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WI | Hello,
What would everyone's opinion be on the best and cheapest 80-120 hp diesel engine to make a mobile power unit out of. I don't really have to be that low in the power range but I don't need or want anything huge. I want to be able to pull this around with a wheeler. I would rather it be an inline 6 verses a v-8 otherwise I would say find a cheap old Ford truck with a 7.3 (turbo or non turbo) and could also go with the 6.5 chevy but the 7.3 is hands down a better engine. If they weren't so expensive I would say find an old dodge with a cummins but that's more than I'm going to want to spend since from what ive seen the 5.9's are still going for $2500+ depending on year, mileage and condition and that's just for the engine. Its not going to have a pump or a generator on it, all I want it to have is a clutch with a pto shaft. This is mainly going to be used to run a feed grinder off of and some augers at building site and some land that we own that's quite a ways away and I don't want to be running a bigger tractor out there to grind feed. We have pigs there and only have an old (mostly restored) IH H that runs flawlessly out there that's got a loader on it hooked to the manure spreader to haul manure until the snow gets too deep then it just gets pushed and piled with the old H and hauled out in the spring. There are 4- 1000 bu grain/feed tanks there already that and 3 get augered into the shed with the other one going into the barn for holding the feed so all I need to do is back the grinder up by the augers and position the unload auger out the side of the shed and run my 60'x6" auger to fill the feed bin by the barn. Everything is in a close area and I did all the measuring and actually set up the auger to fill the tank going into the barn so I know where I would have to cut a hole in the side of the shed to have the unload auger off of the grinder mixer come out and everything would work perfect if I can get a power unit set up to run the grinder. I looked into a big electric motor but there isn't enough electrical capacity there to run a 45-50hp+ electric motor if that would even be enough plus that would cost me more than a power unit. I am just sick of overpaying the feedmill to grind my feed and bring it out, not knowing whats exactly in it and it always seeming to look and smell different on every batch. I've tried the one other feed mill we have close and they are worse yet and about 25% more expensive. I cant justify just leaving a bigger tractor there to use once a month for a few hours and with a set up like this I wouldn't have to worry about the normal tractor issues since it would just be an engine. If it was close I woudn't even worry about it I would just grind it and haul it over but its over 20 miles away so that's not an option. Any ideas would be great and are appreciated.
Thanks in advance | |
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Best/Cheapest engine option for making a mobile power unit 80-120 hp range.
