Gary Puts Diesel Tractor Engines In Pick Ups

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ATLANTA CAR NEWS

Ga. farm machine salesman turns gas vehicles into efficient diesel rides

By RICK MINTER

For The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Saturday, September 06, 2008

BYRON — America's farming community has long been known for its ingenuity, and Gary Brown is a perfect example.

Brown sells used farm equipment for a living, but lately most of his time and energy have been consumed by trying to perfect his idea of repowering pickup trucks and cars with diesel engines salvaged from farm equipment such as combines, sprayers and self-propelled mowers.

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Jason Getz/[email protected]

The Browns have a business that sells farm equipment and has a side venture of taking tractor diesel engines and putting them into pickup trucks to increase their fuel economy.

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Jason Getz/Staff

Gary Brown stops by a nearby gas station to show Charles Coggin, of Fayetteville, his converted truck in Warner Robins. Brown put a Perkins four cylinder diesel engine from a Massey Ferguson Tractor into this 1995 Ford F150.

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Working with several of his mechanic friends, he's successfully converted several pickups, trucks that now get 40 to 50 miles per gallon with no noticeable loss of performance.

Their venture is called Shade Tree Conversions, and it's an appropriate name because most of their work

really is done under the umbrella of giant oak and pine trees.

For Brown and his crew, it's all about finding a way for the small farmers and working people of America to cope with high gasoline prices.

Brown had toyed with the idea for some time, but about three years ago, an encounter with a woman at a local gas station convinced him that the time was right to pursue his dream.

The woman's lengthy commute from her home in Reynolds to her job in Macon was consuming most of her disposable income. Child care got most of the rest.

"Tears were streaming down her face," Brown said. "She was barely making anything. I came home and told my wife, 'Let's do it.' "

Brenda Brown was an enthusiastic supporter from the get-go.

"I've got faith in him," she said. "He comes up with good ideas."

The concept of powering pickups with farm diesel engines makes sense to anyone familiar with the three- and four-cylinder diesels found in smaller tractors and other equipment.

They're famously fuel-efficient, and what they lack in horsepower is more than made up for with torque.

"I was raised on a farm," Brown said. "You can fill up a gasoline burner and it'll run out about 2 or 3 in the afternoon, but you can run a diesel the same size for two or three days."

So Brown and his buddies set about replacing the gas-burning engine in a 1995 Ford F-150 pickup with a four-cylinder Ford diesel.

Throughout the process, further motivation came from the naysayers who were following his progress.

"When people would say it wouldn't work, that would make me work even harder to show them we could do it," he said.

Like many other shade tree mechanics, Brown and his crew have to be resourceful. They buy as few parts as possible — and shop for bargains at auctions for those they do.

A simple electric vacuum pump solved the problems associated with operating the power brakes and heater controls. Other adapters were fabricated from everyday items.

"We've used parts from Lowe's, the hardware store and the lawnmower shop," Brown said, adding that the most recently completed conversion cost just $5,400 including the purchase of an older-model truck and diesel engine.

Today, there are about six completed vehicles on the road, and Brown's focus has shifted to spreading the word about his conversions.

He's written a "how to" manual, complete with a list of parts suppliers, that he sells for $50 on his Web site,

www.shadetreeconversions.com.

Jimmy McLeod, who has worked with Brown on the conversions, points out that any skilled mechanic, especially one used to building street rods, can easily install a farm diesel engine in a car or truck.

"It's just common-sense, everyday stuff," McLeod said. "But there's a lot of hard work involved."

The converted vehicles tend to be a little noisier, and the normal vibration of the diesel is evident, but the trucks are plenty peppy on the road.

Brown said he's trying to figure out a way to have the necessary adapters manufactured in large quantities so conversions will be easier for the masses.

"What we really need is an investor," he said. "There are a million families out there that could use one of these vehicles."

And despite the lack of profits to date, he vows to press on until the conversions are commonplace.

"If Detroit won't do it, we'll just have to do it ourselves," he said.