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 - Old Time Threshing - by Anthony West. A lovely harvest evening late September 1947, I was a school boy, like all school boys I loved harvest time. The golden corn ripens well and early, the stoking, stacking,.... the drawing in with the tractors and trailers and a few buck rakes thrown in, and possibly a heavy horse. It would be a great day for the collies and the terrier dogs, rats and mice would be at the bottom of the stacks so the dogs, would have a busy time hunting and killing, all the corn was gathered and ricked in what we c
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