We met Michael Newland of the Propane Education and Research Council at the OPEI annual meeting last summer . Following this year ’ s Equip Expo , we spent more time talking with Newland about the state of propane in today ’ s power equipment market . We edited that online conversation for clarity and length .

OPE BUSINESS : When talking about propane in today ’ s power-equipment market , is this a question of batteries versus propane ? MICHAEL NEWLAND : I think people get lulled into a spot where they ’ re feeling very good because they ’ re charging a battery . When you don ’ t see the smoke coming off the coal plant generating that electrical power , you feel pretty good about it . Propane is going to be cleaner than that electric grid , and in many cases by a significant amount .

Gasoline and diesel are the dominant forces in this space , I don ’ t want to make it sound like we ’ re going to take 90 % of the market back from electric because it ’ s not there yet . Of all the spaces we could be today , from all the power options , I ’ ll take the spot that we ’ re in versus gas , diesel , or electric power .

OPEB : Let ’ s quantify that spot you ’ re in right now . In the world of landscape professionals , how many are using propane ? NEWLAND : Some fleets in the top 50 companies in the country are using our fuel exclusively and doing it very effectively . By that I mean the engines are performing as intended . And we do have a huge fuel cost advantage over gasoline and diesel fuel . From an emissions standpoint , those crews are able to work any day that they want . They don ’ t have to worry about attainment days with propane because it ’ s clean enough they can cut even when big cities have attainment zones on certain days due to weather . So their uptime is significantly better .

OPEB : What objections do commercial users have to implementing propane ? NEWLAND : Some users want to stop at the corner gas station and grab fuel and a coffee . With propane , you have to do more planning . But look at the benefits , the cleanliness of the fuel , the emissions are clean , the engines stay cleaner . You can stretch service intervals because our fuel doesn ’ t carbon up on the inside of that engine like other fuels do . That ’ s a big win . Fuel loss in the industry has been challenging for some . You know , while the crews are at the gas station , maybe a gallon or two goes somewhere it shouldn ’ t . Those issues go away with propane ; we don ’ t have any theft problems .

Michael Newland

OPEB : How about the cost of propane implementation ? NEWLAND : When it comes to fuel cost , the guys using it now are never leaving propane . They are winning on a cost basis . The economics favor propane . The emissions favor propane . There are a lot of positives . Do we wish there were more OEM offerings ? Absolutely . Today , every unit run on propane around the country is from an engine conversion . We continue to talk to the OEMs about that . Would it be easier if we could get that from the OEM ? Absolutely it would be . But we have proven companies making proven products , and they ’ re performing incredibly well .

At one time , most OEMs had a SKU that ran on propane . But with supply chain issues , especially during COVID , they were worried about getting gasoline engines out . They focused on the gasoline market . That was the overriding message with some of the folks I met with at Equip Expo this year . They ’ re finally in a spot where there are enough engines to go around in the space . Last year , everybody was still scrambling for engines .

Editor ’ s Note : Scag sells a model of its Turf Tiger II powered by a Kohler Command Pro EFI Propane engine . Visit : www . scag . com / product / zero-turn-riding-mowers / turf-tiger-ll

24 OPE Business December 2023 www . OPEBusiness . com