Diesel additive, is it a must?

[brandoro]

Well said. Well said indeed. I trust my bulk LP supplier explicitly.
But I am small time on diesel use. For that, my "supplier", unfortunately, is a corner gas station and Nope, don't trust them on this issue. Cannot take the chance.

My sentiments exactly.
If I was buying bulk fuel I would expect to get knowledgeable answers, buying from gas stations I might not find anyone who knows there is a 'summer' and 'winter diesel. More likely they would think it was like me asking them if they had any 'winter' air to put in my tires for cold weather. In the fall if I need fuel I will by about 15 litres (3-4 gal) in a fuel can to get by until the weather is cold enough that I am sure they will have winter diesel, then I will take the slip tank in and buy 200 litres (~53 US gal) for the winter and will put additive in, just in case. I don't mind having winter fuel left over in the spring but I really try not to have summer fuel left in the fall.
Comes back to being cheap insurance.

 

[dmccarty]

I don't usually put an additive in my diesel trucks. I am sure I have once or twice but for no real reason. The truck burns 32ish gallons every two weeks so the fuel is used up pretty quick. I buy fuel from one of three stations and have for years without a problem. Now it does not get THAT cold down here compared to you but we do have our cold spells. Last year we were in single digits.

Now the tractor is a different issue. I always put a fuel conditioner in the tractor when I add fuel. The tractor can be sitting for months with the same fuel in it so I think the few cents on the conditioner is worth it.

Later,
Dan

 

[coobie]

Is it possible that the gas companies already put additive to the fuel for the winter season? Cause when I did ask my dealer what to do, their answer was to keep the water away and try to keep your tank full. Did not mentioned anything regarding Stabil or the 9-1-1 stuff.

Maybe our diesel around here contains the right stuff since were are in a Nordic country?

Does anyone knows?

Ho, and while I'm here, I was reading another thread on oil and you can put motor oil in a diesel engine? Would you really do that since your motor is not spec'd to do so

I live in Michigan and yes I use diesel treatment year around in my dodge cummins diesel pickup,kioti diesel tractor,Kubota diesel ZTR mower and Kubota diesel RTV 900 utv.I have never had a problem with gelling yet.I highly recommend doing some research and read this report the spicer lubricty test.Some folks will call diesel additives snake oil,to each his own.I am a firm believer in them.coobie

 

[Hoosier Hay Man]

I add it to my bulk tank at home as I don't use it fast enough. I am worried about moisure causing some algea growth. I usally use it up with in a year. My tractors I also add a little as they set most of the winter. Full tank is a must. If you ever pull your diesel cap off a tractor setting in a pole barn in the winter you will see some miosture on the bottom of the lid even with a full tank.

My diesel truck I fill up at the local Coop station. They have contracts with the local fire department, ambulance, police dept, school busses and a few trucking companies, I figure they are a bit under pressure to provide a fuel that delivers under all conditions. They also turn over their fuel often. They are hooked into a cross country pipe line as well and the regional bulk plant is across the road. It can't get much fresher than that. They also blend soy oil at the the same plant if you want a soy blend. The other big plus is they use all Illinios basin sweet crude oil. They own their own refinery on the Ohio river in southern Indiana. It is 100% American fuel. I guess what I am saying is they take a lot of pride in their product and we are lucky in our area to have such a quality supplier. I have seen on more than one occassion other X brand transports pulling out of their tank farm. I know they own some coops in southern Michigan as well and it may be availible there as well. Good Luck!

http://www.countrymark.com/retail.cfm

 

[QRTRHRS]

Think of it in terms of vehicle insurance. Usually required these days but no one in their right mind would be without it.

 

[radioman]

well - since you are located in canada - chances are your feul is mixed for winter. However, are you willing to take that chance ? Find a old timer in your area and ask him about diesel in your area.

Putting dirty old oil in tractor. Not in mine! too new and I am not hard up for cash to point where I need the tractor. If I had a old diesel equipment probably from 60's that smokes alot when running, I probably would dump the old oil in there after running it through centrifuge.

 

[CurlyDave]

I put an algicide in the fuel, and have read the labels on a lot of fuel conditioners and they mostly don't have this ingredient.

As far as anti-gelling goes, it can't hurt, but probably isn't worth the expense in my area.

 

[RichZ]

I bought my first diesel tractor a few years ago. My other tractors are gassers, and I never had to worry about this. The service manager of my dealer told me to use Power Service all year. Not only does it stop the diesel form gelling, but it adds lubrication. A bottle goes a long way, and it's not expensive. It just another part of preventative maintenance.

Do you HAVE to change your oil? Your tractor will run for a long time if you don't, but you'll eventually have trouble if you nelect changing your oil. Same thing with the diesel additive. Changing your oil or adding diesel additive is preventative maintenance. If you want trouble free operation, you don't want to neglect PM.

 

[Aaron_D]

Short answer, Is it required No, your machine will run just fine if you never run any additives.

There are two thoughts on the issue, save your money or its cheap insurance.

Myself, I run PS 100% of the time. I don't use my machine for commercial use so i fill infrequently, for $10 a year i dont have to worry about it whatsoever. In addition additives boost the cetane numbers and provide lubricity. Cheap insurance IMO. If nothing else, its peace of mind.

 

[smfcpacfp]

This is a question that you should ask your diesel manufacturer, not members of this forum. The manufacturer should represent a pretty unbiased source of information on the subject. I doubt if anyone here has conducted scientific tests to see if this stuff is anything other than snake oil.

If you ask people on this, and other forums they will tell you it is cheap insurance, but it really isn't cheap on a per gallon basis. How do they know it is insurance? Well they believe it on faith. It looks like most people use it, so I should too. I guess I have bought into that logic. Certainly the additive sales information says that, but is it true? Have we all been duped by the snake oil salesmen?

I also use it in my tractor, but I never used it with my diesel car and truck which I got rid of 20 years ago, and they went a long way and never suffered engine failures.