I am sorry that I cannot offer much on this topic, but I have found this discussion to be quite interesting. I came across an interesting discussion on gasoline on the IH forum a while back. If you look at the Nebraska tractor tests when these tractors were new and run through the test, the gasoline used was 93 octane and it had no ethanol. Today we have 87 octane fuel as the common product available, and this is with ethanol blended in. On our family farm, we have run the ethanol blended fuel since it first was available in the mid-1980's. Our line of gasoline tractors included a 3020 and 4020 Deere, and a 450 Farmall and H Farmall. Back then, the ethanol blended gasoline was rated 89.5 to 90 octane, while the non-ethanol gasoline was typically 87 octane. This would suggest the addition of the ethanol brought up the octane by 2.5 to 3 points. Today, it would seem the gasoline they start with is 84 to 84.5 octane before the ethanol is blended in. What was hard to understand was back in the 1960's and into the mid 1970's, our two big horses were a 4020 JD gas tractor and a 806 IH gas tractor. As the fuel lost its lead and octane ratings dropped, the 806 started to run poorly due to pre-ignition ping/knock. We had to use premium gasoline in that tractor, and later we found a Conklin product that we could add to the gasoline to prevent the pre-ignition. The 4020 is still on the farm, while the 806 went down the road in 1976, with the first diesel showing up then. The 806 had the engine overhauled/rebuilt so many times, the block had been bored to the limit. It was time to say goodbye!
On the JD tractors, the aluminum Marvel Schebler carburetors were how they were equipped. It was found these carburetors were more "touchy" versus those with the Zenith carburetors. The Marvel Schebler equipped tractors seemed to be a bit more stingy on fuel. The cast aluminum Marvel Schebler carbs seemed to "warp" some in the heat and grew more temperamental in their adjustment. Just a few years ago, dad replaced the Marvel Schebler on his 3020 with a Zenith. It starts and runs great, however the horsepower is not quite what is was with the original carburetor, and the fuel consumption has increased. This is not what was expected from a Zenith carburetor from Robert's Carburetors.
I saw in Green Magazine an article about a man who just was getting started with electronic fuel injection conversions for the New Generation Deere tractors with gasoline engines I think the Zenith carb was about $900. The article cited a conversion costing somewhere around $3500 for a 6 cylinder. The improvements cited with this conversion included a 10 percent increase in power and a 20 percent reduction in fuel consumption. This might be the future for the gas powered tractors now over 40 years old. I certainly would not mind having a 3020 or 4020 gas tractor with a reliable electronic fuel injection system. This would fit my yard tractor and winter snow removal needs!
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