new member, biodiesel question

[farmerdave]

I just purchased a new L3130 HST with a Land Pride mower. I found this site very helpful as I agonized for months trying to decide which tractor to buy. We recently purchased and moved to a 37-acre plot on the Oregon coast. The land is mostly forested, but has several acres of pasture (unused for years), along with some significant amounts of wetland, lots of blackberries and a rambling 60 year old farm house.

I have been wondering about using biodiesel. Does anyone have experience using it in newer Kubota tractors? Would it harm or shorten the life of any components? Also, would use of biodiesel void the warranty?

Thanks for your help. I look forward to learning from this site.

 

[KubotaTrax]

There are 1000's of web sites about biodiesel.
Just start your search and you'll find all your answers.
You can buy it or make your own...
Good Luck and if you start your own refinery, let us know and keep us informed..
/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[MX5000]

I recently bought a small backhoe off a landscape company. The guy I bought it from (the company owner) was mixing up a big batch of biodeisel while I was there. He runs 2 dump trucks, a kubota tractor (about 30hp), and a bunch of other equipment on the biodeisel. He said he makes it for about 85 cents a gallon. He has some local restaraunts give him their fryalator oil (I could have spelled this wrong, I mean the thing where they make the french fries, onion rings, etc). I guess he makes a batch in a 1200 gallon tank and has to let it set for about 7hrs. before he can use it. He said he just used it as an additive more or less, before the gas prices went up, as it wasn't as cost effective to do all the preparation work to make it while the deisel prices were lower. He did it for "fun" back then. Now, he's talking about getting more tanks and possibly selling it to the locals for tractors, construction equipment, etc.

 

[mangoland]

No problems with the bio. Locally, several farms use it exclusively and aren't looking back. Just filter it well, sometimes we get some residues. It is the cheapest fuel now.

Hint: Use the search function keyword "biodiesel" on this site, and you will find a number of posts.

 

[have_blue]

I just talked to some knowledgable people about bio diesel, and here are some tidbits I learned.

*Bio lubricity is actually better than petro diesel.
*Bio tends to thicken in cold weather, so it may have to be mixed with petro.
*Nobody reports any problems, even long term. Filtration is key.
*Bio can be made for ~$1.00 using waste oil
*Bio can be produced for ~$3.00 using virgin sunflower oil on a low volume basis. Probably ~$2.50 if mass produced
*Bio will never totally replace petro. There simply isn't enough acreage to grow oil crops.
*Soybeans produce only about 85 gallons of oil per acre
*Sunflower produces only about 100 gallons
*Palm nuts produce around 235 gallons per acre

If you can get good quality bio cheaper than petro, by all
means use it... if for no other reason than it smells soooo much petter than petro. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Disclaimer: All figures are ball park!

 

[jhb]

CNN today had an article about some guy who made biodiesel from, among other things, dead cats.

Wouldn't it be cool if we could make biodiesel from septic waste!

 

[have_blue]

jhb,

I would venture to say there is a lot of fats and oils in septic waste.

 

[Rick_Morrell]

Farmerdave:

I run B11 (11% biodiesel blend) in my tractor (L3130) year-round. I have yet to have a problem, even when running in sub-zero weather.


Rick

 

[LBrown59]

I would think biodiesel produced at a refinery would be an entirely different thing than french fry greese that has been run through a strainer.
All you have after doing that is sifted cooking oil.

 

[have_blue]

The process would be identical, just on a different scale. Bio diesel is not just filtered. It is chemically altered with sodium hydroxide, alcohol, and other chemicals.