Kubota and Biodiesel

[KennyV]

cityfarma
You raze a very valid point ethics usually take a backseat to everything. KennyV.

 

[Reg]

One POSSIBLE drawback might be limited "shelf life".
Not an issue as long as you're burning a tank or two a month, but if you are an occasional tractor player and leave the tractor under a tarp for a few months it might go sour.
Alternatively, a good excuse to put in some extra seat time, "Gotta burn that old fuel off Honey, b'fore it goes bad on me."

 

[perdurabo]

This is an old thread, but I figured an update was in order. This is Kubota's official statement concerning biodiesel/SVO:

Kubota Engine America - Compact Diesel Engines

They also explicitly state:

"The use of biodiesel does not affect the Kubota warranty for material and workmanship. However, any failures attributed to the use of biodiesel, or any diesel fuel, are not factory defects and will not be covered under Kubota's warranty."

So, unless they can PROVE the failure was caused by your choice of fuel, they will still honor your warranty.

I've put thousands of miles on a 2003 VW Golf TDI and a 2003 Dodge 2500 (Cummins common rail) on STRAIGHT vegetable oil, NOT biodiesel. personally, I'm no fan of biodiesel as it still requires the use of petrochemically-derived methanol and lab grade KOH or NaOH to make (no, you cannot use corn-based ethanol or woodash lye for transesterification). If you had the proper equipment and sufficient land, you could be nearly self-sufficient fuelwise by using straight vegetable oil. With biodiesel, you are still a slave to the oil/gas companies for your methanol. The Elsbett company in Germany has been converting production diesel engines to run on SVO/WVO for decades. Criticisms about WVO/SVO causing coking of cylinder heads are mostly BS thrown out by uneducated chicken-littlers or people who have a stake in the oil industry's monopoly. This problem does happen but only to those who improperly design or install their system. If you use well-filtered (2 micron or better nominal) and most critically WELL DE-WATERED (preferably done by a centrifuge filtration system) non-hydrogenated oil like canola, sunflower, peanut, or soybean in a system where the oil reached at least 165F before flowing through the injectors, there will be no coking.

 

[GravelRoads]

An update for this older thread. Check the model number to see if the machine can run B5 or B20 and what maintenance changes are needed.

https://www.kubotausa.com/service-s...ules/lubricant-maintenance-schedule/biodiesel

 

[bunyip]

A friend of mine teaches mechanics (heavy diesel machinery) and assesses fuels and oils, he advised me never to run bio diesel in my vehicle as i DO NOT DO THE MILES, he said that when it sits for any length of time it seperates and one of the components is water which is not good, the other point was unless you are using metal fuel lines it can cause it to deteriorate and perish.
Interstae transports are fines as they are running thousands of km's non stop and get through the fuel but urban and a few miles week do not.
They do some interesting testing including oils, have a few big Mac engines on test benches and run them on the red line until they blow up, seize or whatever, serves a twofold purpose, shows which lubricants are longest lasting and gives the students about 10 engines to analyse and rebuild each year, they do similar tests with fuels and leave them sitting for weeks at a time to see how they deteriorate.
As it is the armed forces money seems to be no object.
(sorry about the caps lock, just noticed)

 

[David_Kb7uns]

We have no choice here in Oregon, all diesel in Oregon is B5 and many stations are pushing B20 because it is 20-30 cents cheaper because the state is forgiving the state tax on it to promote sales. One fuel sending unit replaced later and cleaning up 2 other ones and switching fuel lines to Gates Barricade Fuel Hose as they fail.

4219BG Barricade(R) Fuel Hose (35-5) [Barricade(R) Carbureted Engines] | Fuel Line Hose | Engine Hose | Fluid Power | Gates Corporation

David

 

[RalphVa]

Hello:

Was wondering what the scoop is (no pun intended) with kubota B series tractors being run on biodiesel? What are Kubota's feelings in regards to warranty?

Thanks

Eric

If you use bio or B20, be sure to change out your fuel filter after the 1st or, at most, your 2nd tankful of it. The bio will clean crud out of your fuel tank. The crud will end up in your filter.

In 32 years of running the old style diesels (220D and 240D Benzes), the ONLY time it stopped was on my 3rd tankful of B20. I called Benz to come get it because it was raining, and I didn't want to change it out myself. Had a spare filter in the trunk. Always carried the next new replacement filter in the trunk but only ever needed it that one time. Never tried it in the VW TDI, as Exxon had quit marketing it by that time.

Ralph

 

[thepumpguysc]

Ralph.. its probably a GOOD THING you didn't put it in the TDI.. they do not like it..
I've worked on thousands of those pumps just for the simple fact that the customer ran bio..
The inj. pump is "fuel oil" lubricated.. meaning the pump is full at all times w/ fuel..
& when you shut your engine down, the fuel SITS inside the pump.. & depending on usage, the fuel will separate.
& being that mdl. gets great fuel mileage, the fuel usually sits in the tank for a GOOD AMOUNT of time..
An "in-line pump" will tolerate bio fuel MUCH BETTER than a "rotary", fuel oil lubricated pump.. just for the simple fact that the fuel isn't "sitting" in the pump.. weather it be a passenger vehicle or farm equipment.. the facts/results are the same.