goes up faster than gas now.
I would rather run ethanol until "magic" electricity is made possible.
I would rather run ethanol until "magic" electricity is made possible.
The factory I worked for - in the 60s &70s - had several propane powered indoors tractors and a floor sweeper. fairly non-noxious exhaust fumes, for that time.
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Some manufacturers in other parts of the world have tried.........and indeed mass produced propane powered highway cars.
https://www.drive.com.au/reviews/ford-falcon-ecolpi-lpg-review/
Read the above article from back in 2011.
Note that in Australia, propane is called LPG and gasoline is called petrol.
Ford actually managed to get both better fuel economy and horsepower out of their factory mass produced car. The propane tank was mounted under the trunk just like the gasoline version of the same vehicle.
Pickup trucks that ran on LP were everywhere back 'in the day'.
People fed-up with paying "highway-tax or road-tax" stuck it to 'tha man' every time they pulled it up to that big silver tank behind their house
.Again, none of this is new.
Me, looking at how much room this guy sacrificed in his truck bed to 'stick it to the man'
:(no, that's not really me. My wife makes me shave, or it would be
)
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Some of the old farmers here used to run a tank half that size mounted to the front of the truck. Aside from the safety concerns of having your fuel externally mounted out front, in an area with hundreds of deer per county, the decreased power tended to make the younger farmers pretty sour on LP powered trucks...
Most of the systems I saw were "add-ons" that were actually dual-fuel systems. You had to turn off the gasoline and run it out before switching it over to LP so it wouldn't feed both.
It could be easily switched back to gasoline, if the need arose.
This however, was a big factor...
(notice at the top it says: "excludes federal tax"
)Add them together:
| State | Gasoline tax (¢/gal) (excludes federal tax of 18.4¢/gal) | Diesel tax (¢/gal) (excludes federal tax of 24.4¢/gal) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 29.21 | 30.15 | |
| Alaska | 14.66 | 14.40 | |
| Arizona | 19.00 | 27.00 | |
| Arkansas | 24.80 | 28.80 | |
| California | 66.98 | 93.08 | Gasoline subject to 2.25% sales tax. Diesel subject to 9.25% sales tax. |
| Colorado | 22.00 | 20.50 | In the city of Colorado Springs, Off-road Dyed Diesel and Gasoline are subject to a local city sales tax. |
| Connecticut | 35.75 | 44.10 | Subject to additional 8.1% sales tax |
| Delaware | 23.00 | 22.00 | |
| District of Columbia | 28.80 | 28.80 | |
| Florida | 42.26 | 35.57 | may also be subject to local option taxes of up to an additional 12 cents |
| Georgia | 29.10 | 32.60 | subject to local sales tax |
| Hawaii | 50.17 | 50.81 | also subject to county tax of 8.8-18.0 cents and additional sales tax |
| Idaho | 33.00 | 33.00 | |
| Illinois | 39.2 | 46.7 | Also subject to 6.25% state sales tax and varying local and municipal sales taxes. Interstate carriers are subject to interstate motor fuel use taxes that are higher. |
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How many MPG can you get out of propane anyway?
If you modify the engine and ignition systems for propane you can get good mileage and have a lot of power when needed.
What you can't do is switch back to gasoline without undoing all the mods.
Compression 13.5 to 14 : 1
Timing, subtract 4 to 5 degrees, all in by 1800 rpm. Restrict or remove any vacuum advance.
Run the propane a bit on the lean side for maximum power.
It is similar to running ethanol but with ethanol you run 80 percent ethanol and 20 percent water for best power.
What you can't do is switch back to gasoline without undoing all the mods.
Compression 13.5 to 14 : 1
Timing, subtract 4 to 5 degrees, all in by 1800 rpm. Restrict or remove any vacuum advance.
Run the propane a bit on the lean side for maximum power.
It is similar to running ethanol but with ethanol you run 80 percent ethanol and 20 percent water for best power.
The machines we had with 'dedicated' (high-compression) LP engines ran circles around any gasoline counterparts
.The only downside, was excessive tire wear, from smoking the tires.
Being a tech, I looked into the valve-timing and the C/R...
It was obvious one of my 70's drag racing buddies made it up to engineer
....It was straight out of our playbook from the 100-octane leaded-gas engines that we built.
No, propane doesn't have to be lame.
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