Fuel prices....again!

[Dick L]

What exactly was distillate? The old F-20 had the 2 tanks to run on it, and I believe the H I have could run on it, came with a shield and a fan shroud.

I hear everything from poor gas to almost diesel fuel - what was it?

Paul

Kerosene! The wood burning stove in my grandmothers kitchen was replaced with a kerosene stove with oven. When that was replaced with an electric range the kerosene stove was moved to the enclosed back porch and was used to bake her pies and cakes. Also used for canning. I bought a small two burner kerosene stove to speed up our family's canning in the 1960's. Coal oil was used in them as well. We kept coal where I grew up for the oil lamps. Kerosene worked in the lamps but smoked up the globes. Now you know all I ever knew about kerosene and coal oil.

 

[paul]

So, kinda sort of poorly refined diesel or kerosene more or less.

Paul

 

[dlbuck]

welp my take on diesel prices is that it really NEVER started going up till the day they started installing them on pick up's and one ton's . Back in late Aug. of that year i drove my new I H 4300 Eagle 14 miles to put the first full tank of fuel in it . The tractor had a shade over a 1/4 tank after it's drive to the dealer from Ft. Wayen at the factory then from the dealers lot to my buddy's and mine's shop Where he and i did the set up work on his new I H 4300 Eagle . We had fifth wheels to install the all air controlled wet line system and tank and a new set of custom made half fenders over the drive tires . Both trucks came with two 105 gallon tanks . I paid 30.9 CENTS a gallon for a 165 gallon of Sohio diesel supreme the best #2 diesel money could buy . That did not last long though maybe a couple months then it took a ten cent jump and buy the end of 79 we were paying upwards of a buck five a gallon and we were adding a fuel sure charge on every load to offset the prices , that was not much comfort when your sucking down 175-200 gallon a day . back in 1970 while just a driver fuel at the place i was working at brought in by the tanker load of 6000 gallons at a time was 18.9 cents a gallon feeding a small fleet of 6-8 semi's most 318 Detroits sucking down fuel at a rate of 3.5 to 4 MPG . Now with my NEW Semi with the BIG Cummins i was doing 5.4-6 MPG depending on where we were hauling out of and going pulling loads up to 98000 lbs net weight ( yea we hauled heavy totally out law trucking at it's finest ). With the old Detroits a 80000 lb load was a struggle . In the early 80's the diesel power pick up came on the market then the craz for the happy urban home owner that just had to have the biggest baddest crew cab diesel dually 4x4 to haul six bags from Walmarts now set in drive ways and the Kiddiest with there lifted turned up noise makes dot the streets because we just got to have them and dam the cost we got to go . Yea i have a Dodge 3500 cab and chassis 4x4 For work no fancy carpet , no power windows no fancy tires and wheels . A plain ST model that does have A/C that does not work . I bought well used . when i bought it THINKING this would be BETTER then my Ford F 350 4x4 cab and chassis with the 460 as at that time frame DIESEL was less then GAS that i would do better on FUEL MILEAGE then the 460 ( boy was i wrong ) . And Wrong more ways then just fuel mileage . Not long after putting it on the road DIESEL went up above the HIGH TEST that i ran in the 460 no instead of just six Qt. of OIL each oil change now it is 10 and that FL 1 oil filter that buying in the case lots for around 2 bucks a filter now was 12 something . The avg of 14 MPG out on the open road with the 460 i was getting 10-12 out of the Dodge till i ran the over head and reset the pump timing on the Cummins along with the 1280 dollars for the Cummins service set tool kit that one needs to work on one then i was getting around 15 till the ULTRA LOW SULFUR Fuel came out and due to the lower BTU and loosen pony power we went back to 13 MPG . . NOW the OIL companys know they have us where the hair is short and everything moves buy DIESEL and the cost is now passed on on EVERYTHING . And every hick up in the oil supply chain falls back on us and i do not see ANY price fall back as now they have us they sure do not want to give it up . around here ya can see the affect even if you half blind . I see it in the evening just setting on my ft porch as to the LACK of traffic after 6 PM and by 9 you will find more activity in the Cematary things are slowing down big time , the two semi's that use to pass the house hauling plastic pellets from the ware house to the plastic plant on the north west side of town are no longer running 24/7 they are done by 3:30-4 Pm . The local county to the north of me has one of the largest fair in the country , this year opening day had the lowest gate tally EVER at 12 bucks a head to get in and plus the rides tickets and them 8-12 buck sandwiches and i am not sure what price that mony hungry fair charges on that per event People are now in survival mode . I for one am glad the War Dept now works from the house three days a week now and not covering four COUNTYS like she use to . It took a year and a half to get the credit cards paid down when gas jumped from a buck 35 to 3.65 a galllon then add in twice a month oil chages due to the miles she was running four new tire each year and then tires on the Durango did NOT come cheap . And it was not a fuel sipper it drank it like a drunken sailor on shore leave.

WOW, that is a lot of typing, dang near a novel.

 

[a49deere]

WOW, that is a lot of typing, dang near a novel.

I read the first few sentences and then quit!

 

[wh]

WOW, that is a lot of typing, dang near a novel.

Somebody has way too much time on their hands.

 

[the tractior vet]

Saw giant camper trailers, some needed 3 axles, some were pulling a trailer behind the camper wagon with the 4 wheeler toys on the trailer, lining the state highway this weekend, pulled by big and bigger pickups.

So…. Prices are high, but it doesn’t seem to be decreasing demand much. Folks complain while buying more gallons than they did last year? Not really much of a deal then I guess?

On the farm I complain about fuel prices too. But in the grand scheme of farming, it’s a very small portion of the cost per acre of farming.

Fertilizer prices will be a deal by next spring. That can be hundreds of dollars per acre. Price increase here adds up. I’m much more in tune with watching what happens here.

Fuel, I run about 3 gallons an acre, if it goes up to ten bucks a gallon I’m out 30 bucks, it’s not really a big deal on a $1000 corn crop. Other than my whining and gnashing of teeth, doesn’t affect the bottom line all that much.

Paul

Maybe not around you but here man the road traffic has dropped big time , i live on a main state highway and i have not seen one car since 9 PM not one , not one semi coming out of American Standard as they are just down the street a 1/3 of a mile . It is quieter then when nnalert hit .

 

[T@G]

Here in Finland, diesel and gasoline both, costs $11 per US gallon. Id hope i would be lying.

 

[Martin Seebach]

Filled my house propane tanks yesterday....$2.75 delivered.....was pleasantly surprised. September is the cheapest month to fill up around here. Farm diesel (30 cent road tax eliminated) was $5.19. I was reading new sources yesterday and apparently crude oil from the Middle East is easier to refine into diesel, whereas light crude from around here makes the best gasoline.....maybe that's the reason for disparity between the two fuels...around $2 more for a gallon of diesel.

Diesel here, Silicon Valley, is over 7/gal. Gas occasionally over 6/gal. Jesu! We lived in NW New Jersey and learned, fill the boiler tank in July/August. Prices lower and easier to schedule but oh man, 500gal tank. On flip side the tank filled would make it through 2 winters.

 

[Wdj]

Gas around $5 here (Oregon). Just as many cars driving around here most in a great big hurry.

 

[Texasmark]

It looks like we are sitting at about $1.70/gallon for propane in central ND today.

Great price. What minimum quantity and is that the delivered price?

 

[Texasmark]

You were pleasantly surprised at $2.75 a gallon for propane? That's higher than NYS and that's hard to believe!

I never figured out why our prices are so high with Tx. being a big petroleum producer and refiner.

 

[TerryfromSWIowa]

Summer fill yesterday was 1.35 for propane.

 

[ss55]

Here in Finland, diesel and gasoline both, costs $11 per US gallon. Id hope i would be lying.

Ouch, that has to hurt. Was fuel that expensive a year ago there too?

 

[NDIHC]

Great price. What minimum quantity and is that the delivered price?

That is delivered.I honestly couldn't tell you what a minimum might be. We have monitors on our tanks and we get filled when we get to a certain level and the delivery truck is in the area. One time they topped us off with a couple hundred gallons before a cold snap just because they were passing by anyway. That way we never get charged a delivery fee.

 

[MSD]

Propane summer fill yesterday was $1.45 here in Sioux Falls, SD. Contract for $1.65

 

[NDIHC]

Propane summer fill yesterday was $1.45 here in Sioux Falls, SD. Contract for $1.65

I don't even know what our auto fill price is. Seems to me it was around that price. I suppose we will be getting our letter to lock in our auto fill price for the upcoming season pretty soon. The $1.70 that I posted earlier was the spot price for the day, not the contract or auto fill price.

 

[TheBartman47]

North Texas area (north of Dallas) propane fill price was $2.45. I filled and did a pre-buy for more later, expecting prices will be higher by the time I need more. I haven't found a reason why propane has such a wide price range all over the US. I've heard (not confirmed) that most of our propane actually comes from Canada, so South Dakota being closer to Canada than Texas might explain some price difference, but then I've seen prices vary so widely that don't fit that pattern.
My extended family all had propane tractors (father, uncle, cousins, etc.) in the 60s-70s-80s. My father finally got a Diesel tractor in the early 2000s, but still has the JD 4020 propane tractor, and I got the JD 730 propane tractor. We sold the JD 50 propane tractor some years ago... 3rd gear had a chipped tooth and it didn't have live PTO nor a 3-point hitch. It was a lot cheaper running propane back then... looks like a lot cheaper now too with Diesel getting so high.

 

[paul]

Maybe not around you but here man the road traffic has dropped big time , i live on a main state highway and i have not seen one car since 9 PM not one , not one semi coming out of American Standard as they are just down the street a 1/3 of a mile . It is quieter then when nnalert hit .

Well, both the county and the state had seperate road construction projects that closed my road for 6 weeks. Unfortunately the county resurface project turned into a disaster with the subsurface of the road being too far gone to just apply top coats. So they left the project torn up for a month while they drew up a new plan, then totally shredded up all the tar and a little gravel and started over. They are working on it today again. We hope they are done by the time harvest starts. We are starting our 5th month of roads closed on the 4-6 week project…..

So, no, I haven’t seen much traffic here either!


More on topic, I think we all like to complain. I sure do. Egg prices too high. Beef prices too high. Hay prices too high. Fuel prices too high. Try and buy a tractor, Sheez…. Remember when flour prices were too high, wheat prices climbed to $20+ a bu over a decade ago? Almost no wheat was out there very little sold at that price it was phantom bidding to get farmers to plant more wheat, but oh the hand wringing everyone getting rich on 20 dollar wheat and breaking the backs of town folk…l

There is always a crisis, and we always complain. Anyhow I do, and it looks like most of us?

But, we make minor adjustments and carry on anyhow. Things change, prices go up and down out of our control.

Some prices are down, we kind of forget that because it’s not something to complain about.

I remember when gas prices were 29.9 cents a gallon, pretty much all over for a long time. Once in a while there was a special at 26.9 cents a gallon. Dad would put $5 of gas in the car, he didn’t want to spend too much at a time.

The oil cartel crisis came along and prices evened out at 79.9 cents a gallon. Oh the hard times, dad had to go to the pain of putting $10 of gas in the car to get to half a tank. Didn’t want to spend too much at a time you know.

We survived.

We will survive this as well.

I wish gas was $2.09 or so like it was before the virus hit. Let me tell ya….

But I’ll drive around 95% like I did before.

Paul

 

[Fred Werring]

I am low on all farm fuels. I have been holding off hoping for better prices. Looks like I guessed wrong again!

You're not alone.
Back in February I remember thinking that I needed diesel, but I'd wait a couple months 'cause it always goes down towards summer.
That worked out well.

 

[Fred Werring]

Somebody has way too much time on their hands.

Yet here we all are, reading and commenting