The Derv Doctor

13/04/2026

We have seen a few adverts going on about fuel consumption, in all the years I've been doing this job and the countless tractors we have fixed I've never genuinely seen any attempt to improve the specific fuel consumption. Sometimes you might get a small improvement on certain tasks where you can reduce the engine rpm, but we have numerous conversations weekly where people have had a tractor "tuned" and the fuel consumption is unbelievably poor. We completely recalibrate the software to give an improvement in specific fuel consumption, this is where if you ran a tractor at 150 hp on our Dyno it would use less fuel in an hour to produce the same amount of power. We regularly have customers reporting fuel consumption savings that you would not believe if I told you myself, as they just seem unbelievable!
Anyone can get power out of a diesel engine just by getting more fuel into it, but where the hard work is getting the most work from every litre of fuel!
Don't believe the hype from the fancy adverting, we have been doing this full time since 2001 and have never really advertised at all and we always have kept too busy. We don't just increase the power, we make your tractor run correctly to make the most of the fuel. If you have had a tractor "tuned" elsewhere we can redo the work and you can benefit from better fuel efficiency. We are also looking for local tractors that are not standard to demonstrate the fuel consumption differences..

10/03/2026

This Valtra N111E is the 5th Valtra we have tuned for this customer, he recently picked this N111E up at a local farm sale. Now tuned to 145 hp at the PTO with further adjustments made to improve the specific fuel consumption. We have had loads of conversations recently with customers who have had tractors "tuned" elsewhere and they were bad of fuel. We pride ourselves on making in depth changes in the software calibration to improve the specific fuel consumption for the engine. Basically getting the most out of every litre of fuel it burns. Sadly modern engines have loads of constraints that tie the hands of the manufacturers to allow them to give the best fuel economy. We don't just increase the power of your equipment, we actually tune the engine to run better and make the most of the fuel. We have had loads of conversations over the years with customers reporting fuel consumption savings that you would not think are possible! Just last week we had a customer saying his John Deere 6175R was 20% better on fuel on road work. Anyone can get power from a diesel engine, but it's getting the most from the efficiency from the engine that's complex and time consuming to do. So when you think that you can save £100-200 getting someone to do your tractor that doesn't go far if the tractor is miles worse on fuel!

11/02/2026

Apparently the guy who did this know more than we do... John Deere 6215R with high charge temp codes. The guy who did this removed the turbo. We got asked about a new turbo, I said I cannot warrant the turbo with anyone elses software. But he could have one if he wanted to risk it. Any way we fitted a new Borg Warner VGT turbo and ran the tractor up on our Sigma 50 PTO dyno, the curve was all over the place and the exhaust manifold pressure was sky high at top end due to the EGR been closed with no changes to the calibration to account for the increased exhaust gas flow through the turbocharger. So then fixed the software, straight away we got an error code for the fan speed being low, which would go a long way to explain why it was getting warm and maybe even the high charge air temp errors. We dyno tested the tractor again and as you can see the curve is nice and smooth and it no longer has sky high exhaust manifold pressures as all the software is recalibrated to suit. I was just talking with a friend about it and he came up with a good one. "No excuses. Should make it properly or not at all"

06/02/2026

I found these old pictures a while ago from back around 2005. I started doing this full time in 2001. There are also some pictures from an open day we had in 2006 with my 205 GTi with an Mi-16 engine fitted and my E46 M3. Back then we still did a lot of mechanical tuning on diesels and ECUs on diesels were quite new. The first ECU controlled diesels we did involved changing one time write chips on BMW diesels in range rovers and BMW 325 TDS. I also bought a 1999 306 hdi when I was a year or so old and fitted an intercooler, heavy duty clutch and made it over 160 hp from the standard 90 hp. Things were very different back then, we used to have a queue across the yard of 306 1.9 turbo diesels to have the fuel pump and turbo adjusted. And the popular diesel dump valve! Back then removing any emissions control just involved unplugging the plug to the vacuum egr control....

05/02/2026

Today we have had to re do FIVE tractors that had been tuned or had solutions done by franchises. A John Deere 6120M that looks to have had an attempt at an adblue delete and tune but is showing up SCR cat efficiency errors. 2 x 6155R's that we have done a full turbo kits on due to one damaging the turbo and the other melting a piston another 6155R that would not regen with the solution and it's blocked the DPF solid. A 6250R that keeps on bursting intercooler hoses every few weeks and we have put a 6130R back to standard because it was giving exhaust gas temperature issues even with a new turbo fitted. There are so many people around now flashing poor quality software into your expensive equipment it's truly scary.

25/12/2025

Merry Christmas to all our friends and customers.

10/10/2025

Something a little different this week, John Deere and Komatsu forestry equipment.
Software fully recalibrated to give a good specific fuel consumption saving.

31/03/2025

Our MAN TGE 4x4 will be looking for a new home shortly:-

www.autotrader.co.uk/van-details/202503300758528

31/12/2024

The end of another busy year is here again! We wish all our customers a happy new year 🎉

11/12/2024

Different colour green for a change, Deutz 6160 tuned from 128 hp PTO to 165 hp PTO.

21/10/2024

D M mechanical also offer our tuning and turbo kits in Aberdeenshire
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/zoRVRkyqLvaENaxY/

🚜 **Big Nick's Tractor Tour of the UK: Aberdeenshire** 🚜

You thought we were done with Nick Young's wild ride, didn't you? Well, think again, folks! This tractor-loving lunatic is back at it, and he's leaving chaos in his wake.

Good luck keeping track of Nick Young. One minute he’s in Scotland, then he’s in the south of England, now he’s back up in Scotland again! Is there a method in the madness of his route? Maybe, only he knows…

This time, Nick's making a pit stop in Banchory, Aberdeenshire to visit our good friend Darren Morrison of DM Mechanical Services. Darren's the kind of guy who can fix up any tractor, no matter how stubborn. He's practically a magician with an engine!

We're proud to support Darren and other hardworking trade businesses like his. So if you're in the Banchory area and need some tractor TLC, you know where to go.

Stay tuned, because who knows where this tractor tornado will blow through next! 🌪️🚜

29/08/2024

Collection our new Simga 50 PTO dyno this morning