Biodiesel?

[freedomlives]

Anyone here actually used biodiesel or even straight vegetable oil in a walk behind tractor with a Lombardini engine? I found some things on Lombardini's website saying not to use more than B20 for some models of their engines, but nothing is written at all about the fuel for the LDA 510 / 3LD 510 (I assume these are basically the same engine, just the named changed).

My wife isn't happy with the diesel exhaust fumes, particularly as the instructions for the engine say to let it idle for 5 minutes after starting.

I've run my car (VW TDI) on up to 100% sunflower oil, and the wife never complained about the smell of sunflower oil exhaust from the car, though she always notices the smell of diesel exhaust from the car as well if it has to sit and idle in the driveway.

I suppose the fumes from biodiesel or vegetable oil are healthier (or less health-harming) than those from petrol diesel.

 

[jaotguy]

still the same hydrocarbons ... just a different smell ....

BIO ( depending on hows it was made and PH balanced ) runs as clean ...

improper PH balance and you end up cleaning your fuel system too ( AKA gumming up the filters )

BIO doesn't work well at lower temperatures and gels into a goo ( reason for max of B20 ) ...

straight veg oil and you coke up the injectors when you shut down ( bake any accumulated oil deposits to the injectors ) ... always start and end on real diesel and you avoid the coking ...

straight veg oil has a different viscosity ( usually slower flow rate) than diesel and should be raised to 160 F to match diesel ...

 

[freedomlives]

I think there is a difference in the impurities or something. Several years ago my highschool had an "alumni breakfast" and the speaker was a guy a few years ahead of me who had started making biodiesel for his father's delivery truck fleet. Anyway, he mentioned that some EPA testing of biodiesel (I can't remember if his particularly or just generally biodiesel), using a standard protocol for analysing exhaust gasses showed biodiesel exhaust was not carcinogenic. The test was a cage of rats that got a small percentage of exhaust constantly mixed in the air for up to three months. Every few days a couple of rats would be killed and dissected. With normal petrol diesel, there would be tumors in the rats starting to appear after a couple of weeks, but with the biodiesel, no tumors were apparent for the length of the experiment (I think three months, or until they ran out of rats).

I can rig up a dual tank-- small extra tank for petrol diesel, veg oil in the main tank, some valve to switch between them. This doesn't help the 5 minutes (! given in instruction manual) of idling at start and before shut off though when I would run it on petrol diesel and it would be near the house. I guess the wife can just hide inside until that part is over.

 

[aczlan]

Seems that 5 mins is overkill unless its below 30F. I would just idle it on the way out of the barn and on to where you are going to use it, then go lightly for the first few minutes.
On the return side, just go easy on it for the last 2-3 mins rather than running at 100% load till you are done.

Aaron Z

 

[jaotguy]

usually a 6 way valve is used with a timer circuit .. start on diesel , warm up a bit and move off ... the timer automatically switches over to bio and run on that .... a few minutes before going home , press the timer button and switch back to diesel and drive for a couple of minutes to purge the system and setup to start on diesel again ....


burning bio or diesel still creates particulates ( soot of sorts in the air ) that should not be inhaled ( as well as C0 ) ... the effects on the lungs will show up sooner than cancer ( usually ) ...

the real drawback to BIO is if it is not properly prepared, some of the animal fat and acids will remain in suspension .... these clog up as well as eat the aluminum housings of most pumps .... $$$$$ out the window ....

the another setback is that straight BIO doesn't fire up as easily as diesel on cooler mornings




and if it gets too cold , the stuff gels and can't be drawn into the injector pump ...

if you live in a warm / hot climate year round , this is not a problem

try adding Castrol oil to the diesel to change the smell of the exhaust for her

 

[freedomlives]

Castrol oil? Or castor bean oil?

Thinking about it more, I'll save any attempts at dual-fueling experiments for next summer. The equipment is in the barn about 25 yards from the house. My wife is bothered when the neighbors 100 yards from us have their tractor idling there. Once I'm gone up the hill (we live in the bottom of a small valley), she won't be bothered whether it is on diesel or biodiesel or SVO.

I guess the good thing with the walk behind tractor is that the exhaust is going out at the level of my knees when walking, at foot level when riding. Not like so many older, four wheel tractors with exhaust exiting at head level of the operator!

Given that the new-to-me machine is 25-30 years old, I guess a tune-up of the engine might help as well.

 

[jaotguy]

since the engine is older than 10 years old , it's best to add some regular 30 to 50 weight engine oil ( a couple of ounces ) to the tank of diesel for more lubricity ...

the low and ultra low diesel is thinner than the old stuff with sulfur in it , so the extra oil helps lube things and reduces wear ....


if the unit is running well , there's no point in a tune up ( except to lighten your wallet ) ... just an an oil change and filters ....