Is it cheaper to leave a tractor running or shut it off?

Question

i live in a rural area and we always see tractors left running in the fields for various amounts of time without moving. always here farmers complaing about gas prices. me and my friend got in an argument as to weather its cheaper to leave them running or why do they do this?

Answer 1

It is hard on a diesel engine to start and shut down and restart. It takes longer because many times you have to heat up the glow plugs to get the diesel to restart.

Diesels have to have heat, fuel and air to start. Gas engines use a coil to make a spark, diesels use compression.

Mainly it is a time thing, but diesels also use much less fuel than gas engines.

Answer 2

This one's pretty simple.  Running engines use fuel.  Stopped ones don't.  Nuff said.