Bio-diesel? Can I use it?

[Gun guru]

I saw guy at my sons school today and he can purchase Bio-diesel for $2/gallon to use in his JD tractor. Have any of you guys used it before? I need to read my warranty, does it burn like regular diesel? I guess he is going to be buying grease from restarants and he has a machine to make it into biodiesel.
I am thinking even if I can run my tractor with this stuff I would only put in a 50/50 mixture of it in my tank.

 

[Haywood]

Here is a news flash from Kubotas website that talks about it.

Depending on the Tractor you have most manufacturers should have some information.

@ $2.00 a gallon it sounds to good to be true!
prolly some home brewed stuff.
Kubota Bio info

 

[Anonymous-0]

I know a guy that gave it up because;Trips to restaurant with 5 gallon cans to get waste cooking oil,lifting cans into filter sytem in garage, lifting cans back to driveway,lifting to fill car[converted Mercedes by his nephew],dogs went crazy for the car because of smell of french fries and fish,cleaning crud from filter was messy,restaurant for free oil was far down Rt 80 from home.He was an older guy.That was about a year ago.Say him at a meeting last week and he had his Caddy.[Maybe the only Caddy Ive ever seen with ladder racks].Now I dont know about the Mercedes since prices went up.Ill have to ask him.He did get an article in the paper when he ran it.Not helpful info for your question but I guess for a senior citizen like him it was alot of work.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Go to: www.Biodiesel.org and spend about a week reading. I would only use biodiesel from a reputable commercial plant that meets the ASTM Standard and all Dept of AG requirements. Then, be aware that cold weather will cause jelling and stopping up filters. A tractor that is still under warrenty will operate on quality biodiesel at any blend. I would start with less than 20% biodiesel and calculate the price savings. Then if you want to be patriotic use what ever blend or 100% you want. Stay away from home kits. Glycerin at about 10% of the volume of fuel produced will have to be disposed of. This is a sticky, gooey mess, not to mention the dangers of handling methanol. Anything less is not biodiesel and subject to causing many problems.

 

[Coloken]

I'm with rust collector. No way home made stuff in a good tractor.

 

[Steven f/AZ]

Bio-diesel from a reputable station? YES!

Home-brew? Not in any of my vehicles or tractors.

 

[John M]

Why? When done properly theres nothing in the world wrong with it. I dont understand your or col.okens reasons. I was making my own up until a month or so ago. No problems what so ever.

 

[John M]

The glycerin can be thrown away in the trash SAFELY! True the methanol can be dangerous, but like anything else thats dangerous if you treat it with care and respect, its fine. Whast wrong with home kits?

 

[Gun guru]

I would say that if it is blended by a company instead of a home mixure then it should be okay. I cannot trust my new Deere 2305 utility tractor to a possible warranty fuel/engine issue.
If I had an old diesel engine in an old tractor then it wouldnt matter so much.

 

[Ray]

I've got an elderly neighbor that is brewing his own gasoline.He has an old gas well on his property that has to be bailed once or twice a year when the crude oil lowers his gas pressure.He has heated his house and barn for free for over 40 years.He started cooking the crude to get his own gas.

 

[Steven f/AZ]

(quoted from post at 16:58:41 05/16/08) Why? When done properly theres nothing in the world wrong with it. I dont understand your or col.okens reasons. I was making my own up until a month or so ago. No problems what so ever.

Why? Let's see, a new diesel pickup is near $50,000 these days, tractors double to quadruple that price. One goof up and you're looking at a void warranty.

I guess I'm just not a risk taker.

 

[John M]

Thats your choice. But I have to agree, I wouldnt use it until the warranty is up. Maybe smaller amounts til then, fore lubrication. My whole point is I see people knocking home brew biodiesel every day. As I said I personally have been using home-made bio from WVO for well over two years in my 01 Ford and havent had a single fuel related issueThe only reason I have stopped is Im getting rid of the truck, and wouldnt wont the oil in the tank to start going bad before its sold. I am down to about a 10% blend in it right now, and will most likely be back to staright diesel by the end of the month.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I have an 830 Case you could test it on. I also have an 8100 JD you can't test it on.

 

[jm.old]

one note IF YOU GO TO THE kubota PAGE NOTED IN ONE OF THE REPLYS IT is A 95/5 % MIX.. wE HAVE HAD NOTHING GO WITH PEOPLE DOING HOME BREWS AT THIS DEALERSHIP.. THAT BEING SAID ALSO A LOT MORE FUEL RELATED PROBLEMS AS THE PRICE OF DESIEL GOS UP THE QUALITY COMES DOWN.. MORE
TRASH AND BADS FUEL BECAUSE SUPPLYERS ARE GETTING EVER DROP OUT OF THES OLD BARGES AND
TRANSPORT VEHICELS.

 

[tom burlingham]

We have been blending soy oil and diesel fuel 50-50 and it works well for us. I pushed the skid loader to 70% soy to see what would happen and finally plugged the filter when started at 35 degrees.We do not remove the glycerin,because that has a lot of energy in it and that is why we blend and burn.The soy is used cooking oil that I clean up with a centerfuge in a heated tank.Our tractors burn about a gallon per hour less on this blend.I do not consider this a winter fuel,because we farm in the summer.