Fuel

[Anonymous Poster]

What will be the effect on the tractors with the removal of the Sulfur in the Diesel Fuel, within the next few years? Will we have to add additives to the fuel or will this be a GOOD thing for everyone?

 

[Bird]

Gman, I don't really know what will happen with the older tractors that are using the "high sulphur" fuel now, but I think nearly all the newer ones are like Kubota which recommends a "maximum" of .5% sulphur, so I don't think we'll be affected. Just one opinion, of course.

Bird

 

[JimBinMI]

Bird,

My 1999 NH TC18 has the same recommendation of sulfur content no more than 0.5%.

JimBinMI

We boys and our toys!

 

[TomG]

As I understand, the sulfur issue has to do with injector pump lubrication. Sulfur adds lubrication, and many diesel fuel additives are supposed to add lubrication for older tractors that are running the currently low-sulfur blue diesel.

I'm guessing that the injector pumps on newer tractors are engineered for low-sulfur fuel. However, I wonder if the Kubota max-sulfur recommendation is a mechanical engineering or an environmental issue. A question is whether higher sulfur red diesel would hurt the machine?

 

[Bird]

TomG, I've wondered whether the high sulphur red diesel would hurt anything or not myself; still don't know, but don't intend to use it anyway. One fellow told me several years ago about his new John Deere simply dying a couple of times, and says they finally figured out that something in that red dye was stopping up the fuel filter. I asked the distributor where I buy my diesel (in a 55 gallon barrel) about it and he said there's no problem if you use it promptly, but that he wouldn't keep it any longer than about a month (even though I add Power Service conditioner to mine). Now I have no evidence either way as to whether either of these guys knew what they were talking about, so you can take it for what it's worth.

Bird

 

[Von]

I have an older (86') B8200 and I just got 35gal. of the red diesel from the farmer down the road. It might be my imagination, but it seems to be running smoother ever since I switched over to it. Seems to have more power as well. I have been buying over the road diesel in 5 gal. cans once a week. I just got sick of carting it back and forth and paying all the tax. I guess the older tractors like the high sulfur.

Von

 

[Bird]

I have no idea just when the tractor manufacturers changed to the low sulphur recommendation. I have one neighbor who has two gasoline, one propane, and two diesel tractors and the diesels are his newest ones (1972 and 1976) and he prefers the high sulphur fuel in them, too.

Bird

 

[Mark]

I researched the issue of using .05% sulphur "On-Road" diesel vs .5% sulphur "Off-Road" diesel by talking to fuel pump manufacturers, experienced diesel tractor/truck owners, diesel truck/tractor mechanics, and ag equipment fuel suppliers. The general consensus and fact was that sulphur provides needed lube properties to fuel pumps. The main reason we have "high vs low" sulphur fuel ratios is primarily due to EPA requirements. This is much the same issue as the old "leaded gas vs unleaded gas" and smog converters. It is true that tractor manufacturers will update their engines to meet US EPA restrictions, hence, we have newer engines that can "deal" with low-sulphur fuel.

I use the high sulphur fuel for my L3600 and have never had any problems with plugged filters or associated fuel issues. The fuel is within factory recommendations, and I also use a plastic fuel barrel (60 gal) with hand pump. It was recommended that if I keep the fuel for over 60 days (fuel supplier) that I add a quality fuel additive such as Stanadyne. I also change my fuel filter at half the factory recommmended hours just in case. A fuel filter is the most simple (5 minutes) and cheapest ($4.00) filter to change on the tractor.

I feel very comfortable with my procedures and have learned to trust the experience of the experts (not necessarily tractor salesmen). Good luck.

 

[TomG]

Mark's usual detailed and research response, supports my suspicions. Maybe manufacturers are in effect telling their customers that they have to comply with EPA requirements, and the recommendation has little to do with mechanics.

It sort of reminds of the early days of unleaded gasoline. As I recall, lead added lubrication in the valve guides. Manufactures re-engineered the guides to accommodate unleaded fuel. I seem to recall that you couldn't use leaded fuel in a new engine, not because it hurt the engine, but because it destroyed the catalytic converter.

Yesterday, I added diesel additive to a couple new jugs of diesel. It's very yellow stuff. Reminds me of sulfur. It would be ironic if we're all paying higher prices for the almost 0% sulfur diesel and adding the sulfur back in through additives.

Oh, I bought a couple of big plastic syringes at a feed store. It was sort of a pain trying to figure out how much of a can of additive (for treating 500 liters of diesel) should go in an 8 gallon fuel can, and then trying to guess how many capfuls, say 15ml, would be. The syringes work great, but I test them with each type of liquid I use. Doesn't seem a good idea to use something in them that's going to dissolve them.

 

[TomG]

With apologies: I got my Marks confused. Guess I've been out of school for so long that I can't get my mind around more than one Mark at a time. The response is detailed and researched never the less.