55 gallon barrel... "full" of old diesel

Industrial Toys · Mar 29, 2021

Is it inside in a warm place or outside?

I only ever had one Algae issue which was on a JD 770. Who knows why? Maybe it came infected.

Wyobuckaroo · Mar 29, 2021

I would not use it in a motor...
I would use it to treat new fence post ground ends, burn barrel starter, and other uses..

This is apples and oranges..
But a number of years ago I was given about 20 or so old gas cans.. As it worked out I reclaimed about 60 liter of gas, mixed minimum 5 liter fresh gas to 1 liter old gas.. Ran OK in my old pickup during summer..

I personally would not be comfortable doing this with diesel with the differences in equipment complexities to use diesel over gas..

My 5 cents of opinion..

arto98607 · Mar 29, 2021

PaPaGill said:
Diesel grows stuff in it when it sets and not used. As mentioned by someone earlier, it would be good for burn pile and I wouldn't put it in an engine.

Yes, it can start growing bacteria or fungi if water is present, but not without water present.
I have seen it in an old Diesel water separator that was full of jello pudding type of nasty growth.

Addition of small amout of Biobor JF or similar before storage will prevent the growth.

MossRoad · Mar 29, 2021

Industrial Toys said:
Is it inside in a warm place or outside?

I only ever had one Algae issue which was on a JD 770. Who knows why? Maybe it came infected.

It's in the basement of a 4 story building. Nice, warm and dry. However, the filler pipe is outdoors, and possibly not sealed very well. That's something I pointed out to them after I inherited it. Water and contaminates may have entered there.

grsthegreat · Mar 29, 2021

No way id risk injector issues over $90 in fuel. Id use it on burn piles.

Industrial Toys · Mar 29, 2021

Does no one run the OEM filters on their rigs, or do ya all just take them off? My POINT being, is that no injector damaging dirt is going to get anywhere near your injectors and if you have a water seperator, neither is water. Some rigs don't have a water seperator and this IS an issue for water causing damage to injector pump and injectors.

Traditionally, DIESEL here in NA, was considered a Dirty, suspect fuel, hence all the filtration. Like, you never knew what you we going to get. It was apparently an issue, and why all the wonderful Diesel vehicles in Europe, never made their way here, as I heard it once explained. Their fuel was (suposedly) always of a higher standard.

Nice warm Basment 24/7 would be perfect breeding ground for Algae.

grsthegreat · Mar 29, 2021

I don’t have a filter on my 55 gal plastic storage tank for diesel. Never have. I fill container 3-4 times a year, so fuel stays fresh. Never have had any issues.

if I could figure a way to add a filter, maybe I would. Some day I will look into it again

RalphVa · Mar 29, 2021

Richard said:
Neighbor says he's got a 55 gallon drum of diesel that is "full of fuel" BUT is (I forget) maybe up to 10 years old.... maybe he said 5-8. None the less, it's not what you might call fresh from the pump.

I've never seen the drum
He's a good guy (so not trying to pull any fast one)
He does NOT have any use for diesel. Apparently it was left behind when they had a bulldozer out on their 40'ish acres doing work and it was left over from the job.

I could probably use that up between now and the fall just cutting the farm and/or doing backhoe work.

You know know as much as I know (forgot to mention the implication is it would be free to me if I could use it)

Side note, I could use the drum too, presuming it's metal and could work as a burn barrel.

So.... do you trust old diesel like this? Do you dump some conditioner in it and then look at it? I've never been faced with old diesel. I can use it to start my fires but it will last me 5 years or more so don't like that idea.

No idea how to approach this. Moving it might also be an issue unless the lid can lock down on it.

Thoughts?

I was concerned about the 8 year old diesel in the 60 gallon tank underneath the generator driver. So, I worked it down 20 gallon by using in the tractor and then replenished. Working on another 20 gallons now. Still looks great. If it's ULSD, it'll keep well. If older higher sulfur diesel, it'll turn brown like it did in our 1983 Benz when stored for 4 years in 1990-1994.

PILOON · Mar 29, 2021

I Piddle said:
I know our small airport gives or sells at a discount old jet fuel to farmers to use in tractors. Jet fuel is just a different grade of diesel.

Yep, I had a business at an airport and was often given aircraft fuel.
Tractor loved it even more than my pocket book.
Naturally I well filtered it.
JP (jet) fuel is only glorified diesel anyway.