Diesel vs gas......................
OK folks, there have been a few to many diesel vs gas threads that have shall we say gone to "Hell and a hand basket"! So if all of you would put in you BEST, no flaming reasons for going gas vs diese...
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Absolutely not. Diesels burn less fuel than gassers for a given job, so they are more economical. And that is why diesels are so prevalent in the heavy equipment.Bert
Diesel engines convert their power to run electric motors on heavy mining equipment, like the kind you find at strip coal mines, just as diesel/electric locomotives operate. I suppose you could use a V-16 gas engine, but you'll need an extra tank car for the fuel required.
With diesel topping $2/gal and $3.50/gal in Canada, the chances of gasoline following suit next Spring are pretty good. The current reasoning is because of the switchover to heating oil. If the NorthEastern USA has a mild winter, the terminals will be filled with excess diesel and the prices will drop. If, however, it's a nasty mix and with lots of cold weather, the prices will remain high.
Everytime a refinery is taken out of service for maintenance, you'll see a rise in prices the next day.
It's been diesels for us, practically forever. We farm and run a trucking operation simutaneously. We use 2000 gals of red every three months (farm diesel) and pay the same pump prices for the OTR's as you do. With engines lasting nearly forever these days, it's hard to go back to gassers. Nearly every truck engine has more than 550,000 miles on them. Of the four farm generators, only one has been rebuilt at 22,000 hrs. A gas engine wouldn't survive that long.
Slowing down this past Summer has helped increase mileage. We have a 75 mph limit/70 for trucks here and by slowing down to 65/60 has helped conserve = 8mpg.
