Oh boy ,

For now, just move on with your life.

Yes.

Just order your engines and, if you have some left over when or if they arrive in the states, then offer them to sell.

No.  I am importing engines for my own purposes, not to sell.

Making comments as you just did makes some of  us wonder if your a person that members want to deal with. Your just making it hard on yourself. Sometimes it's best to back off and not write anything. If you want to be respected, and possibly liked, keep negative comments to yourself.

Maybe.

I am just trying to understand the actual mindset here.  I am absolutely, blatantly, and openly doing market research among the people most likely to be interested in purchasing engines.  I am absolutely transparent in my aims and methods, and in my excitement for these elegantly simple engines.

You still have a chance to redeem yourself here.

Maybe, and maybe not.  Since my goal is to learn about the engines and eventually sell them, and even the largest group of enthusiasts is reluctant at best to even engage in a discussion, is there anything worth redeeming here?

It has nothing to do with attitude. It's just plain common sense.

It registers as battered spouse syndrome, to me, or Stockholm syndrome.

To wit:

Guy says, "Hey, I'm importing crap anyway, anyone want engines to ride in the container?  Here are the terms..."

Others say, "You'll never get it done.  Nobody here, who complains constantly about not being able to import these machines, wants to take your offer.  You are a scammer.", neatly doing the EPA's work for it.

That was the gist of the question I asked 32coupe.  Is the reluctance to say "Yes", the flip side of the EPA's abusing people for years, to the point that they are unwilling to take an opportunity to alleviate the problem, for one shipment?  Would that reluctance be alleviated, and the pent-up demand for the engines be freed to find its supply, if "air compressors" are imported and sold?

"It didn't work before, except for the times it did, but we weren't going to take that opportunity earlier, so we aren't going to take it now."  :-)

I mean, that's fine and all.  No problem for me, since I don't need to make an extra trip with a trailer to Fastenal.  I am (was) willing to be vetted by an admin (but how do you contact one?)

Everyone's gotta be new to a forum sometime, and still inexperienced with deciphering model numbers and so forth, until knowledge is completed.  Folks here act like that's a crime.

Not my problem, any more.

I admit I have been skeptical about this whole thing.

Not nearly as skeptical as I am about it, at this point.

The thing is we have seen this before, even as far as guys "stocking" engines, and what we have seen is that
the sales just don't "weigh out".  The "market" just isn't there.

But, is that because nobody has sold "air compressors"?

Selling diesel engines is one thing.  The potential customer base knows they're illegal to import qua Diesel engines, and who wants to hassle with something that's just going to cause problems sooner or later?  Take what you can get, when you can get it, and curse the EPA on message boards.  The pent-up demand moves slowly, because why make plans and risk it?

I want to try to square the circle, if I can.  The compressor conversion parts are laughably simple, and I'm willing to work with (and pay a reasonable fee for) a shop to prototype the parts.  That's my gamble.  The other part of that gamble is this question:  If the supply was available legally, by the simple expedient of removing the air compressor widgets and reinstalling the fuel system, would pent-up demand for the engines find its supply?  What kind of mark-up would the market yield, without trading on the "gray market" exclusivity of the product?

The big thing in my mind is the shipping. I see those 1115 engines on the web from China in the $260 price
range. But the question is what does it cost to get it to me in Florida ? I mean if you live in Montana and are
able to get them to you for anywhere near that price I bet it's at least twice that to get it across the country.

My experience with that has already been that the Alibaba sellers use $260 as an opening bid.  By the time you get what you're actually looking for, you'll spend 1.5x or 2x what their list price is.  You decide then whether the bad taste in your mouth is worth it or not.  If I can import a few, yeah, the cost won't be $260 or whatever someone lists on Alibaba.  It should also not be the $2195 or whatever the guy in Canada (someone selling pellet mills or some such...) charges for LD1115s he brought in and stocks as compressors.

I paid $2500 for a large trailer full of stuff to come from Seattle and up to my farm.  The freight for my batteries was $1300 or so from Seattle to the nearby town.  Nothing is cheap.  I'm paying the freight to bring stuff from Seattle to here, anyway, so bringing in engines whose freight has been at least somewhat paid for is a natural thing.  I'd drop them at Fastenal on a trip to town after I'd gotten them sorted, for the final leg.  Their rates aren't bad, last I checked.  Even with the 30% markup, I'm still probably a few bucks down, over all.  That was why I figured it would be reasonably cheap (but not free) advertising, of sorts.

Until we can build robots to make toys like this here, for us, because humans here sure ain't gonna do it, you have to decide whether the price is worth it.  The goods are literally coming from half a world away, so that has to be built into the cost structure, and adjusted into the mindset.

I do wish you the best. If you are able to work things out and provide engines I would consider a couple for
myself. Again, the deal killer would probibly be the shipping.

I appreciate the well-wishing, truly.

Now... Here's the question I have, though...

You say you'd buy engines if I was able to provide them.  I can't provide engines on a regular basis, because it's a little bit illegal to do so, apparently.  I could potentially provide air compressors, legally and on a consistent basis, in the future.

I'm importing catch-as-catch-can, to fill corners before the S truly HTF.  I'm one of those guys.  I'm hoping to find a softish landing selling reasonably-priced, human-scale ag machines to my fellow countrymen, so they can try to keep eating when the depths of the coming economic depression are really plumbed.  Call me a visionary, or deranged.  That's what I foresee.  I'd like to be able to help others help themselves, while also helping me along some, too.  You gotta start somewhere, eh?

The point is, well, there probably isn't a point...  I can't take a bath on the air compressors, and I certainly won't get rich, but is there a market for them, if they can be brought in legally and sold in commerce, and if a small stock of spares can be cached here?

PhunniPharm, we dont know you. I would reccomend that you get in touch with the administrator and have a background and credit check done. The people on this forum have the right to know who they are dealing with.

If you are legit than people might start trusting you. But, the way I see it you have lots to prove to be cleared to try to sell air compressors here.

I can respect that.  Who's an admin?

I lost a business years ago (beer bar in a sawmill town in Missouri, if that matters), and never monkeyed much with the banking or credit systems since.  I paid off 40 acres and built a cabin with cash in hand.  My credit is crap.

I'm open to a background check, or whatever.

ZR185nm it is .. Have you decided a payment system?

I will set up a PayPal account so I can track all this separately from my personal finances.  I'll let you know details in a PM, when it is ready.

Here is how I read it for the one I would like to get.
Z185nm

Roger that.  Did you have a brand preference, or would a Sanjia clone be sufficient?

This is my impression of the nomenclature:
<...>
I will update this if I find anything else or if anyone else knows any other nomenclature on these engine.

That's gold!  Thanks!

The engine supplier lady said roughly the same thing, but added:

ZS engines are larger than ZH engines, physically.  Looking at them from the outside, the biggest design difference seems to me like it is a bigger gear case on one than the other.  This tells me that the ZH engines may not have internal balance shafts, where the S and ZS engines might.  I have asked about that, and the lady says she will send pics, too.

ZH engines can be had with direct or indirect injection.

ZS are direct injection

S are Sifeng (or Sifang?) designs, indirect injection, and seem to be kind of the "big block" counterpart to the R engines.

LD and KM are Laidong design.  This supplier does not sell genuine Laidong engines, but clones built by Sanjia.  I suspect this might be the same for other designs.

SD are Shandong designs.  The supplier says their SD engines are made by Shandong for Sanjia, and branded Sanjia.  I'm a little skeptical, and am working on sourcing genuine branded Shandong engines from a different supplier.

If anyone wants genuine, branded engines, I will try to track down quotes on those.

I've asked for a spreadsheet and exploded parts diagrams, so anyone interested can pick their poison for spare parts.  We can put together a spreadsheet for her, or something. She says she will see if she has that available.

I would like to purchase one ZR185 electric start, condenser cooling indirect injection if possible..
Is this how you want the list to go?

I want to get terms straight here...

By condenser cooling, you're talking about the radiator with belt driven fan, that mounts on top of the water jacket?

Not the evaporative cooling tank.