- Location
- Northumberlandia
Deffo go better if there is rain coming next morning & you must finish that field !!
Do tractors go better after 8pm?
- Thread starter startinghandle
- Start date
Cowabunga
Member
- Location
- Ceredigion,Wales
No. Quite the opposite in fact. Engines have more power after they have warmed up from cold in the morning with a full tank of cold fuel. Modern tractors heat the fuel as they work and as fuel is used up and the level in the tank falls, the hotter it gets to a point. Fuel is injected by volume and hot fuel is expanded fuel and therefore contains less energy per squirt into the cylinder, hence the tractor is less powerful by late afternoon than it was in the morning.
- Location
- Scottish Highlands
Yes, I think that was something to do with it. Water spray is heated as the fuel combusts and the steam produced is of greater volume that the water vapour -- or something like that -- which helps move the pistons.
They were an interesting couple who also grew their own tobacco and made their own cigarettes. I was offered a choice between Virginian and Turkish! I met some interesting people hitch hiking as it is usually the more adventurous who pick up hikers!
Cowabunga
Member
- Location
- Ceredigion,Wales
The turbocharger pressurising the air heats it up way beyond ambient air temperature to the point that ambient makes little if any difference, especially as the intercooler cools it down again to a lower temperature but still way above ambient. As long as the intercooler is not blocked with trash and is of an adequate capacity, the temperature of intake air should be fairly consistent with the amount of power utilised, not the ambient temperature so much. The harder the tractor pulls the higher the pressure and hence the temperature the turbo produces. Of course that is cooled by the intercooler and ambient air is the cooling medium but even so, the intake air of a hard working engine should be quite consistently within a small range. So the amount of air in the cylinders is not governed by ambient air but by the temperature post inter cooling which higher than ambient.
Lakesdigger
Member
So the difference could be argued to be as negligible as your fuel temp explanation. Fwiw I didn't say there would be a performance benefit and tbh with modern engine management any differences there could be shouldn't be noticeable.
Goweresque
Member
- Location
- North Wilts
I'd say it was a power thing, rather than an economy one. Many WW2 fighter aircraft used water or water/methanol injection in their piston engines. Such systems provided a significant boost to the engines power output but was only for emergencies (so called War Emergency Power) and could not be used for long otherwise engine life would be rapidly degraded. So one would think that an engine could conceivably have better power output in damp conditions, but that extra power would be at the expense of increased engine wear.
- Location
- Ballyclare Northern Ireland
Modern electronically controlled diesel engines measure fuel by mass not volume so warmer fuel does not affect power.
I quote:
Larry Tracey, Chief Engineer/Project Manager - Advanced Robotics at Major Defense Contractor (2001-present)
Pre-electronic engines metered fuel by volume and not mass, whether gasoline engines with a carburetor or mechanical fuel injection or Diesel engines with mechanical fuel injection. For anything beyond a carburetor, the mechanical fuel system required some amount of fuel to cool the fuel system. That fuel is returned to the fuel tank along with waste heat. The bottom line is as the fuel tank level dropped, the fuel would get hotter. In the late ‘80’s, the Ford V-8 gasoline ambulances had return fuel back to the tank that was so hot it exceeded the vapor point of gasoline. If the ambulance was idling, a common practice, the fuel tank cap would vent gasoline vapor that would hit an ignition source and the result was exploding ambulances became all too common. It is the reason ambulances now are all diesel powered.
Diesels have the same waste heat going back to the fuel tank. Diesel has a higher vapor point than gasoline but as the fuel gets hotter, it would get less dense and result in a loss of power. As Diesel engines switched to higher pressure fuel systems for emissions purposes, the waste heat in the return fuel to the tank got worse and many vehicles had to implement fuel coolers. Full electronic engines have fuel temperature sensors to compensate for increased fuel temperature in order to prevent power loss at high fuel temperatures. The fuel cooler is still required as even Diesel engines can heat the return fuel up to the vapor point. I am aware of one pickup truck program where a prototype vehicle caught fire because of excessive fuel temperature at low fuel condition.
I quote:
Larry Tracey, Chief Engineer/Project Manager - Advanced Robotics at Major Defense Contractor (2001-present)
Pre-electronic engines metered fuel by volume and not mass, whether gasoline engines with a carburetor or mechanical fuel injection or Diesel engines with mechanical fuel injection. For anything beyond a carburetor, the mechanical fuel system required some amount of fuel to cool the fuel system. That fuel is returned to the fuel tank along with waste heat. The bottom line is as the fuel tank level dropped, the fuel would get hotter. In the late ‘80’s, the Ford V-8 gasoline ambulances had return fuel back to the tank that was so hot it exceeded the vapor point of gasoline. If the ambulance was idling, a common practice, the fuel tank cap would vent gasoline vapor that would hit an ignition source and the result was exploding ambulances became all too common. It is the reason ambulances now are all diesel powered.
Diesels have the same waste heat going back to the fuel tank. Diesel has a higher vapor point than gasoline but as the fuel gets hotter, it would get less dense and result in a loss of power. As Diesel engines switched to higher pressure fuel systems for emissions purposes, the waste heat in the return fuel to the tank got worse and many vehicles had to implement fuel coolers. Full electronic engines have fuel temperature sensors to compensate for increased fuel temperature in order to prevent power loss at high fuel temperatures. The fuel cooler is still required as even Diesel engines can heat the return fuel up to the vapor point. I am aware of one pickup truck program where a prototype vehicle caught fire because of excessive fuel temperature at low fuel condition.
- Location
- Huntingdon
Theres less waffle on the radio, the phone stops ringing and no delivery drivers to unload
If you’ve to work past 8pm your either lazy and haven’t started early enough or greedy. (Apart from a few harvest days on a wet year excluded)
- Location
- Northumberlandia
We often harvest till 10/11pm seeing as we rarely start before 11am damp reasons mostly
and only work after 8pm with tillage as were mostly guided with the impending forecast which as we all know can change rather quickly from what might have been promised a couple of days earlier
The window for doing this work is very limited where we are.
Wish we had the longer days some of you guys have midlands & south & away of this east coast with Fog/Mist/Haar to often deal with
Thankfully good LED lights & Guidance has made a lot of the dark time work a chore providing your not knackered
Is all in your heads
ollie989898
Member
LED lights are one of the biggest productivity enhancements for years. The added visibility makes the job easier, faster and a LOT safer.
I often feel that machines work better in the evening just because the whole thing is a bit cooler. Lower air temperature so less heat being accumulated in the hydraulic oil, air con not having to work as hard and less bright sunlight for the operator to contend with as well.
I often feel that machines work better in the evening just because the whole thing is a bit cooler. Lower air temperature so less heat being accumulated in the hydraulic oil, air con not having to work as hard and less bright sunlight for the operator to contend with as well.
- Location
- leics/warks border
Often there's not much day left by the time the dew has lifted, or ground or crop have dried after rain the previous day.
If you've got a block or field to finish why come back tomorrow ? Finish it while you're there !
- Location
- leics/warks border
It always feels like you're going faster at night because with a limited view everything "whizzes" past faster.
Most of the idiots around here talk all day then start work at 8pm. Tillage is the only exception I get for working past it.
- Location
- Ballyclare Northern Ireland
Balls.
Suckndiesel
Member
- Location
- Newtownards
From memory my 716 when on the dyno took 3hp to run all the lights so any extra power from cool air night work likely would be cancelled out. Air con used something similar. If you can work in the dark with no lights and air con then you might get improved work rates!
8100
Member
- Location
- South Cheshire
Yup chuck water on a chip pan fire stand back and watch the performance increase
Suckndiesel
Member
- Location
- Newtownards
surely the cooler the ambient air, the better the intercooler will work