5030 and California, it is really too bad you had those problems with the fuel. It sounds to me like you guys got some poorly made fuel. We had a bad experience when we were first trying it out. At that point we were buying biodiesel and we ended up getting poorly made. Gummed up our fuel filters and made our tractors smoke like crazy but luckily we caught it soon enough and drained it out. That inspired us to make our own biodiesel so we could know the quality of the fuel we were putting in our tanks. We have made just over 10,000 gallons of biodiesel over the past 6 years and run it in our '99 JD6110, mid 80s JD 2155, '73 Massey 135, Kobelco 5 ton mini-excavator, '97 dodge cummins, and variety of VW diesels with no serious problems that can be attributed to biodiesel use. We do mix with petroleum diesel in the colder months to avoid the fuel gelling.
If you feel better about buying fuel instead of making it get a pHLip test
pHLip Biodiesel Field Test Kit || Instructions or something similar so you can do a field test of the fuel before you purchase. However that test is only for 100% biodiesel.
For those wanting more info about using biodiesel check these links out
Utah Biodiesel Supply - Biodiesel Processing Supplies, Equipment, Processors and Information - Biodiesel Homebrewing
Education | Piedmont Biofuels
For those thinking about trying to make your own, the very best resource is called the "Biodiesel Homebrew Guide" by Maria "Mark" Alovert. She used to have info all over the web and sell this guide for about $20 but about two or three years ago she disappeared and so has all her information
. So if possible find that one. Otherwise the two links above give you some pretty good information on how to do it.
One of the best ways is to just try making your first batch in a 2 liter soda bottle. Utah biodiesel supplies sells a kit to do that size experimental batch but you dont really need to buy the kit if you are willing to tinker a bit. That is how we started out.
