The fuel may be cheap, but the engines are not. Once you realize that most of the purchase cost of a piece of machinery is determined by the materials which go into it, it becomes apparent that steam engines (the boilers, specifically) are very expensive. A 20 hp steam engine will likely weigh in excess of 5000 lbs empty, while a 1950's 20 hp gas tractor can easily weigh less than 2500 lbs. That is a 2-to-1 cost difference in materials alone. Also, maintenance is a major problem when you have open mechanisms which are exposed to lots of water and dirt, while being only marginally lubricated. Plus, you have no instant performance. First you must warm the thing up and start to make steam, then you must anticipate load by adding fuel at the proper rate. Too little fuel and the pressure drops, and too much fuel causes the pressure relief valve to blow, wasting a bunch of stored energy that you just fed into the firebox. Poor efficiency is another issue. When you have a lot of surface area, you have a lot of area that can transfer heat. With an uninsulated boiler like the ones on vintage steam engines, you are constantly loosing gobs of heat to the surrounding air. With this style simple boiler you are lucky to get 15% efficiency out of the fuel you burn. Almost any old gas tractor will give you 25% efficiency when working at rated load. Then there is the work that is required to feed it. Steam tractors need lots of two things to operate; fuel and water. Anyone who has a wood stove knows the constant work that is required to keep it going. Now figure that your wood stove has more than 10 times the appetite, and that it is also constantly leaking a few gallons of water each minute. Now you have an idea of how much work it is to feed a small steam tractor that is working.
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Today's Featured Article - Product Review: Black Tire Paint - by Staff. I have been fortunate in that two of my tractors have had rear tires that were in great shape when I bought the tractor. My model "H" even had the old style fronts with plenty of tread. My "L" fronts were mismatched Sears Guardsman snow tires, which I promptly tossed. Well, although these tires were in good shape as far as tread was concerned, they looked real sad. All were flat, but new tubes fixed that. In addition to years and years of scuffing and fading, they had paint splattered on
... [Read Article]
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