COVER STORY: Fueling the Future

Jon Fritz, vice president of McDonnell Landscaping in Brookeville, Md., says his company hasn’t done much with alternative fuels.
Neither has Lee Edwards, president of The Greenery in Hilton head, S.C.

Or Bruce Allentuck, president of Allentuck Landscaping Company in Clarksburg, Md.

“We’re still doing an analysis of what’s available,” Allentuck says. “We’re exploring.”

Still, when it comes to new energy, the one thing Allentuck and nearly every other business executive has been searching for remains elusive: a solution.

In recent years, electricity, ethanol, biodiesel and propane have all emerged as frontrunners in the race to replace gasoline. Some of these alternatives are already being used by progressive lawn and landscape contractors throughout the country. Yet others still seem best suited for a flux capacitor.

So with several legitimate energy options in the pipeline, which fuel should businesses be filling their small engines with in coming years? Judging by opinions from some of the industry’s top professionals and engine experts, the answer may surprise you.

Buying the buzz

In less than two years, General Motors will bring a mainstream plug-in hybrid electric vehicle to the auto market. Rumors say Toyota will follow suit with a new Prius hybrid, and Honda plans to introduce an all-new hybrid electric vehicle next year.

With the largest international automakers stuffing electric power plants under their hoods, electricity should inevitably become the preferred fuel for small engine applications, right?

Without more support from end-users, don’t bet on it.

“Contractors aren’t requesting anything with electric mowers,” says Gary Little, president and owner of Little’s Lawn Equipment in Ithica, N.Y. “The technology isn’t there. They have to mow a lot of grass fast. They can’t be waiting for something.”

But hybrid electric vehicles are already running on highways. Why would the energy be unreasonable for mowers?

Marv Klowak, Briggs & Stratton vice president of research and development and quality, says hybrid electric technology is only viable in automobiles because they have a lot of part-load applications.
 
“In most lawn care equipment, you tend to run more than mid-throttle due to the nature of the power requirements,” he says.

Beyond power concerns, Klowak says another issue hindering smaller hybrid electric technology is pricing. Hybrid systems, which consist of an engine, electric motor and complex power management programs, are still relatively costly. And even if those costs could somehow be amortized for lawn care equipment, there are still issues with hybrid battery technology.

Klowak and Jim Roche, executive director of the Equipment & Engine Training Council (EETC), both say today’s batteries don’t have the required energy density to work in mower applications. This is part of the reason why Briggs & Stratton, Kohler and Kawasaki have no plans to introduce electric-powered mower engines in the immediate future.
But that doesn’t mean things can’t change.

Klowak says it will all be up to the end-users.

“If there becomes a demand for electric engines, we’d certainly entertain it.”

Growing alternatives

Whereas hybrid electric power represents the distant future of fuel, ethanol and biodiesel offer doses of today’s alternative energy reality.

In fact, both fuels can already be found at Mariani Landscaping in Lake Bluff, Ill.

“We’re using biodiesel and ethanol to power work trucks,” says Mariani production coordinator Tom Crawford.

But despite utilizing alternative energy in its large engine applications, Mariani, like many lawn care companies, still powers most of its lawn equipment with gasoline.
 
Kohler, which just introduced a North American diesel line last February, has found a way to sympathize with those wary of powering small engines with unconventional fuel.

Over the next 12 months, the company says it will become the first to offer an entire lineup of “flex-fuel” engines that can run on both gasoline and E85 – an eco-friendly, gasoline/ethanol blend that is produced from crops such as corn or sugar cane.

Still, industry experts like Roche don’t consider E85 as anything more than a second-rate energy alternative.

“It’s not the best choice,” he says. “When a new fuel is being developed, especially one that’s alcohol based, there can be problems with the internal engine design. You have to change all your internal components to withstand the negative aspects of the alcohol in the fuel.”
Executives at Briggs & Stratton see problems with E85’s affordability.
 
“Ethanol actually has worse fuel economy compared to regular gasoline,” Klowak says. “It’s a 35 percent reduction.”

Similar to ethanol, biodiesel offers both advantages and disadvantages over conventional energy.

Because it can be made from vegetable oil and blended with regular diesel, many feel biodiesel is an inexpensive green fuel choice.

Rob George, maintenance supervisor at Clarence David & Co. in Matteson, Ill., says his company’s trucks, tractors and riding mowers all run on biodiesel.

But George also says he stops using biodiesel before the winter season because the fuel has a tendency to gel. Another biodiesel drawback can be purchasing pricier, requisite diesel engines – some of which cost thousands of dollars more than their gasoline counterparts.

“Unless you get into some of the larger applications, the up front cost versus the value just isn’t there,” Klowak says. “I doubt it ever will be.”

Adding on

Ethanol and biodiesel are immediately available alternative fuel options, but neither can be considered permanent fuel solutions. Could propane, commonly referred to as LP (liquid petroleum gas), be any different?

Kohler, Briggs & Stratton and Kawasaki all appear optimistic.

As a non-toxic, non-corrosive and additive-free high-octane fuel, LP is beneficial because it burns cleaner than gasoline and diesel. With each passing year, Kawasaki and other engine manufacturers expect more OEMs to offer LP powered ZTRs. And Kohler, which has seen growing interest in propane throughout the country, already has an LP engine delivery system available.

“There’s a lot of advantages with propane,” Locklear says. “If you can get it right, it’s cheaper than gas. And you could switch all your units over and even have a propane tank on site.”

But LP isn’t a perfect energy solution just yet.

Experts say that because propane has a low energy density than both gasoline and diesel fuel, engines powered by the fuel will return worse fuel economy. Some also believe that LP could damage engine valves, even though according to the Department of Energy, the fuel successful powers more than 270,000 vehicles in the United States. But setting aside mechanical risks, working with the fuel can also be a hassle.

“With liquid propane, you now have to have a bottle added to your application,” says Cam Litt, Kohler marketing manager. “It’s a little bit of a different fuel system compared to the typical commercial-type cutter.”

A winning combination

Despite the current and futuristic energy alternatives, engine manufacturers know that end-users will drive technology based on practicality, not potential. And that even with a number of legitimate energy options, right now, most say a familiar fuel will be the standard energy for tomorrow’s lawn care equipment.

“Gasoline is pretty darn good,” Klowak says. “Folks forget that gasoline engines are getting better all the time, so there are always improvements coming.”

One of the major improvements propelling gas forward is electronic fuel injection (EFI) technology – an efficient way to meter fuel delivery inside engines.

“Regular engines have a gravity feed system with a manual fuel pump,” Roche explains. “With electronic injection, you get a more precise, efficient combustion of fuel rather than it being too rich or too lean. This reduces the amount of fuel and helps curb emissions.”

Over at Kohler, EFI is a major focus.

“That’s the way to improve fuel economy,” Litt says. “With EFI you can tweak the power, emissions and your ECU to get the best of both worlds. Another key feature is that EFI technology is available at a reasonable cost. After investing in the technology, most equipment users can see a payback within a year. And the more equipment they have in their fleet, the more fuel savings adds up.”

Kawasaki is also experimenting with EFI. After adding a version of electronic injection to its fuel-thirsty 37 horsepower engine, the company began seeing energy savings of up to 15 percent. Additionally, the engine maker is constantly tweaking the intake and cylinder head areas of its gasoline engines, and the company is promoting its FH series engine with V-valve technology.

“V-vale is essentially the same technology as you hear about on hemispherical combustion engines,” Lockyear says. “Because the valves are sitting in a ‘V,’ it allows for less restriction when pulling fuel and air into the cylinder and exiting the cylinder the exhaust. If the engine breathes better, it’s more efficient.”

Like Kawasaki, Briggs & Stratton (which just introduced its first electronic injection engine last January) knows other things can be done to make gasoline more efficient than alternative fuels.

“Fuel injection helps, but the key is to have a closed loop feedback system where you measure the exhaust and control the carburetor or fuel injector to get a precise air/fuel ratio,” Kowak says. “Engine management strategies where you’re controlling spark plug timing and air/fuel ratio make the most sense.”

But is gasoline really the best future fuel?

“It’s the most cost-effective from the initial price,” Klowak maintains.
 
And to today’s end-users, that matters more than anything.