How to Use Home Heating Oil in Tractor ?

[scott_vt]

Good idea on the filters - a must do.

I love the drum idea. But no barn and no garage Its on the project list. Maybe I should focus on that... Though I love the "neatness" of having a filling station at the side of my house.

How are things in VT now - leaves off the trees? We're getting a nice storm down in Mass right now, the 55 mph gusts will probably strip a lot of the remaining leaves. I love VT - thought of moving there, but mud season would kill me. And y'all have a couple of more months of winter than we do down here by the sea.

Hi Charles,
Yep the leaves are pretty much gone till next year, although we have some oaks that dont let go till thanksgiving and even next spring The good news is that the wind blows so hard where we are, 1200 ft, that I never pick up a rake. The leaves just blow over the mountain into Middletown Springs Works for me Later !

 

[SPYDERLK]

Charlesaf3, the HF pump sells for about $60 and is variable speed depending on how much air you feed it. I will check lift this weekend and let you know. If adequate the setup would be easy given the presence of at least a small compressor. You could essentially run 2 small (?1/4" OD?) pressure and return air tubes along with your fill hose. You would control stop/start and flow by metering air back to the HF pump in the basement. When thru just stop and cap the fill hose.
Be back with you soon.
Larry

 

[Charlesaf3]

Charlesaf3, the HF pump sells for about $60 and is variable speed depending on how much air you feed it. I will check lift this weekend and let you know. If adequate the setup would be easy given the presence of at least a small compressor. You could essentially run 2 small (?1/4" OD?) pressure and return air tubes along with your fill hose. You would control stop/start and flow by metering air back to the HF pump in the basement. When thru just stop and cap the fill hose.
Be back with you soon.
Larry

Thanks Larry! SO the pump is controlled by air flow, not the nozzle? Or could you do both?

Another thought, any reason why one couldn't use pioneer style quick couplers on a diesel line?

 

[LBrown59]

I have a 100 gallion tank on my pickup for red fuel. I always treat my fuel especially since my one tractor is an 83' and the low sulfer fuels don't have enough lubricity for it. I regularly dump treated fuel into my home tank to empty it prior to filling that truck tank. That way, I can easily figure the treatment for 100 gal. Use an engine rated fuel treatment, not one for the furnace.

I also keep a couple of five gallion jugs of fuel on hand in case I need some and don't want to fill the big tank at the moment. I find those to rather unweildy to handle though.

.

Put 3 gallon in them instead of 5

 

[SteveInMD]

I would think you could mount the pump on the side of the house and just run the pickup inside and into the tank. You should have a spare threaded fitting on your tank. You don't have to worry about the pump bring outside. The Fillright pumps are totally weather proof.

 

[MikeD74T]

Our snowmobile club had a 275 gallon tank outside for groomer fuel & another inside for furnace fuel. Two years ago we moved the outside tank inside & plumbed both tanks togeather. Plumbed from pump out thru the wall with iron pipe & installed hose hanger outside. Pump switch is outside, with another inside to prevent theft. Since we use both the furnace & groomer only in the winter we buy our fuel late in the fall & refill in winter as necessary. We run both tanks down at the end of the season so as to get a better price for a bigger delivery. We had condensation problems with the outside tank & have had none since moving it inside. It was very difficult to remove the condensation from the tank at -30F. We use conditioner in the groomer when expecting extreme cold. MikeD74T

 

[SPYDERLK]

Thanks Larry! SO the pump is controlled by air flow, not the nozzle? Or could you do both?

Another thought, any reason why one couldn't use pioneer style quick couplers on a diesel line?

I checked my system performance. It delivers fuel 14' above the pump with no indication of an approaching limit. By interpretation of pumpspec -- 90Psi operating pressure, 3 to 1 delivery of fuel per air use I would interpret the pump will output 30PSI. That is a 60' lift above the pump. This may not be an optimum type system for you, but since I am familiar with pneumatics and have various connectors, fittings and valves laying around it is a perfect, versatile, quick and adaptable setup for me. Starting from scratch, as I think you are, it may be better to go a little different than I have. I just meter air to the pump to run it at the speed I want and then turn air off to stop pumping. There is no nozzle on the delivery hose so fuel just runs out its end unimpeded - - flow of 2 to 4GPM is gracefully achieved. In your case, in order to simplify the system so you dont have to find a suitable air valve, I would buy the the oil dispensing tap for the pump from HF. It is made to fit the pump body, but you could adapt it to fit the end of your fill hose. I assume this tap is a nozzle that can control fuel flow. You would need to verify this with HF tech dept. If so, you could directly feed the pump at a reasonable pressure, say 40psi, thru a regulator. The pump would output about 13psi [40/3] to the closed fuel hose and stall. When you opened the nozzle fuel would come out and the pump would start and maintain flow. This is merely educated conjecture. My concern is that throttling the nozzle may cause the fuel to squirt rather than flow gently. Undesireable but not a killer. The nozzle may be even designed to prevent this.
Larry

 

[Charlesaf3]

Our snowmobile club had a 275 gallon tank outside for groomer fuel & another inside for furnace fuel. Two years ago we moved the outside tank inside & plumbed both tanks togeather. Plumbed from pump out thru the wall with iron pipe & installed hose hanger outside. Pump switch is outside, with another inside to prevent theft. Since we use both the furnace & groomer only in the winter we buy our fuel late in the fall & refill in winter as necessary. We run both tanks down at the end of the season so as to get a better price for a bigger delivery. We had condensation problems with the outside tank & have had none since moving it inside. It was very difficult to remove the condensation from the tank at -30F. We use conditioner in the groomer when expecting extreme cold. MikeD74T

Mike, that's more or less exactly what I'd like to do. What kind of pump do you have? And what sort of fitting did you use between the pump and the hose?

 

[Charlesaf3]

Thanks larry. That might be more complexity than I want to put in. But the price sounds nice, and I do want to run air out the same hole... I'll have to ponder.

 

[MikeD74T]

Charlesaf3, I don't know the brand of the pump. It's a 120 vac pump that mounts on the tank top in a 2" bung. We've had it for several years. Out of the pump was a gas station hose/nozzle. We just put in a piece of pipe & coupling to get thru the wall. This was done primarily because the hose fitting would have required a large hole in the wall & the pipe is a tight fit. As I said we put 2 switches in series for operator convenience, to minimize the amount of running in & out during the grooming season & to be able to stop flow from either end should the hose/nozzle fail. In the off season the inside switch is off. Not knowing how much fuel you use for heat/ tractor, you are allowed 660 gallons in your basement. Buying in larger deliveries can save you a little more by getting bids & taking 4-500 gallons at a time. MikeD74T