Aside from first cost, there's a couple other problems with gas turbine prime movers in tractors, earthmovers, etc:
1 - Fuel economy. Compared to a diesel, a gas turbine's economy is only marginal at 100% load. It quickly gets worse at lower loads - at idle it is abysmal.
The Union Pacific railroad operated a small fleet of gas turbine locomotives in the 1950's and 60's. They were only economical only under long distance, full load situations (the turbines were always dispatched with a 25,000 gallon fuel tender car to keep up with their thirst for fuel). In their later years they were paired with one or more conventional diesel locomotives so the turbines could be shut down under slow conditions, when stopped for meets, etc.
2 - Gas turbines are very sensitive to dust in the combustion air. And since they consume prodigious quantities of air, keeping combustion air clean requires massive filters and frequent filter changes.
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Today's Featured Article - Madison's County - by Anthony West. Philip Madison has been a good friend of mine for quite some time. He has patiently suffered my incessant chit chat on the subject of tractors for longer than I care to remember, and on many occasions he has put himself out, dropped what ever it was he was doing, to come and lend a hand cranking handles, or loading a find onto a trailer. Although he himself has never actually owned or restored a tractor, he was always enthusiastic and always around helping with other peoples projects.
... [Read Article]
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