Agree... this is just a shakedown for money, nothing more...
The biggest gripe with diesels has been carbon particulates... supposedly causes cancer... (what the h3ll doesn't??) Thing is, they've pretty much had that problem licked for decades already-- delayed throttle so it doesn't dump more fuel in the cylinder than it can efficiently burn... IOW, delay the throttle until the engine revs up enough to burn more fuel.
The Tier 4 standards have RUINED diesel engines... these new DEF burning catalytic converter equipped diesels are no good... Used to be, guys would buy diesel pickups for the additional towing capability, and the fact that a good diesel pickup would get about 22-26 mpg... where a similarly capable gas burning pickup with a Ford 460 cubic inch or Chevy 454 ci engine would be getting about MAYBE 12-14 mpg... AT MOST. Less fuel burned equals less pollution, plain and simple. I was reading on the hay talk forum, that today's diesels are already pumping cleaner air out the tailpipe than it's pulling in the intake, so how clean do they want it??
Modern tractors have SIX computers on them, and the engines don't run right, randomly derate or go into "limp home mode" with no warning, and leave you sitting. Farmers can ill afford the downtime, especially when you're buying new machinery specifically to AVOID downtime, and what's more troubling is even factory trained techs often cannot fix the problems. This guy on hay talk is a factory trained expert technician working on diesel semi's, and was commenting that the regulations on diesels have become so onerous that a lot of manufacturers were looking at dumping diesel fuel altogether and switching their engines over to alternative fuels. Problem is, there's not any good alternatives, basically. Diesel is extremely energy-dense, for a given volume. They've looked at and experimented with hydrogen and compressed natural gas (CNG) but for over-the-road trucks, it's a nonstarter-- they'd need a bank of high-pressure (several thousand PSI) "welding gas" cylinders hanging all over the sides and back of the truck cab, all manifolded together, to hold enough fuel to get any decent range, and would require specially trained fueling attendants and equipment, and would take a LOT longer to refuel due to the extreme pressures involved. CNG works good for city buses not driving very far, very fast, or hauling any significant loads, but OTR trucking is a whole different animal. In addition, he was commenting that the new diesel semi's, with their million mile overhauls and a typical truck running through several short or long block replacements over a several million mile typical lifetime, is a thing of the past... these modern diesels simply won't hold up for anything like that... typically the lifetime will be less than half of previous trucks... they've been experiencing lifetimes of 1/4 to 1/3 that of previous trucks... and the cost has doubled...
Same thing with farm equipment... that's why the prices for older machinery, pre-emissions, has gone through the ROOF... NOBODY wants the new emissions Tier 4 engines-- they're crap, and the cost is MUCH higher...
Anyway, it's a mess... don't know where it's all going to end up... well, yeah, I do... higher prices for EVERYTHING...
Later! OL JR
