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?
