Hey guys I was looking on the net last night and i saw a whole heap of cheap chinese loaders in the US? I thought they where not allowed to enter the country because of the EPA laws? Is there some way around this like classing it as farming machinery? or dose the farming gear have the same laws?
I know ag equipment has the same pollution regs as construction equip. I have no idea how the chinese stuff came in, unless it was just brought in w/o asking anybody. If you find out I would like to know.
Thanks Mitch if i do find out anything i will let you know it really has me wondering how it got in as the engines are only tier 1 or maybe not even that
The EPA regulations are pretty complex and convoluted. And I have learned more about emissions tiers in the last 6 months than I EVER wanted to know The current Tier 4i has been brought into effect in stages based upon industry and horsepower. There are some complex regulations regarding "credits" based upon dates of compliance and date of engine build. I would doubt the Chinese loaders have accumulated any "credits", though depending on brand of engine, they might be using engines built and certified prior to the implementation date of the Tier level for that horsepower engine. It is also possible they are actually legal by using a brand of engine that meets current EPA Tier 4i regulations. The Chinese themselves are starting to impose some regulation on engine emissions based upon a presentation I recently sat through for exports of equipment to China...
As far as I know as long as the engine is EPA approved then it can be imported. The Chinese manufacture could have bought EPA approved engines to fit into their loaders.
Another thing to consider is that not all engines need after treatment or DPF's to achieve T4 compliance. Maybe the engines are T4 compliant without the need of any extra exhaust treatment components?