Old 3T Lover, the Detroit Diesel, some lov'um- some hate'um, I am somewhere in the middle. A more versatile, adaptative, reliable engine is yet to be produced,than can be made to be left or right, front or back, or CW/CCW but when they get above 1800rpms non turbo they get real hard to be around. From a mechanic's point of view,a very simple engine with a few do's and don'ts, oil leakers??? only if they are put together wrong, the head and injection can be a pain at times, but no worse than setting cam timing on a Cummins. The low RPM does not scare me a bit, the injectors can be set about .005 deeper than spec,about 2 degrees advanced and run slower(something I have not done yet) and then balance the exhaust temp by feeling the port or by one of those new point and shoot thermometers, boy you can identify a lazy cylinder right now and advance it a bit more. The Detroit is heavily effected by ambient air temp, if it is cold and the engine is not set up for it, it will slobber at lower rpms. The biggest fauxpas is idling, they will slobber and dilute if left to idle for long periods of time. As long as the EGT is set up properly they will live at lower RPMs. This one is not lugging at 1600,it is barely working,it will spin its tracks in 6th gear at 1200, so 16-18 is well within the power band, only on the lower side of it. I would like to change to 55 injectors and take some more power out of it, maybe one day. I think it is obvious that it would be the kiss of death to overload it, so I kept its normal loads and never shift. Thanks everyone for the input. Tad

Hi guys NIF thanks for the picture of the auger pretty neat. 98J if we had 10 percent moisture in the UK we would think we were in heaven. Tad Wicks great pictures of the AC conversion you USA guys are experts at remoulding iron . cheers Atlas

Well Tad Wicks, sounds like you know a little about old DETROIT's (actually, a lot). Since she'll spin the tracks in sixth gear, I'm guessing you changed out the limiting speed governor and put on a variable speed. Keep the governor gap set and it should be alright in that range.

If you get any oil leaks around the old steel valve covers, look for some aluminum ones. They're a lot better and you can't over tighten them..

Bruce P I put the spark arrestors on for the simple reason, if they (CAL FIRE) see you operating without them (Turboed engines excluded) they will redtag your equipment and if you move it still it can be a fine or jail time or both, and if there is a fire whether started by a grouser on a rock (which I have had happen, that's a whole different story)or a squirrel farting habeneros, I will be liable for any and all suppression costs. So it boils down to the fact that they can take the farm if I don't have them on there so there is no real choice.
Another problem with the Detroit Diesel, being two stroke is that their air requirements are double that of a comparable engine. This filter actually has two main elements in a common tube (one on each side) with safeties that flow better than 800 cu ft combined, one big one just would not fit nicely under the hood and around the pipes.

Old 3T Lover, you are exactly correct again, I replaced the speed limiting gov with a variable speed, I don't remember the gap right off .018 comes to mind but I am not sure. it sounds as though you know your way around a Detroit as well. I want chrome valve covers and chrome stacks:thumb:
Thanks Tad

Good day to gents in the great white north. NIF 98J, bleedinred, Brucep

I just checked Moscow weather on the NOAA site and was surprised to see so much rain and no freezing temps for the next week. No snow until Sat.

How does this mid winter thaw affect the winter wheat. I can imagine a bunch of scenarios but I'm only speculating.

Inquiring minds/farmers want to know.

Casey

Tad- that looks like a really fine job you did on that crawler, down the road a guy has an old front end loader with a big old Detroit engine in it and every time he fires it up we can hear it!

Casey- it is actually common for most of the palouse and surrounding areas to have 35-40 degree rainy weather sometimes in the winter. In fact it would be rare for most of the wheat growing areas to have snow on the ground longer than a month at a time without a melt off. My area at 3000ft+ and high precip is a little different since we usually have snow most of the winter but I doubt we will melt off with the rain this week. There is little to no affect on the wheat crop with thaws in Dec. and Jan. even with a thaw it doesnt get warm enough to break dormancy. The main problem with rains in the winter is erosion especially if the ground is frozen when the snow melts off.

Also keep in mind that the snow and cold came a bit early this year, two or three years ago we had a very snowy winter with 120+days of snowcover but we didn't have a flake of snow until the second week of December. That was definitely an oddball year but our snowiest and coldest time here is mid December to early February.

I actually wouldnt mind seeing the snow go off for a bit before winter really gets here as long as it doesnt rain bunches or get cold with no snow. We can have diseases associated with long snowcover locally so 90+days of consecutive snowcover will cause problems.


Speaking of Moscow I got some pics near there of the palouse hills snowcovered the other day, during mid day this time of year the sun angle is still low enough that the steep north slopes see no sun and are in a shadow. The Moscow area only has a third the depth of snow we have at home right now.

Thanks NIF.

The first thing that comes to mind in those photos is "Riding the Range on a Snow Machine, Yipie KiYeaa". It reminds me of the high-speed jeep runs through the stubble along a long ridge top in late October when we wouldn't start a fire. What a lot of fun.

Casey

NIF - there is a stark beauty to those two pictures, thanks.

To the guys in the PNW, is the Round-Up(glyphosate) damage as bad as what the press is making it out to be???? and I wanted to bring this thread forward. Tad

Does any of the ground in the pnw ever get terraced with steepback terrace? I'm a long time reader but its my first post, I've realy enjoyed this thread and the pic. Thanks to all that have posted pic on this thread. NWMO.