Using LP tractors

[notjustair]

Does anyone here still use an LP fueled tractor somewhat regularly? How do you go about refueling? I've got a couple of gas tractors here that get used for a few things and are handy as an option rather than using a big tractor. I have regular gas delivered for those machines but don't have any LP on the farm currently (but I do have a 500 gallon tank that isn't being used).

My uncle's auction is coming up and he has an LP Minnie Mo. It would be kind of fun to have if it goes cheap and I could use it to grind feed instead of the Farmall I use now.. The thing is, I have no idea how much I would really run it if fueling is a pain. He has had two LP tractors for years and literally pulls a 500 gallon home tank on wheels around the farm. I'm guess DOT hasn't seen his setup. It strikes fear into my heart and I'm no wimp.

 

[RedGreenGuy]

Used LP tractor for 10 yrs. Had gas company install (John Blue) pump on my 1000 gal tank. Make sure you use gloves and googles when refueling. Liquid LP super cold. Will freeze flesh on contact.

 

[1349]

Yes use them all winter for feeding and chores and in summer to rake hay. Once you learn the properties of LP, are equipped to refuel and feel comfortable with it, you will wonder why anyone would pour gas in a tractor. I have been around LP tractors, combines, trucks, power units etc all my life. Best GAS you could burn in any engine in my opinion.

Diesels....another story....they are the best of course.

 

[da.bees]

I've had propane tractors for 50 years. Fueling is simple but there's obvious danger of accidental ignition of escaping fuel while filling tanks. There's also danger of frost bite from escaping fuel. The only specialized equipment required is a storage tank(same as used for homes)a valve on tank capiable of drawing liquid(some home tanks have a liquid valve but most don't) filler hose between storage tank and tractor tank. Some advantages of LP fuel,no gummed up fuel system from ethanol,exsteamly clean burning, can be stored indefinatly without going bad,normally cheaper than gasoline when buying 200 or more gallons.

 

[fixerupper]

My father in law used to have a propane ÜB they ground feed with every day of the year. I say 'they' because his sons did the chores and grinding. That old ÜB was so beat up and abused it was pitiful but it remained as faithful as the day is long. I don't remember them ever using a pump to fuel it. They didn't use gloves or goggles either but there were a lot of things they did that a normal person wouldn't get away with.

 

[Dan in North Houston]

I have a JD 630 LP, and I got it just to have something different. Have a 500 gallon propane tank and my distributor put a wet line in and showed me how to use it. Fueling is a little bit of a pain but nowhere near the pain of handling 5 gallon gasoline cans. I use the tractor regularly for disking and dragging areas of the pasture that the wild hogs tear up. The chance of a long term power outage in my area is low, but we've seen areas without power for weeks after a hurricane comes through. It is nice to know that I have a PTO generator and a tractor with enough fuel on hand to last for a really long time.

 

[da.bees]

Only reason to use a pump is faster fueling and save's a few ounces of fuel at each fill
up. I've never owned a pump. Gloves and goggles are a good precaution,same as a few other
chores in the shop.

 

[craigco]

I have a 3010 propane that I got last fall. It has a loader so I used it this winter for dinking around. No problems. Far as fueling I live a mile from a gas station that does propane so I just drive it down there and they fill it up. Also got a hose made so I can hook it to a BBQ bottle to get it moving if it were to run out of gas. The old fuel gauge is off 1/4 tank.

 

[rdandersom]

If you are thinking of a smaller unit used close to home you might want to consider a forklift style fuel setup with the tanks that are about the size of beer kegs. When I was driving one I could get a full shift plus of steady use out of a tank and change tanks in 3-5 minutes.We even had a big rental unit in with a 4.3 chevvy engine that used the same fuelling system.If I were thinking about LP I would talk to somebody that is using LP forklifts.

 

[Texasmark1]

My first JD was an LP 4020 for which I paid $5k with worn paint and rubber, thrilled (I thought) at the opportunity. Unknown to me at the time, was the reason for, and were these 6 little holes along the middle of the block with several of them leaking fluid. I later found out that these were "weep" holes deliberately manufactured in the block to tell you when your wet sleeve seals were leaking. The fluid told you if your cooling or oil seal was shot. The problem on this tractor was that it had been overhauled previously and the lame duck doing the job didn't know that the orange seal went one place (water end of the wet sleeve as I recall) and the black one, Neoprene probably, went on the oil end.

Fueling, starting, operating, and fuel efficiency were all problems. I overhauled the engine. I installed a new fuel regulator. I sought technical assistance. I this and that trying to find a steady diet where it would consistently start. Trying to start it hot was a bummer. I sold the !@#$%^&*()_ thing at my first opportunity!

I bought a 100 gallon "nurse" tank that you could roll to the field (had auto/truck tires on it) to "nurse" it through it's day. Usually I used a good part of the tank to get through one day of hard plowing. Sitting behind it was a bear in the summer. You couldn't refuel it in 100F weather. It drank LP. I hated it.

So it doesn't qualify as "using today" because I learned better, but I did have one and that's "The Rest of the Story", Paul Harvey!

 

[Bret4207]

(quoted from post at 23:38:17 03/14/17) He has had two LP tractors for years and literally pulls a 500 gallon home tank on wheels around the farm. I'm guess DOT hasn't seen his setup. It strikes fear into my heart and I'm no wimp.

DOT has absolutely nothing to say about off road use, on farm use, etc. It applies ONLY to Commercial Motor Vehicles used on public roads. Just sayin'.

 

[notjustair]

Oh, I have no doubt it was frequently on the blacktop. Much of the field work was down the highway a ways. Imagine pulling that 500 gallon
tank with wheels and a hitch down the highway behind the tractor and plow. Whew.

 

[moresmoke]

I would rather pull a LP tank down the highway than anhydrous ammonia... If it is a tractor that you want mostly for sentimental value and not use too much, I would look at hanging a forklift tank somewhere and run off that. If you are going to use it more, you should be able to fuel off your 500. Most tanks that size or larger have a luquid valve on them.

 

[Ted in NE-OH]

Talk to a Propane company, they can get you set up to fill a tank on a tractor, that is there business.

 

[Ronnie Budd]

Five of my eight tractors are propane powered. My Chevy Kodiac that I use to pull a backhoe trailer is propane powered. Fueling is simple and done from my 500 gallon tank that heats my house. It has a wet leg and fill hose attached. No pump. I just hook up the fill hose, open the bleeder valve on the truck or tractor, and the propane happily goes from the 500 gallon tank to the machine. It's much easier than carrying fuel in 5 gallon cans to my gasoline or diesel tractors.

The LP tractors will start in cold weather when the diesel will not. The gas tractors will start, but have to warm up before they can be used in cold weather. The LP tractors take very little warm up time. I like LP power.



The only "special equipment" you might need, other than the fill hose, is a thick pair of gloves. Liquid propane will cause freeze burns, but a pair of gloves prevents that.

 

[VicS]

I too had a 4010 lp. John Deere. My story is the same. A friend had 3 4020's same story. Had to run them out of gas before shutting them off. Then carry a gasoline squirt can to squirt in intake. When it hit turn on vapor valve. Then liquid after warmed up. If you killed it hot, we just pulled it. Or waited. But a Moline with same gas regulator will run and start fine! Put a gasoline carb on mine. Curred it. Started and ran fine. But not as good as a diesel.

 

[LarryH]

we have 8 lp tractors and 3 lp trucks and love them and at .99 per gallon whats not to like but we invested in a lp tank and a bottom drain tank to fill ours faster

 

[rpllr]

Most of my tractors I use are mm l.p., some I do not use very often and may sit several months before I need them. That is why I like the l.p. so much, the fuel never gets bad, it is clean and you will never have to clean a fuel system like a gas tractor that sits for a period of time. Fueling them is easy like others have said with a tank and a liquid withdrawal valve just bleed the tractor tank and the pressure from the big tank will push it in.

 

[Bret4207]

(quoted from post at 10:57:58 03/15/17) Oh, I have no doubt it was frequently on the blacktop. Much of the field work was down the highway a ways. Imagine pulling that 500 gallon
tank with wheels and a hitch down the highway behind the tractor and plow. Whew.

It's still not a Commercial Motor Vehicle and Federal DOT and the FMCSR don't apply. Hazmat regs may, but there are ag exemptions for hazmat.

 

[Texasmark1]

I too was out looking for a gas carb and couldn't locate one.

 

[Texasmark1]

For a long time here the propane guy was also the JD 730 farmer. Propane truck was always at his field. No body ever said if he gassed his tractors for free. I left that company because when you would call for propane, he'd get to you when it was convenient for him (and his farming).

 

[Texasmark1]

Yepper, I'll give you the cold weather starting for the LP but you also can't fill worth a crap since the propane static pressure is about atmospheric.....you can pop the top on a propane tank at freezing and not much will come out. So getting the gas out of the 500 gal house tank liquid line (which I also had) or the nurse was still a PIA.

 

[Texasmark1]

My nurse tank had a bottom drain where the tractor fill hose was attached too. Also had a dial with a vent screw whereby you twist the calibrated dial till liquid came out and that was your tank's contents. House tank wet line was on top.

 

[Texasmark1]

I do like that feature with my Generac house generator. 250 gal. dedicated tank that stays 70-80% making for adequate pressure 365. My tractor was in constant use so it didn't matter.