The megalomaniacs in Brussels are at it again...

My 4 stroke brushcutter & 2 stroke chainsaw both drink fuel, but my 4 stroke rotavators run for half a day before needing re-fuelling, so I guess it might be an engine size thing rather than 2 vs 4 stroke.

 

I've got to point out that the only reason our industry got transferred to China and India was because of cheap labour, we cant compete on price.

It has nothing to do with emissions, that all happened before anyone started talking about Green issues.

Maybe if the same constraints were applied to their industries they themselves would find they would have trouble competing on price also.
It might just start a level playing feild for our industries.
But at the same time, would we want to pay more.

 

I agree. But none of that changes the fact that we get them to make our stuff, and then whine about them polluting.

 

That's part of it, but in the 2 stroke/4 stroke issue, the 4 stroke will always run cleaner for a given power output, for a few reasons. Firstly, a 4 stroke engine gives a more efficient burn because the entire combustion is physically trapped (by closed valves) whereas in a 2 stroke it kind of relies heavily on momentum of gas flow and aerodynamics for want of a better way to put it. Basically a lot of the energy from combustion is lost through the exhaust, which starts to be released even before the piston has been fully pushed down. The extra power comes from the fact that a 2 stroke fires on every downward stroke of the piston, so the entire cycle from induction, to exhaust is completed in 2 strokes of the cylinder (one up and one down), whereas in a 4 stroke you only get a firing once every four strokes (induction, compression, ignition, exhaust). So the 2 stroke is more powerful, but loses more of the energy.

Probably the bigger issue though when it comes to emissions is the cleanliness of the burn. In a 4 stroke engine, assuming perfect conditions, all the fuel mix is burned (it wont be, because life is never perfect). The engine oil to lubricate the whole process is ideally contained and never burned. Contrast that with a 2 stroke engine, where the oil is mixed with the fuel. Some of the oil will burn, but it is not really meant to. It is meant to remain intact in the combustion chamber to lubricate it, so it is largely expelled as partially burned oil vapour and soot, hence that lovely smell of 2 stroke that used to fill the air at motorcross events before they all went 4 stroke. Even if the fuel burns cleanly, the 2 stroke oil doesn't, hence the emissions concerns.

 

I'd much rather we made it here, but we cant match the price, bring them in line with us on wages and emissions and then see what happens.
It probably wont happen in my lifetime, but one day they will be on the sidelines while Africa takes over the manufacturing.

 

.....And how on earth do they think they are going to 'police' all this? Many people service their own mowers. Or are they going to enforce M.O.T's for everything that runs on petrol/diesel.

Okay, everyone, over to the island! No EU......as yet, and no M.O.Ts here!

 

I'm on my way!!

 

Africa???

 

You're very welcome Val!

 

Yep its the next step.
We are global now as we keep being told, so as the standard of living rises in India and the far east, manufacturing will move to the areas of the world with the lowest wages and amount of people looking for sweat shop jobs.
My guess is Africa, the bit in the middle.