Converting lawnmower engine to run on diesel with a RC glow plug

Hello,
I saw this on youtube recently and i have a old lawnmower engine (briggs flathead) that i can try this with:



What do you guys think of the idea?

It's possible as this guy has shown



Problem is because the engines compression is too low to self ignite as needed with diesel he's only getting limited runtime (until the glow charger battery dies), if you could raise the compression WAY up and use a automotive glow plug it looks like it could actually work although jetting and airflow would have to be worked out next.

Cool idea though that's for sure!

@Brianator  I just found out that i copied the wrong link and posted it in my post..... The video you have in your ppost was the same one i wanted to put into my post  
But yeah, its probably gonna work. Imma try it tomorrow, I have glowplugs and tools to thread the cylinder head. The old german Lanz bulldog 1 cylinder diesel tractors (10000cc/10liter of engine displacement) had a compression ratio of 10:1, just like most gas engines have. Their cylinder head needet to be preheated till the inside glows. Watch this video to understand what i mean:
 

When the engine runs, the head keeps glowing, so the low compression diesel engine could keep igniting the air/fuel mix. The only thing diffrent on the Lanz bulldog diesel is, that it uses a diesel injector, My lawnmower engine will have to use its carb.

So you know you can embed the video like I have by using the YouTube button above the text box.

Problem with that is you're not going to heat an aluminum head red hot without melting it and I've yet to see a B&S engine with a cast iron head so I think you're SOL in that sense. I don't see why a carb couldn't work, the lawnmower above has a pumper carb and it seems to run decent, who knows when it's under load though.

Diesel also has more energy per volume so there's more risk of the engine breaking something. Be careful, have fun and let us know how it goes!

@Brianator Thanks for the Tip! Maybe i can make a mild steel cylinder head for my briggs engine, cast iron would be harder to machine, when you dont have things like a Mill or Lathe, like me. Im gonna use the stock carb for now, maybe i'll have to mod it. If i get it running, i'll do a load test in high grass. If the engine should break, i have 2 more Briggs engines that i can use haha. If i manage to get this concept to work good, i'll convert a 11hp flathead briggs lawntractor motor to run on diesel.
We will see what happens tomorrow when i give it a try.
I will share my progress with yall!

Personally I’d recommend getting a cheap Chinese diesel. A Briggs won’t handle the torque of a diesel, the connecting rod, head, and most of the blocks are just too weak. If a guy was inclined enough he could do do it on a cast iron Kohler or the like but expect a lot of money invested. You’ll need to build or source an injector, injector pump, and bump up compression. I’d be more inclined to do a super charger on one of these. An 18 horse Vanguard has the perfect intake manifold shape for it, get a little water pump and stick it on, drive it with a V belt and feed the intake of that with a carburetor.

One thing that I have heard before is you use a leaf blower, hooked up with a belt, as a supercharger.
One day...

@Rustbucket Garage @Brianator
So.... I got the mower to run on diesel! Im not sure if it will last long (i dont care if it breaks). Imma test how much load i can put the engine on. I made a video on tiktok where you can see it running:
https://www.tiktok.com/@simsonandiemacht/video/7293962607382301984?_r=1&_t=8goeEkjMPr7
The idea of using a Kohler engine is Cool but they are Really hard to get here in germany, imma keep abusing some briggs and strattons with this tecnique for now.
One thing i noticed: the engine has WAY more tourque on diesel fuel, I applied the lawnmowers engine break in the video and you could barely notice any RPM change. On gasoline however, when applying the engine break on the flywheel (I disconected the grounding cable, so i wont shut off when brake is applied, I only needet this while running it on gas, because diesel did not need the spark plug) you could 100% hear and notice the rpm change.

That's awesome man, good stuff!

@Brianator @PizzaKitty26 @Rustbucket Garage
Sooo, update on the diesel lawnmower: If i start the mower on gas, let it run for about 5 minutes till the tank is empty (only fill the fuel tank with a BIT of gasoline so it warms up) and then Pour 100% diesel in it and activate the glowplug, it runs on 100% diesel without problems- It gets funnier. When I let it run 10 minutes on diesel i can deactivate the glowplug AND IT RUNS WITH THE SPARK PLUG ON 100% DIESEL. This is crazy dude. It even starts back up after i shut if off. And yes, It was running on 100% diesel, there was no gas left in the fuel tank when i pured the Diesel in. When you want the engine to run good, you need to close the choke a bit, when runing it on diesel. It also rolls coal when i hold my hand against the intake and then let go LMAO. When i build my mudmower, imma use the same setup. Gas for warmng it up, and diesel for the rest of the run time. One thing i noticed too: the engine has More power when running on diesel

Man! That is sick! You going to try that on a 11hp next?

@PizzaKitty26 Im probably gonna use a predator 212 clone for my mudmower, i won't run a gearbox/transmission only a gokart rear axle and a tourque converter. I dont need much top speed, only need low end tourque. Maybe i can still try this on the 11hp engine i have.
,

I just tested how long the mower will run on 300ml of gasoline and 300ml of Diesel.
It ran 17 minutes + 35 seconds on 300ml of gasoline and 1 hour + 5 Minutes on 300ml of Diesel. This is incredible!!! It also runs smoother on diesel and it has more power, when i build my mudmower, I will convert it to run on diesel, Gonna start it up on gas and then let it run on diesel.
@PizzaKitty26 @Brianator @Rustbucket Garage

Wow that's surprising and impressive at the same time! I think it's time to move this topic over to the tech area!