Chinese Diesel engines/ [farm eq.]

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Folks--I REALLY DON'T KNOW IT ALL! LOL. I do have a question and I'm sure somebody on here can answer it. In the Countryside Magazine there' are businesses that advertise Chinese Diesel engines that are hooked to alternators. One is Hardy in Ca. and I thnk another is Imperal Diesels in Ohio. Has anybody had any experience with these little diesel engines? I was also wondering if anybody out in "forum land" is an Importer of these engines. I'm wanting to get in touch with somebody that I can buy these little dudes from and pay wholesale price for. The cheapest I've seen is a 2 cyl-15 hp for about 1500. I wouldn't want a single cyl at all but 2,3 and 4 would be fine--if the price was right. Any info would sure be appreciated. I think this coming winter is really gonna be rough according to "gossip" i'm hearing regarding the price of heating fuel, nat. gas and propane. If it triples [that's what I'm hearing] then cost of electricity will undoubtedly raise accordingly. That's why the interest in little diesel sippin engines with alternators on'm. Also the sales of the outside woodburnn boilers I sell, has really picked up. I was talkin to a competetor couple days ago and he said interest in his boilers has really picked up too. Thanks to all for your hellp. Matt. 24:44

-- hoot gibson (hoot@pcinetwork.com), August 02, 2000

Answers

Hoot, I asked about these tractors a while back and not many people had them .I'm not sure under which cat. it went .Maybe you'll have better luck .

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), August 02, 2000.

We have an 8KW China Diesel and it has worked great for us. Got it from the outfit in California.

-- Doug Shutes (toadshutes@yahoo.com), August 02, 2000.

Hoot, there is a little book called "More Power To You!" by H. Skip Thomsen. It is all about creating an off-grid system using a China Diesel Import(which I believe changed their name to Hardy) generator. He gives a ringing endorsement of China manufactured diesels.I bought my book from Amazon.

-- Don Brueggert (bruman@bright.net), August 03, 2000.

Hey Hoot!

I have several friends that went with the China diesels in the past ten years as their only source of electricity. They have been seriously undependable, and replacement parts expensive. The Honda back-up generators keep humming along pumping water and charging batteries, long after the China diesels are abandoned.

Perhaps the China diesel would perform adequately as an occasional power source, given good maintainence, but if you a want good, dependable diesel power plant, get a CAT and light up the whole town.

-- Laura (gsend@hotmail.com), August 04, 2000.


I have heard more bad than good about the china diesel generators. Their tractors are real junk.

-- Hendo (redgate@echoweb.net), August 04, 2000.


Hoot, There is a web site called "mavericktractor.com". Its in Memphis Tn. Nice folks. The owners name is Archie and wife Jeanette with son bringing up the rest. His site showed some gens. and other stuff. I bought a 320 maverick in 97. Had a pin(29 cent part) that works the clutch (in/out) broke. The folks took care of this within 2 hours, at no charge. Family operations kinda extended the warranty. All of the other stuff that has busted was due to,"where did that tree come from" type operator error. As always good everyday maint goes along way wheither its blue,green,red or other. Good luck in your research and if I can help in anyway ...........

-- George Jackson (pangusg@netscape.net), August 04, 2000.

If you dont mind supporting slave labor camps in china and directly supporting an opressive government then they are not bad for imports.You should figure that if they break they will not be fixable, but as a consumable item they do work, dont have a lot of fancy gizmo's on them to break.

-- Gary (gws@redbird.net), August 07, 2000.

Oh my, the flag is flying high. Be careful of the pot calling the kettle black.

-- George Jackson (pangusg@netscape.net), August 09, 2000.

I've had 2 engines in my boat for the last 8 years and they have performed flawlessly. I will never use anything but a chinese diesel in my boat. Lots of rumors out there..too bad the rumor people don't actually OWN any. Best of luck

-- Nick (tipsy@pocketmail.com), November 02, 2000.

I Can't believe some of the answers I have read! I was in China a few months ago and I went inside the companies that make these so called junk generators. They let me enter any part of these compounds with their guards out side,and do you know what I found ? 1)No children working.2)No forced labor.3) workers and their familys can live there if they like.3)workers that took Pride in their work.4)A very clean(old buildings) and very orderly work place.5)Very friendly and helpful people.6)A great product,Very Strong and Dependable,they are always working on improvements.7)I would never have a Honda or Generac generator again. These Always start ! have any questions? please email me! Patrick Carlino owner of Silicon Valley Generators

-- Patrick Carlino (SVGENERATOR@YAHOO.COM), January 20, 2001.


Thanks Patrick, at least I believe you!

-- john hill (john@cnd.co.nz), January 20, 2001.

I import them on the West Coast, bought a sample a couple years back and had a retired quality control inspector for Peterbuilt look at them; he said they were fine. They are built to iso9000 standards (don't think Briggs or Honda are) and so I put one on a sawmill edger at 10400 feet elevation in New Mexico to test it last summer. We flogged that 24 hp single cylinder engine, and it NEVER quit; it would take everything we threw at it; and it required 3 B-belts to hold its torque!!It never used even 5 gallons of fuel on the longest day, and most days used 5 to 6 quarts of fuel. It would boil the water when run really hard, but that is how they cool; the 24hp holds about 5 gallons of water and the most we ever used was about 1 1/2 gallons in a day. It never broke anything; the battery would start it for two weeks or more without a recharge.

At 20 hours we changed oil, at 100 hours we changed (no color change) and almost 0 consumption, and then we went 350 hours to the next change. The oil never did turn black.

The negatives are this; they are darned heavy; about 450 pounds for the 24 hp. Parts are not abundant; but over 95% of the parts from one Chinese brand will fit any other brand ! The engines come with many spare parts; all the gaskets, o-rings, and piston rings for a rebuild. My guess is one will last at least 5000 hours; but hey; we get over 3000 hours on even our little Briggs engines (we believe in maintenance) Joel

-- Joel A. Koch (sawyer@pacifier.com), April 12, 2001.


Well I don't have any direct experience with China Deisel,but I can tell you I got took from Honda. My new generator broke down and they refused to fix it giving several lame excuses and then tried to ripp me off so I had to fix it myself. So I say go for it you can't loose the Honda company won't last at this rate.

-- William Bushhong (cactus@udata.com), February 10, 2002.

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