Do you fill your tractor after every use?

stevenf · Jan 5, 2005

My operators manual says the best way to avoid condensation problems in your tractor tank is to refill it everytime you are finished using it. I have only had my tractor since November and I'm having a fairly major problem with water in my tractor tank.
How many of you TBN'rs refill your tank after every use please respond if only to say I do or I don't.

I think I'll change my name to desperate Steve the Fuel company is coming in the morning to inspect their tank and fuel but once they are done I'm going to install a see thru water trap on the storage tank and go by Westmarine and get a MrFunnel this is not fun.
Desperate Steve

johndeere2210 · Jan 5, 2005

I fill all my equipment (gas or diesel) before it is put in the shed /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

DK35vince · Jan 6, 2005

I have never filled any of my equipment until it's needed it and have never had any water/fuel problems..
I have 425 hours on my Kioti DK and have never gotten around to changing a fuel filter on it yet.

Cliff_Johns · Jan 6, 2005

Actually, I'm not sure I understand the concept though I've heard the rule too. I seems to me that I have a 5 gallon plastic tank in the tractor and a 5 gallon plastic can that I fill from. So if I pour a gallon from the can to the tractor, what have I accomplished? Either it will condense in the can or in the tractors tank. Same amount of air either way.

Cliff

WhiteRock · Jan 6, 2005

I currently do not. I do plan to start though.

I put 5 gallon in my M9000 at the beginning of the day. I am at 20+ hours now and am loosing level. No water yet. I am down to a half tank. Guess I'll have to get another can. I think I am about an hour north of you.

sassafraspete · Jan 6, 2005

I used to be notorious for running my car tank low... and sometimes took a perverse pleasure in seeing other people sweat when they thought I was close to running out. On one vehicle, I had it down to a science.... the guage would read empty, and I knew how much farther I could go at that point...and would casually mention the gas gauge to passengers, just to see how they handled it. Most get nervous.

Anyway, what's that got to do with this post.....well I have changed my ways, especially after reading about the bleeding / priming that must be done if you run your tractor out of diesel. Therefore, being reformed, I now always try to top off my tractor tank after use....unless of course my 2 - 5 gallon cans are empty.

As for water management.... my tractor tank has a filter in the filler neck....so if any water does condense in my 5 gallon can.... I think it gets caught there. So far I haven't had any water issues. My tractor and cans stay in my temporary tractor barn (tent)...so don't get direct sun...as say an outside above head fuel tank would.

WhiteRock · Jan 6, 2005

Your tank is openly vented. As we have temperature and pressure changes, an air exchange occurs in the tank. When the temperature drops, the fuel gets cold. When the dew point spread closes due to temperature, condensation forms on the tank walls. The larger the surface area and more humidity, the more condensation.

Keeping the tanks full reduces the surface area and therefore condensation. This only happens under certain conditions. I have seen tanks very wet from this condition.

Plastic tanks do not have this problem because of thermal conduction. Metal tanks act as a heat sink. The cold fuel make the metal cold causing the condensation to form.

Dargo · Jan 6, 2005

I have to fill my 5030 after each use. With only an 11 gallon tank, you can almost see the fuel gauge move! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Apparently it needs at minimum a 20 gallon tank. On smaller tractors I had in the past, I only filled them when they were down to about 1/4 tank. I never had any issues. My Kubota diesel powered Grasshopper mower runs almost exactly 8 hours on a tank of fuel. I always wait until it is below 1/4 tank before I fill it. That is my reminder to grease all the grease fittings on it! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif I've never filled the tank without greasing it. I used it two years in commercial use when I first bought it, and since it has been used to weekly mow my 12 acre yard. I don't recall at all how many hours it has on it, but when I changed the blades at the end of this last season, not a single spindle (wheel or mower blade) showed any slop at all! I think it is 6 or 7 years old now. So, that reminder system works well. Once a year air filter change, twice a year oil filter change, and the greasings at each oil change, and it is really showing zero wear! Hmm, I've never changed the hydro fluid or filters! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif I guess this thread is a good reminder. Aw heck, I'm likely at a few thousand hours by now. Oops! Guess what I'm going to do today!!

Egon · Jan 6, 2005

When the tractor is working hard I fill at the end of the day to be ready for the next day.

For casual use fill as required.

No fuel guage so I also have a tendency to inspect the bottom of the tank for debri, water etc on a regular basis.

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

RalphVa · Jan 6, 2005

On my Gravely I just fill it when it needs it, generally 1/2 to 3/4 way down. It doesn't have a gauge.

With the fuel gauge on the JD 4010, I plan to only fill it when it gets down to the red area (about 1/4 of the 3.4 gallon tank). It uses only 0.5 gallon/hr; so it takes a while to use the tank up.

Haven't had a water problem in the tractors. JD has only 10 hours so far though, about 350 on the Gravely.

In 27 years of driving a diesel-engined car, I've NEVER had a water problem. I always carry a spare fuel filter for if I do but have never had to replace it unscheduled. On gas engined cars, I've had water problems twice. Had to drain the tank on one. The other got rid of it by running the engine hard (missing and sputtering while doing so, of course).

You just got a batch of diesel where they pumped down low in their tanks. Not sure how they handle water in those underground tanks.

Generally, if you pump diesel through a filter and then into a water decanter, the water will drop out. I've a filter with decanter on it that I'll affix to a line off a tank if I ever get a tank. Otherwise, I've had that thing for more than 20 years and have never installed it. Could never figure where to easily fit it underneath the hood of the 2 Benzes. Benzes don't have water decanters, incidentally.

Ralph