Oil & Fuel Diesel Fuel

[John Weaver]

I know this is a simple question for most, but I don't know the answer. Just bought a JD 790 and want to know the best diesel fuel to use. Local service station has "Off road, high sulfer, dyed fuel" and also diesel for use in on road vehicles. The owners manual says to use .05 % sulfer content maximum. I am not going to use enough fuel to be concerned about the cost (if you own a tractor, you already know how to spend money). I would like to use whatever is best for the toy. Thanks in advance, John.

 

[Bird]

There may be folks who'll respond who know more about this than I, but I say, "Don't use the high sulfur diesel." I have a neighbor who uses it in his 5 tractors, but his newest one is a 1976 model. If I were you, I'd just use the regular #2 diesel.

Bird

 

[John Weaver]

Bird, is the #2 diesel the stuff on road vehicles? John.

 

[MChalkley]

John, yes, the best stuff for newer tractors is the on-road (#2) diesel. That's what they're designed for. You can find off-road fuel that's low-sulfur, too, but the problem with off-road fuels is that in most places the stuff turns over so slowly that you end up with stale fuel, water, algae, and all the associated problems.

Mark

 

[richh]

Ok so if you get #2 fuel oil is that "high sulfer" ??? I burn the same thing fuel oil in everything. Have a 250 gal. tank at the house. My old tractor was a 1986 pre. low sulfer I think. When I ask the fuel suplier they say its all the same, just diff. dye. But then I see the high sulfer stuff at some of the truck stops??? IM going to call agin.
RICH

 

[Bird]

Yeah, John, Mark's already answered your question. I used to buy mine 5 gallons at a time at the local service stations, but now I buy the same fuel, but directly from the distributor in a 55 gallon barrel and get the farm fuel price (of course you have to have papers on file with the distributor that you've signed saying it's for farm use, none will be used on the highway, none will be resold, that you won't buy more than 10,000 gallons a year, etc.).

Bird

 

[TomG]

Just curious if the warning to use only low sulfur diesel is due to new design or to environmental law? If it's the design that's new, I wonder if a diesel additive (that improves injector pump lubrication) is still good idea.

Of course, these questions make no never mind for my mid-80's 1710. Too bad my only close red diesel dealer only has #1.

 

[John Weaver]

I have been doing a little research in the internet today. What I found at one site is that low sulfer is .05% and high sulfer is .5%. My JD 790 instruction book specifies that I should use .05% max., but if I use .5%, I should increase the frequency of oil and filter changes. It also says that on-road diesel is .05% sulfer. I guess I will stay with the on-road diesel. Bought sone today for 139.9 $/gal. (vs. .999 $/gal. for the off-road stuff).

 

[John Weaver]

Sorry, sulfer = sulfur. Never did like spelling class!

 

[W5FL]

JimBinMI will get his spelling checker after you. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I use on-road diesel, too because it is fresh and available and I don't burn a lot of it at a time. My outlook will change when I get a storage tank for it and I will probably try to find the low sulphur but take whatever they have. My tractor specifies Use grade No.2 Diesel fuel at temperatures above 14 degrees F and No. 1 below 14 deg F. If it is below 14 degrees F, I am not going to be driving the tractor. The specification for Diesel Fuel Oil ASTM D975 (Bet that's not on the diesel pump) /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif