dealing with rising diesel cost

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OK, since I got the fuel oil thing started, are they going to hit me with the whoopin stick for using fuel oil in my tractors?



The wifes uncle first told me you could do this as he did it with a diesel welding truck he had, claims he never had a problem and even used it in big trucks for a while, maybe the fines have changed significantly?



I really dont want to have go buy diesel to run my lil putputs around.:(



.
 
red fuel is "off road" any thing thats not regularly "driven" on the road can run red fuel
 
That's 40.3mpg, not shabby in the slightest.

My gas guzzler would only get 37-38mpg @ 75-80mph on fuel that (locally) costs 18% less than diesel.

Comperatively that'd be 43.66mpg from the diesel to break even in fuel costs per mile. My cheaper vehicle burning cheaper fuel while requiring less maintenance and greater fuel availability doesn't leave me wanting for much for a 2 person road tripping vehicle or for the 25 mile drive to school I take 4 times a week.

That's in a Honda Civic, what vehicle were you in Nate? If I could get a Chevy 4wd to get that milage I'd be all over it like a big girl at the buffet.

Gotta compare apples to apples. The TDI version on my car (VW) gets 25-50% better milage than the gas version. 18% higher fuel costs easily get justified.

I hear you about how great the civic is on milage......I have one of those too 8) But the civic doesn't have near the poke in it that the TDI has. Plus it isn't as comfy cruising 70-100mph as the VW.

Big girl at the buffet....when the Nissan Patrol or Hilux come out.....

A buddy of mine is dropping a little diesel from a UPS van into a 1978 Ford half ton......pretty cool too
 
I think we can take a cue from the rest of the world. Soon will be the day that cars are smaller for running around and work trucks are work trucks.

The days of using a one ton or even a half ton for a grocery truck or going antiquing on the weekend are limited.
 
The days of using a one ton or even a half ton for a grocery truck or going antiquing on the weekend are limited.
Ha,every day I walk out to the parking lot of that auto factory I work at and see all the "cowboy limosines" ,3/4 and one tons with duallys and a bed cover.

I have to laugh because most likely the bigget load they will ever carry is set of golf clubs :lol:

A bright side to this worry of high fuel prices could be full sized cars.As I type setting in my garage with 81 miles on it is a 2008 Mercury Marques ,4.6 liter engine all the bells and whistles of a Lincoln towncar.The price was cheaper than a baby Honda.It won't get 40 MPG but it will do 25 ,good enough for me.

Actually the old '90 Caddy got about 22-23 on a trip. Considering the size difference by that standard a Honda Civic should get about 60 .
 
the TDI version of the V.W. DOES NOT do well with veggi conversions...

Just thought I would throw that out there.
 
Gotta compare apples to apples. The TDI version on my car (VW) gets 25-50% better milage than the gas version. 18% higher fuel costs easily get justified.

I hear you about how great the civic is on milage......I have one of those too 8) But the civic doesn't have near the poke in it that the TDI has. Plus it isn't as comfy cruising 70-100mph as the VW.

Big girl at the buffet....when the Nissan Patrol or Hilux come out.....

A buddy of mine is dropping a little diesel from a UPS van into a 1978 Ford half ton......pretty cool too

What's the price difference though? I paid $7400 for my daily driving Civic.

You're right on the poke part. As is, it'll do 0-60 in 9 seconds and 0-100 in 27. If I had performance tires on it that'd shave a bit off the times. You're also right on the comfy factor, the tires make a decent amount of noise, the Accords have better sound insulation.
 
Frans, TDI vw's are excellent on straight veggie oil - provided you have a twin tank conversion. PD (pumduesse) versions are slightly more sensitive, but all are factory warrentied to run on biodiesel
 
What's the price difference though? I paid $7400 for my daily driving Civic.


It was paid for by my employer....come to think of it, so is the diesel :)

I do get your point. It is a few $k more for the diesel which means it will take several years to pay for itself. Still, like with my F350, I would rather pay up front and move on than feel the pain weekly.
 
Your problem Nate, you've been to Europe and seen the light. :)

My wife has a little Renault MPV. Stylish, very practical, 4x4, and has a startlingly quick little turbo diesel engine that gives her about 47mpg...
 
Not quite a truck Butch, but I'm sure it wiould take your saw, saddle, and spurs. Comes with a diesel engine too...
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Frans, TDI vw's are excellent on straight veggie oil - provided you have a twin tank conversion. PD (pumduesse) versions are slightly more sensitive, but all are factory warrentied to run on biodiesel

Nice to hear from you ED.

but....I disagree.

Here is why:

The V.W. uses the same type of fuel injection pump that Ford uses in their 6.9 liter engine and chevy used in their 6.2 liter.

That pump is called a rotary injection pump. That pump uses such close tolerances that it gets gummed up no matter how hot the oil is.

We have replaced literally dozens of those pumps in V.W. that have been modified with all sorts of different kits for running veggi oil.

The 617 mercedes engine, Dodge cummings use an inline fuel injection pump which is much more robust.

Any of these fuel injection pumps run just fine on Bio-diesel.
 
Nice to hear from you ED.

but....I disagree.

Here is why:

The V.W. uses the same type of fuel injection pump that Ford uses in their 6.9 liter engine and chevy used in their 6.2 liter.

That pump is called a rotary injection pump. That pump uses such close tolerances that it gets gummed up no matter how hot the oil is.

We have replaced literally dozens of those pumps in V.W. that have been modified with all sorts of different kits for running veggi oil.

The 617 mercedes engine, Dodge cummings use an inline fuel injection pump which is much more robust.

Any of these fuel injection pumps run just fine on Bio-diesel.

Your talking about the Bosch VP44 rotary pump. Very few european VW's have that pump.... WOnder why the difference?

My buddy runs http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/forum/index.php and http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/index.html, he has had no problems with twin tanked pre heated VW tdi engines..:?
 
HA!!!

That really chaps my ass!

So the Euro VWs dont have that pump?!

I know you cant answer this but why oh why is it that the american cars are made so crappy?
 
The fine for running red diesel is $10K plus $100 per gal. of tank capacity. So a pickup with a 35 gal. tank would pay $13500. A commercial vehicle with a 100 gal. tank would pay $20K. When you consider that the difference between off road and road diesel is 65 cents per gal in Hawaii, $13500 is the cost difference for buying 20,769.23 gals of fuel. That's enough fuel for me to drive about 17 years.

For those that want to run off road fuel, you do the math with your own driving and cost differential to see if it is worth the risk of getting caught.

and if you have bulk tanks at your shop, they can levy fines against that capacity also.
 
Your talking about the Bosch VP44 rotary pump. Very few european VW's have that pump.... WOnder why the difference?
The Bosch style pump has been around for years and years. I didn't know there was a problem with them.:?

Speaking of diesel,I wonder what that guy in NYC that was on TV a couple of years ago uses in his VW diesel he ran on cooking oil.The guy used old french frier oil from McDonalds an other places.He said he left a vapor trail that smelled like fish and chips .:lol:
 
VP44's are fine with veggie if they are pre heated with dino diesel, and purged of veggie before shutdown.
Its all a matter of tolerances. The Cummins C9 in my log truck will start from cold in freezing weather with semi solid veggie in the lines..:)
 
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