Diesel Progress North American

MARKET REVIEW
Diesel-powered ride-on trowels provide a single fuel type for contractors who already own other diesel-powered equipment such as laser screeds, compactors, rollers and skid-steer loaders. a gasoline trowel it’s another set of containers to worry about. They don’t want to carry separate cans for gasoline.” Fuel economy is another benefit of diesels, added Wiese. “You get much better fuel economy out of a diesel,” he said. “It’s extremely efficient at putting power to the ground.” Tightening emissions regulations on both the diesel and gasoline en- gines are creating new challenges for ride-on trowel manufacturers. “The whole EPA/CARB and tiering is hav- ing a big impact on us,” said Allen. “Certain engines are going away. They have to be recarburated and they’re losing horsepower. “We have to adjust. We might have to go up an engine size to get the same power we had before.” Aftertreatment will pose another challenge for ride-on trowel manufac- turers. “We’re looking at that right now,” said Allen. “We’re going to have to mount it somewhere on the ma- chine. It’s a challenge we’re just trying to address the best we can with limit- ed options.” Regardless of engine choice, the ride-on trowel business has been hit hard by the economic downturn and most manufacturers don’t expect much of an upturn until 2011. “It’s lev- eled off and it’s starting to come back, but how fast is it going to come back?” Wiese said. “It’s going to take a little bit for us to get over this. In the same instance it’s up to us to still do everything we can and help people into new product that meets their needs and provides the efficiencies to compete in today’s marketplace.” dp

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