Anyone with CNG experience

[jasong71]

Hey all,

Does anyone have experience running a bus with the John Deere 8.1L CNG motor? Besides limited fueling stations, is there any other cons to owning it? Any great pros?

Thanks!

[EastCoastCB]

I found some brand new looking cng buses when I was bus shopping. After asking around the consensus was that with the limited fuel sources, expiring tank certifications, and some other factors I've surely long since forgotten, that they just aren't viable for most folks looking to convert.
If leaving town in the bus isn't something you care about there are some tremendous deals out there now and then.
I know nothing about the Deere motor other than it exists and I've seen it in bus listings. But when I worked at the fab shop we used several different engines in our trucks and the John Deeres were expensive to buy and to fix.

[jasong71]

Yeah, tanks are expensive, but it sounds like such a cool deal. Comparably environmentally friendly too.

[Deshet]

I have owned about a dozen CNG cars and trucks.

The expiration dates on the tanks have been grossly understated.

The same tanks today have been given 25 years versus the 15 for older ones

If the deal is good enough you could try and find the parts to convert it back to diesel or diesel and cng.

I don't think a cng powered RV makes sense unless you stay local.

Most older buses had under a 200 mile range some only 100.

Thanks

[jasong71]

Thanks Deshet

[Kubla]

and a CNG compressor for home use starts at about $5000 and compresses 1 gallon equivalent of gas in CNG an hour, still kick myself for not buying the crown victoria from the city hear for $1500 that included the compressor