Yeah, I posted a video about his 4BT conversion a while ago.
Interesting truck that is for sure.
cornish rattler
Well-Known Member
Yep he deffo won't be getting any more logs in that truck, great thread though any idea's what the bhp of the 4bt engine is as it doesn't say.
8hp less than a 200Tdi at a measily 105hp @2300rpm but 265ft/lb torque @1600rpm compared to 188ft/lb @1650rpm of the Tdi
cornish rattler
Well-Known Member
Are right I see more bottom end grunt then
cornish rattler
Well-Known Member
One thing I notice about US tool and DIY enthusiasts is the level of affordably priced kit that's readily available. Whereas some of us in the UK can look forward to having our own lathe sometime in the course of a lifetime, the comparable American has a lathe, a milling machine a metal planing and broaching machine and much more. Some of us over here have our own MIG welders, but our US cousins have MIG, TIG, plasma, MMA and gas to choose from in their 6,000 sq ft workshop. Allied to this is a sense that nothing's off limits. For example, with stressed, tight-tolerance components like engine and gearbox internals, I'd be inclined to get machining done by a dedicated workshop, or buy geartrain components from Ashcrofts. But Americans are just as likely to try it themselves. And that's just in the workshop. The garden (or 'yard' to our American cousins, even though it often extends to several acres) is seen as an opportunity for civil engineering on a grand scale. When I was in the US with Xylia a while ago, her cousin's husband turned up with a huge tracked trenching machine of the kind which has a rotating chain with teeth and scoops on it. It only cost him a few hundred dollars apparently, and was to be used to lay pipes and wires around his plot so as to supply his various sheds.
It has a lot to do with disposable income, of which the average UK citizen has very little and as property is at such a premium these days you end up not being the tinkering type who owns a house big enough to have a home workshop or you're just not into old muddy things but vintage and classics that are into new vehicle money to buy for the average Joe over here.
Yes, they seem to have a lot of access to tools and machinery in the US on relatively modest incomes. The man who bought a tracked trenching machine was doing OK with his own carpet cleaning business, but what surprised me was the level of kit they were able to buy for a matter of hundreds of dollars rather than the thousands or tens of thousands it would cost in the UK. The women stayed at home and made nourishing meals for the family out of syrup and marshmallows, and the men donned check (or 'plaid') shirts and gathered in one another's workshops to look at the equipment and hold cans of Budweiser as they chatted about technical matters in feet and inches.
Geography plays a large part in that too, we are close to the European continent and thus there is a rather poor swath of countries not that far off our own borders and here transport is relatively cheap too, prices are consistently high due to the opportunity to export machinery very easily to countries where they are willing to pay premium prices.
