The designs of diesel engines striving to increase
performance have made a lot of advancements in engine
fuel delivery to the combustion chamber. The diesel
engines of today are much quieter, smoother, and
also more powerful. The quality of diesel fuel on
the other hand has not advanced at the same rate as
the improvements of engines.

As soon as it is produced, diesel fuel begins to
deteriorate. Less than 30 days of refining, all
diesel fuel, regardless of the brand, goes through a
natural process called oxidation. This process forms
varnishes and gums in the fuel by causing the
molecules of the fuel to lengthen and start bonding
together.

Now, these components will drop to the bottom of the
fuel tank and form diesel sludge. The fuel will
begin to turn very dark in color, smell bad, and
cause the engine to smoke. The engine starts to
smoke as some of these clusters are small enough to
pass through the engine filtration and on to the
combustion chamber.

As the clusters begin to increase in size, only a
small amount of the molecules will get burned, as
the rest will go out the exhaust as unburned fuel
and smoke.

Its estimated that eight out of every ten diesel
engine failures are directly related to poor quality
and contaminated fuel. The build up of contamination
in the fuel systems and storage tanks can clog
filters, thereby causing the engine to shut down,
and damage to the engine to occur.

The number one reason for bad fuel is due to the
increasing popularity of diesel power and the
accompanying increased demand for more diesel fuel.
Long ago, diesel fuel remained in the refinery
storage tanks long enough to naturally seperate and
begin to settle, allowing the clean fuel to be
drawn apart. Now, with the demand getting higher
than ever, the fuel is never stationary long enough
to settle, and the suspended water and solids are
passed on to the person buying the fuel – you.

The changes in refinery techniques is also a
problem. In order to get more products, diesel
fuel is being refined for more marginal portions of
the crude barrel. This results in a lower grade
product that is thicker and also contains a lot
more contamination.

As time continues to pass and technology gets better
and better, one can only hope that the quality of
diesel fuel improves. As it stands now, the quality
isn’t good at all. If you run diesel fuel, all
you can basically hope for is that the fuel you
are getting isn’t contaminated.

Gas engines are known as internal combustion engines
and are divided into two general classes, specifically
two cycle and four cycle engines. A cycle of an
engine represents one stroke of the piston or one
half revolution of the crank shaft, as a complete
revolution represents two cycles. With a two cycle
engine, the power impulse occurs at each revolution,
while with four cycle engines it occurs at every
other revolution, hence the terms two and four cycle
engines.

Both classes have their own specific advantages and
uses. For autombiles, the four cycle engines is
most used. For motor boats on the other hand, the
two cycle engine is most often used.

The horse power of gas engines is designated as HP
and also brake test HP. The IHP is the theoretical
HP, which is found by figuring different formulas,
in which the diameter of the bore, length of the
stroke in inches, and number of revolutions per
minute form the basis for calculation. The results
are found by the use of such formulas.

The BTHP on the other hand, is the power the engine
actually develops in service, and is considerably
less than the IHP. Keep in mind, this depends upon
the degree of the mechanical perfection attained in
the construction of the same. If both the compression
and construction are good, the engine may actually
reach 80 – 88% of the intended IHP.

With gasoline engines, high HP and high RPM ranges
are what makes them popular. Gas engines have always
been more popular than diesel vehicles, for the simple
fact that they can achieve more speed. If speed
is what you are after, gasoline vehicles are what
you should be looking for. Although they may lack
in torque and raw power, they make up for it with
speed and tuning options.

Also referred to as a loader backhoe, the backhoe
loader is an engineering and excavation vehicle that
consists of a tractor, front shovel and bucket and
a small backhoe in the rear end. Due to the small
size and versatility, backhoe loaders are common
with small construction projects and excavation type
work.

Originally invented in Burlington Iowa back in 1857,
the backhoe loader is the most common variation of
the classic farm tractor. As the name implies, it
has a loader assembly on the front and a backhoe
attachment on the back.

Anytime the loader and backhoe are attached it is
never referred to as a tractor, as it is not normally
used for towing and doesn’t normally have a PTO.
When the backhoe is permanently attached, the
machine will normally have a seat that can swivel
to the rear to face the backhoe controls. Any type
of removable backhoe attachments will normally have
a seperate seat on the attachment itself.

Backhoe loaders are common and can be used for many
tasks, which include construction, light transportation
of materials, powering building equipment, digging
holes and excavating, breaking asphalt, and even
paving roads.

You can often replace the backhoe bucket with
other tools such as a breaker for breaking and
smashing concrete and rock. There are some loader
buckets that offer a retractable bottom, which
enable it to empty the load more quickly and
efficiently.

The retractable bottom loader buckets are often
times used for grading and scratching off sand.
The front assembly on a backhoe may be either
removable or permanently attached. Often times,
the bucket can be replaced with other tools or
devices. In order to mount different attachments
to the loader, it must be equipped with a tool
coupler. The coupler consists of two hydraulic
cylinders on the end of the arm assembly, which
can expand and retract to allow different tools to
be attached to the unit.

There are several types of backhoe loader brands,
including New Holland, John Deere, and Case. Some
will offer you cabs, while others won’t. The
newer types of backhoe loaders even offer you air
conditioning, radios, and other accessories that
make you feel like you are working with luxury.

Common with excavating jobs, the backhoe can serve
many purposes. It can haul equipment and supplies
in the loader bucket. Another great use is to cover
up dirt when filling in trench lines or covering
up pipe that was just put in the ground. The
backhoe attachment at the rear is ideal for digging
water pipes and sewer pipes.

The best thing about the backhoe loader is the
fact that they are easy to operate. You don’t
need to be a rocket scientist to fully operate this
nifty piece of equipment.