Oil & Fuel Which diesel fuel to use?

[Anonymous Poster]

Garagesmoker, here in Texas the road taxes are waived on fuels, gasoline or diesel, used on farm. I don't know your state but here the taxes amount to about 40 cents a gallon! You usually can get it through farm coops or bulk fuel dealers.

 

[Daryl]

All the old farmers in my area say "use the off road stuff".
If it is what they use,it is good enough for me. Old farmers are some of the smartest people I've met.

daryl

 

[Soundguy]

In florida, the off road diesel is just that... if it is run off the road, you buy 'off road', and avoid the raod tax. Doesn't matter if you are farm, comercial, private, etc. They do add a visible die though, and if an on-road vehicle has presence of this die, dot can fine you. The exception I have seen to this, is still the tractor. I believe for limited on highway use, they are still allowed to use the offroad tax.. and I have never seen a dot stop a tractor to test its fuel for die.

Soundguy

<font color=blue>Poster: dgood1
Subject: Re: Which diesel fuel to use?

I wouldn't publicly admit to doing that.

 

[trailertrash]

for what it's worth:truck driver for going on 30 yrs.(still at it crooked lottery).I fill my tanks every other day-200 gal. 5mpg .@1.50 gal. road fuel or 1.00 gal. red fuel without road tax. A lot of people are more than willing to cheat the gov. out of this tax to save this much,adds up fast,which brings us to the dye thing.When I get stopped on the side of the road in say, West Bye God and they put that clear tube in my tank,put their finger over the end and pull it out the fuel in it had better be clear or my day just went down the tubes.This is why the fuel is dyed , same fuel but keeps us honest.I run #2 down to about 10 degree f. if I'm going to be running (the return fuel keeps it from gelling) if it's going to be shut down, you better doctor it. From about +10 to -10 doctor it , any colder than this I start looking for some #1 to mix in.The reason we run #1 in the winter is less additives to gell primarily the wax or parrifin which is probaly a lubricant , so if you use #1 we treat it .#1 has less oomph so power and mileage suffer and it cost's more. There's a lot more to it but make sure your fuel choice will not void your warranty

 

[JBX]

In the interest of using a renewable fuel, I have been using 20% "biodiesel" and 80% road diesel. The biodiesel I get from Houston is refined soybean oil, but other biodiesel can be refined from any vegetable oil. It seems to help smooth out the engine and the exhaust smells like hot french fry oil.
I like it. Manufacturer claims that the "bio" adds some additional lubricating properties that petroleum diesel cannot. It reduces emissions, expecially NOX.

 

[em14]

Not only is the off road / agri use Diesel cheaper ... my tractors run better, smoke less, and according to the mfr, this is the grade Diesel Fuel one should use in their engines ... But, make sure you don't get caught using it on the road ... the Tax guys have a heavy hand .. they, at one time, were checking Diesel powered trucks to see if they were using the dyed fuel ... that's why it's dyed ...

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I can't remember if it is posted above, but I was told that the penalty for using off road on the road was something like $1,000 plus $100 for every gallon of fuel tank capacity the vehicle holds.

For a pickup truck...with a 38 gallon tank...that's $4,800...ouch! For a large truck...OUCH! OUCH!

Bill in Pgh, PA

 

[Soundguy]

I've got a story about that. Ok, the construction company i work for does land clearing, and just about anything. Sometimes our jobs are pretty remote. We had an equipment operator clearing some remote areas with a bulldozer. He literally had to drive back into the boonies and follow his dozer trail up to where he stopped working the day before. One morning, unbeknownst to him, he ruptures one of his fuel tanks ( the only one with deisel in it.. other was dry ).
So at the end of the day he goes to his truck to leave, and sees this pubble of fuel under his truck, looks under and sees a limb through his tank....

He drained some fuel from the dozer for his other tank, switched the transfer switch over, and drove out. His luck, DOT did a tank check at our shop the next morning and found evidence of dye in his tank. And it was a 1000 fine. He managed to show them what happened, and that it was an emergency. He eventually got out of the fine, but had to fill out paperwork, write letters, and finally they decided to let him go on it...

Soundguy

<font color=red>I can't remember if it is posted above, but I was told that the penalty for using off road on the road was something like $1,000 plus $100 for every gallon of fuel tank capacity the vehicle holds.
For a pickup truck...with a 38 gallon tank...that's $4,800...ouch! For a large truck...OUCH! OUCH!
Bill in Pgh, PA

 

[ditt]

trailertrash, U are so right ! as a old (retired) truck driver and part time farmer and operating a lot of diesel equipment I agree with everything U say about the diesel fuel.......
ditt