Engines

Gas

The threshold for relatively inexpensive engines is 19 hp.

• 27 hp - $980 - $36/hp - [1]. And needs muffler.
• 24 hp - $870 - $36/hp [2]
• 22 hp - Briggs - $29/hp - [3]
• 20 hp - Kohler $700 - $35/hp + muffler - [4]
• 19 hp Poulan - - $20.5/hp - $390 - [5]
• 16 hp - $350 - Poulan - [6]
• 16hp - $330 - Duromax, $20.6/hp - [7]
• 7 hp - $99 - $14/hp - but no electric start - [8]

Diesel

• 65 HP - $6300 - $100/hp [9]
• 200 up - $50/HP - $10k - [10]
• 360 HP Mack used - $10/HP - $3600

Considerations

• Until an open source engine becomes a reality, engine repair is expensive. $50/hr, easily comes to the new engine price for the $300 gas engine. This indicates that small engines are essentially disposable goods.
• For the large diesel engine, parts are expensive.
• Until the advent of the open source diesel engine, engine costs remain 10x as high as they should be.
• Until the OS engine, disposable engines are a suboptimal but acceptable strategy to keep costs of engine systems low.
• It is an immediate priority of OSE to develop open source small engines, $11B market (see Market Size) and larger ones are more like 200 billion

Engine Links

1. 500 &U 1000 hour lifetime - [11]
2. Pellet-fired stirling engine buggy - see PDF file
3. Several links to various engine types including Sterling, Wankel, Steam, etc. [12].