Are there emissions requirements for small engines?

[B92 8NW]

A while ago I bought a brand new brush cutter for $60 from a very dubious source in the Trading Post. Naturally, it makes you wonder how one can make an engine for $60, let alone an entire brush cutter, and it was as good as a $60 brush cutter gets:D.

So today I replaced it with a husky, it's half the weight, straight shaft, twice as powerful, free from vibrations, smooth and bloody quiet. I was thumbing through the manual and it has (no kidding) a catalytic converter and an EGR system. All on a 28cc motor that weighs 3 kg:eek:. Slight problem with the M and S lights flashing but I think the dealer will clear that up.:D

Are there emissions requirements that these engines need to pass? Or are these emissions controls fitted just to be environmentally responsible?


BTW if you need a brushcutter the husky is bloody great!

[LandyAndy]

Hi
I dont belive that the rules apply to us as yet.
Its a machine built to meet much stricter euro standards,you benefit I guess from their standards.
You will see it more as euro spec gear comes onto the market.
Husquvarna make some really good stuff!!!
Andrew

[Quarks]

Despite the report quoted below identifying small power output engines as worse polluters than cars on a per hour basis, it does not appear that anything has been done about it. A similar story is also there about marine engines which, to the best of my knowledge, are also unregulated.

From the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (http://www.environment.gov.au/atmosphere/airquality/publications/outdoor-garden-equipment.html) (Feb 07):

The United States, California, Canada and Europe regulate emissions from outdoor equipment - the USA has had these in place since 1997. There are no Australian regulations or standards that limit air pollutant emissions from engines used in outdoor garden equipment however as the majority of equipment sold in Australia is imported some do comply with emission standards applicable to the country of origin.

:)

[PAT303]

It's the yanks that are causing the problem.In some states 2 strokes are banned and being the biggest consumer market they rule the roost. Pat

[Ricey]

After a $60 jobby the Husky would be a godsend. I'm upgrading all my machinery as it becomes available to 4-stroke, far less emissions I believe but they are heavier. Honda is doing good work with blowers, and they are indeed quieter engines.

[JDNSW]

As far as I know, small engines do not have any legal emissions requirements. While the pollution (define that?) is certainly worse on a per unit power per hour basis than car engines, sometimes a lot worse, they are much smaller and with one exception (see below) they are usually used for only very restricted periods of time, so the actual amount of pollution is relatively small compared to cars.

Where they are a significant problem is where large numbers of petrol (often 2-stroke) generators are used for long periods in large numbers in urban environments, usually where power is unreliable. They are supposed to be a major source of air pollution in many Asian cities.

My experience of small motors is that the key design criteria are weight and cost, with everthing else secondary - from a user perspective my criteria would be more in the direction of cost, reliability and maintainability. Notice that emissions didn't get a mention - nor did fuel consumption!

John

[Bigbjorn]

As to manufacturing cost entioned in one of the earlier threads, how about this. I have a Chinese generator for which I paid $98 four years ago. I bought it in Winton. The Australian distributor is in Melbourne. So the gadget was made in China, shipped to Melbourne, then to Winton, and sold. I presume everyone in the supply chain has made a profit. What was the actual manufacturing cost? A$15 or $20? I put a vibratory hour meter on it when new and took it off in January this year after just shy of 600 trouble free hours. I use it for camping and have run lights and TV off it at home after losing power in a summer storm.If I ever have to buy another, I will buy the next bigger one which is four stroke, purely because the little two stroke does not have enough omph to start our domestic refrig-freezer.

[Ricey]

Hi JDNSW, is your user perspective as a commercial operator or domestic? I find that using 2 stroke machines such as hedgers, blowers/vacs I cop the exhausts fumes quite a lot, particularly the hedger as it's at arms length in front of me. Other machines are better as the engine is usually behind the body. Give the emissions or at least safety some consideration.

[SuperMono]

Honda is doing good work with blowers, and they are indeed quieter engines.

My Honda 4 stroke brushcutter was expensive and not all that good.
It is very well made, just not as good to use as the 2 stroke stuff I have always used.
Harder to start.
Heavier.
Gutless.
Suffers fuel starvation due to poor design (Honda replaces the fuel cap free if you complain, helps but doesn't fix it).
Runs very hot and so is uncomfortably to use for longer periods.
Hard to get the handles etc adjusted to get ergonomics right, not comfortable.

It is quiet though, but given the need to buy another I would buy another 2 stroke.

[JDNSW]

Hi JDNSW, is your user perspective as a commercial operator or domestic? I find that using 2 stroke machines such as hedgers, blowers/vacs I cop the exhausts fumes quite a lot, particularly the hedger as it's at arms length in front of me. Other machines are better as the engine is usually behind the body. Give the emissions or at least safety some consideration.

Not really separating commercial/domestic, but a would be pretty much the same, although if intended for consistent use, a commercial operation would have to look at other factors including expected life, cost of repairs, availability of spares, and similar.

Safety is more a matter of the machinery that is connected to the motor rather than the motor itself, and varies from a very minor concern with, for example, a water pump, to a very major concern with, for example, a chainsaw (where there are very specific and rigid statutory requirements applying not only to the sale of new chainsaws but to the use or even the possession of old ones with safety deficiencies).

I can't comment on the use of hedgers or blowers (one of the worst inventions of the modern era) as I have never used either, but I regularly use a chainsaw, water pump, generator, and (on the rare occasions it rains) a mower and brushcutter, so I have some experience of small motors. Emissions have rarely been noticeable in my experience, although I am quite prepared to believe that in some cases they would be a problem.

One comment I would make is that I have a small Honda 2-stroke generator. By using a 100:1 oil mix it manages quite reasonable emissions - and compared to a four stroke of the same power it is light, maintenance free and cannot spill oil. And has always started first pull. (it was bought for the specific purpose of running the Engel, and does it well - it is almost silent, and runs for hours on the smell of an oily rag)

[vnx205]

My Honda 4 stroke brushcutter was expensive and not all that good.
It is very well made, just not as good to use as the 2 stroke stuff I have always used.
Harder to start.
Heavier.
Gutless.
Suffers fuel starvation due to poor design (Honda replaces the fuel cap free if you complain, helps but doesn't fix it).
Runs very hot and so is uncomfortably to use for longer periods.
Hard to get the handles etc adjusted to get ergonomics right, not comfortable.

It is quiet though, but given the need to buy another I would buy another 2 stroke.

I used a Stihl brushcutter and a Honda about the same size to do the same job on a number of occasions.
I found the Honda easy to start, more economical, comfortable to use for long periods and with more usable torque, so it did the job without having to be run flat out all the time.
It didn't demonstrate any of the vices you describe. For the work I was doing, slashing thistles, it was superior to the Stihl.

[B92 8NW]

Shindaiwa make a range featuring an hybrid four stroke engine that does not have an oil sump and takes 50:1 mixed fuel, so it combines all the good points of a 2 stroke (like operating angles and easy maintenance) with all the good points of a 4 stroke. Relatively expensive I believe though.

I know some Chinese small engine products give a lot of very good service, but you just can't compare them to the quality brands. Like the old Chinese brushcutter, it ran, it was reliable and it did the job, but a bit more technology and better manufacturing tolerances and you have a machine that is quiet, smooth, comfortable to operate for hours etc...

[Blknight.aus]

back on topic europe does have emcon standards for new small engines.

Im not sure what they are but I remember doing the what the thing when someone was talking about how much they like their new husky gear thats silent smokless and how wonderfull it is being able to see while its running due to no pollution coming form it yada yada yada.. I stuck my snout into the conv and the guy behind the counter did the yeah its all euro emcon stuff.

[Bigbjorn]

Safety is more a matter of the machinery that is connected to the motor rather than the motor itself, and varies from a very minor concern with, for example, a water pump, to a very major concern with, for example, a chainsaw (where there are very specific and rigid statutory requirements applying not only to the sale of new chainsaws but to the use or even the possession of old ones with safety deficiencies).



A friend once, not that long ago, started work for a council's Parks and Gardens Dept. and was required to complete a training programme and obtain an internal permit before being able to use a chainsaw on the job. He had thought the safety equipment insisted on was a bit sissy, hard hat, face shield, ear protectors, ballistic nylon apron, leggings, gauntlets, etc. Then the trainees were shown a film of chain saw accidents and injuries. He told me he really did not want to use one after seeing that, no matter what protective equipment was supplied..

[PAT303]

The australian army have been testing a small diesel powerpack that weighs about a kilo that you carry on a harness or pack that recharges their radio batteries.It works very well and is no bigger than a canteen but I haven't heard anything more about it. Pat

[mcrover]

Daves right EMCON is the Euro emissoins control regulations and that is what all high end small engines are coming out with.

The US stuff (Kohler, Briggs/Vanguard and the like) based on Calafornian emissions requirements and most are coming out with electronic fuel injection and cat converters built into the muffler in 4 stroke stuff.

The 4 plus Hybrid is a system that ECHO developed and all the rest have picked up and changed to get around patent as it brings the engines in line with EMCON without major mods as it is just a 2 stroke with valves which are lubricated by the fuel mix.

The Honda 4 strokes are good and powerful but cant be used upside down in Bunkers or doing edges etc so we dont use them.

I have had a bit to do with them and I know that they run very well on 2 stroke (as greens keepers dont know the difference half the time), they dont run so well with no oil in the sump (again the same problem), and if they are used with the engine up in the air for a long period of time they sieze up and you need to replace bore, piston and rod which is about $235 from memory.

There are Electric brush cutters and blowers in the wind (pun intended) where the power pack is on a back pack so the only emissions will be what is produced to charge them up but they will have a limited working time frame on battery packs but that can be worked around by having multiple packs.

Comertial mowers are going more Electric and Hybrid Diesel electric to not only lower emisions but to get oils away from cut surfaces.

There is heaps going on here and over seas on making small engines more enviromentally freindly but at the moment OZ has nothing saying we have to adhear to any of these rules but it is coming soon and that will mean the end of all this cheap chinese stuff coming into the country.

The only thing I will add to the defence of small engines is that no matter what the operation hours are, they will never flow enough air through them to make them polute as much as a car as the small engines were talking about (as in brush cutters) are about a 20th of the capacity of a small car so it would have to pollute 20 times as bad to be able to be compared in per unit hrs.

There are a couple of industry magazines where I have read about all of this (e.g. Turf Craft magazine and Contractor Magazine) which your local mower shop would be able to get copies of them for anyone that is interested.

[CraigE]

No laws yet. Have been pending for some time. I know outboard engines are the same. A lot of suppliers want to be environmentally conscious but also have to compete hence why cheap dirty engine units are brought in as well.