Any place there's "dirt" there are Detroit Diesel 71 series parts and knowledge :-) These are the most common engine series in the world I believe...in the millions. Cheers Dave & Nancy Swan Song Roughwater 58 Limin in Honolulu

Sorry .. not quite true. There are lots of Leylands (UK) in parts of Africa. DD almost non-existent or rare (depends on where you are). There are lots of Valmets (Finland) in parts of Africa.(depends on where you are). There are lost of Sole (Spain) in Spain and around Spain. I have no idea on India, but suspect it might be UK manufacturers and local Indian stuff. I have no idea on China, but suspect it is almost completely Chinese, with maybe some Cat. Scandinavia will have almost no DD. French, not sure, but suspect it4s some CAT4s and local stuff, from what I have seen around there. Germany - suspect it4s none to very little DD, from what I have seen around there.. Thailand, bit4s of this and that. In Spain, we found one, count it 1, DD engine and parts, for a semi-displacement heavy engine in the DD series (dont remember the model). Was about 5 years ago. About 12k, iirc. Sure, DD4s are in the millions in the "americanised" areas, south america, caribbeans, etc. Europe, India, Africa, Australia account for quite a large part of the world, afaik ;] Today, anywhere else in the world (not us or near-us), you can get anything freighted anywhere. The delays + customs are typically longest and most expensive in the caribbean and south america, and everywhere else it4s pretty much a case of paying freight + value added tax + export parts cost. Ie europe, china, africa, scandinavia - in general nobody cares if you pay the freight + taxes. Often, the parts are not too expensive. VAT is around 20% worldwide. Customs are 1-5%, so not a lot. Freight is cheap, unless you are in a hurry. Note- I specifically exclude south america + caribbean from this, where delays and costs are often heavy as many have seen. As an example, I have had freighted to me a 150 kg Mig welder from Australia (300$), a 150 kg bridgeport milling machine head (US) (400), 10 treadmill motors from the US(200 $ for10), etc etc. The biggest costs are UPS/DHL is you use them with *their default options*. Example; UPS standard was 1500 $ for Bp head. UPS (freight) called UPS- supply chain services-, was 400$. You pay tax on (part + freight + agency ) * 16% or so. So the wrong choice on freight ! will mean that your 400$ part is part-400 $ freight-1500 $ agency-200$ subtotal 2100 * 16% = 336 $ VAT total 3436 $ Of this, taxes are only about 9%, and having the correct freight charge at first, drops the total cost to; part-400 $ freight-400$ agency-100$ subtotal-900 $ * 16% = 144$ total 1044$ or 70% cheaper ! The dealer markup + delivery on a 400$ part is often much higher than the difference between 1044 $ landed cost, with your freight charge. Note that with freight delivery is included, and a dealer will often squeeze you more than 500$ on delivery, especially on an expensive part. I would submit that parts availability is a non-issue. Get the most reliable solution you can, and carry as many spares as possible. Wherever you land, it is very unlikely that they will have parts in-stock, at us retail prices, on-site. After that, it makes no difference, whether you get a John Deere, DD, CAT or Sole part delivered. In practice, I doubt anyone will need to fly an engine block in. For anything less than that, it is unlikely to be a big deal. Of course, conflict situations (do you want to boat there), remote far north (no people or infrastructure), sand deserts (no-one ?) mean you have to be as self-reliant as possible. These are the main reasons I am in favour of dual engines. You can always get one engine to run, from 2. The lack of efficiency, say 10%, is best solved by going with smaller engines, going slower, or bigger tanks. I favour smaller engines, myself, but agree arguments can be made every way. I would not worry about engine brand - a Valmet, Saab, or Sole commercial continuous-duty engine will run just as well as anything else. A diesel mechanic anywhere in the world, accustomed to working on one brand, will be able to make your engine run, of another brand, if you have the parts, manuals and or specs. Usually, they can make it run with none of the above, save for electronic controls. The further off the beaten tracks you are, the more accustomed they are to working with "marca acme". > Any place there's "dirt" there are Detroit Diesel 71 series parts and > knowledge :-) > > These are the most common engine series in the world I believe...in the > millions. > > > Cheers > Dave & Nancy > Swan Song > Roughwater 58 > Limin in Honolulu

DD is now owned by a German company. I believe it is MTU. John Deere engines are manufactured in France. Parts availability should not be that difficult in Europe. I specifically recall one list participant obtaining DD parts in Hong Kong. DD is prevalent throughout South Africa. However, the gentleman who selected Cummins knew what he was doing: < http://www.cumminspower.com/en/locator/ > Similarly for John Deere: < http://www.deere.com/en_US/deerecom/index.html > Caterpillar's website isn't as friendly, but they have 20 dealers in China and listings for most other countries in the world. Ron Rogers