Oil & Fuel Home heating fuel in a tractor??

garbageman · Oct 26, 2003

A co-worker of mine, uses home heating fuel in his 7100. This can't be good. He states it is the same fuel as at the pump just a different color and 33% cheaper. What do you thinK?

Jim_Becker · Oct 26, 2003

It's the same stuff...#2 heating oil is essentially the same as diesel fuel minus some addititves that you can add yourself. It's also legal in most cases to do this since your tractor is not used on the highway. (Tax issue)

If you only buy fuel sporatically and in 5 gallon containers, it's not worth the effort, but if you can budget for a tank large enough that the heating oil company will deliver to you, you can save a bunch of money over time. You'll need a tank and a way of conveying the fuel into your machine...gravity or a manual or electic pump. But be sure you are using the fuel in a reasonable amount of time...

JWE · Oct 26, 2003

I buy off road diesel from a local fuel distributor. They told me that the off road diesel is exactly the same as home heating fuel with red dye added. They put the same fuel treatment in the off road diesel and home heating fuel as they put in the diesel that they deliver to service stations. I used it all last winter and never had a problem. I buy 10 gallons at a time. It saves me about 30 cents a gallon so I really don't save very much money. My BX2200 doesn't use a lot of fuel.

John

RichNJKubota · Oct 26, 2003

I just buy the regualr diesel fuel and pay the higher taxes. Since my tractor is used on the farm (a business) the accountant fills out a tax form and I get the road fuel tax back.

ejb · Oct 26, 2003

I looked into this as well and talked to several oil suppliers...it is the SAME stuff. Last time I ordered my home heating oil I had them put another 250 in my diesel tank...I even ask them if I called up the company and ask them to deliver off-road diesel fuel and some heating oil on the same day, how many trucks would they send to my house..the answer was "one".

Of course you don't want to get caught using the red stuff in an on-the-road vehicle, but if its for off-roa use, i.e. a tractor..go ahead and save the money.

botaman2 · Dec 5, 2003

Everything said so far is true concerning home heating oil v/s diesel. The biggest problrm is cleanliness.Home heating is very,very dirty. We used offroad diesel(home heating) where I used to work,we were constantly changing fuel filters. At home I use reg. diesel,the result is even after 100 hrs. the filter still looks clean. What you save in ppg,you spend in filters. Check the filter on your home heating oil tank the next time that it is changed,I think you will be shocked.

Junkman · Dec 5, 2003

I am using home heating oil in my BX and it runs fine. The fuel is clean and clear.... with a red die in it.... been using it since the dealer filled tank full ran out.......

SkyPup · Dec 5, 2003

Home heating oil is NOT diesel fuel, it contains a minimum of 3,000ppm sulfur and upwards to 7,0000ppms, whilst road diesel contains <500 ppms, usually around 350ppms or so. Not to mention its cetane value is not even measured but usually below 40...

Try getting some <300ppm 50 cetane BP Supreme Diesel and your Kubota will sound like it suddenly became a smooth jet turbine engine, instead of sounding like a Mack truck.

Home heating oil is great if you wish to contaminate your crankcase oil with sulfuric acid and dissolve your crank bearings. Have fun, save a few cents in the short run and pay big time in the long run.... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Junkman · Dec 5, 2003

Your opinion differs dramatically from that of the diesel & home heating supply company that delivers both products. My Kubota doesn't sound like a Mack truck, but if it did, I would have a lot more power....... Mack builds a great product. Just for the heck of it, I will run this tank down and change to "pure" diesel for the next tank full and let you know.... I am curious where you got your statistical analysis information from? thanks

JDgreen227 · Dec 7, 2003

Drove heavy duty diesel trucks for 25 years but never owned a diesel engine until this year. Converted from oil heat to gas heat in our house back in 1993, and never thought about the connection between home heating oil and diesel fuel until I joined the TBN discussions. Amazing, how much useful stuff I have learned from these posts.

Thanks for sharing your opinions !!