Is it safe to use home heating oil in diesel engines, skidders or tractors? Should any special additives be used, should it be mixed with kerosene? This is for off road use. Holmes
It's my understanding that heating oil and diesel are essentially the same. It wouldn't be a bad idea to add some ATF though, just as you would with diesel.
In High School their was a few of us that would pump out Heating oil from the Schools tank and run it in our trucks.. Never hurt my '88 F350 7.3l Indirect Injected Diesel
Yes.Same stuff,don't bother to cut it with kerosene this time off year.In Maine it's all ultra low sulfur,no more good fuel.
I've been using it for years now. Some of the loggers have the oil truck come right to the site to fill the skidders, forwarders and the tanks up with #2 fuel oil. I used it in 3 tractors for 10 years and one for 18 years and no problems so far. I do not cut it down with kero. When it's that cold I stay inside. I don't have to be outside when it's in the single numbers. I just play around on my own land. I do use a diesel additive. There is only one place around here that I can get #2 from a pump now.
I just went to a Cat foresty school and somebody asked that very question of the Cat fuel expert. His answer was yes in the older equipment, but absolutely DO NOT use it in the new tier 4 engines. He told us what the cutoff date was and I can't remember if he said 2005 or 2007 engines. He said with the new injectors, etc. that run at a much higher PSI than the old ones, you will have serious problems very soon if you try to run it.
JDeere That is interesting . Tier 4 engines I will look up. I had heard of an excavator engine being ruined by home heating oil, must be a new one.
Even tier 3 engines need to use ULSD in them.
No idea what a tier 3-4 engine is or ULSD. I sure don't want to cause any repairs trying to save 30-40¢ a gallon.
ULSD is ultra low sulfur diesel. Tier 3 and 4 engines are designed to run on it to lower emissions. All of the diesel we buy now is ULSD at our supplier, no choice of the old style.
If your diesel was built before 2007 you can run heating oil, just be wary that in some states it is illegal to do so even for offroad use so you may need to rig a bulk tank in your shop that is also hooked to a heater. If you get caught with it in your diesel truck you are in deep doo-doo in any state.
I don't know if heating oil is now also ULSD or not. The offroad stuff is and it is just as hard on your fuel pump as the on-road stuff as they removed the sulfur. I add synthetic motor oil to help with this, some add 2 cycle oil and other marvel mystery.
FWIW some additives have negative effects when added to ULSD.
Check out this link. http://mopar.mopar1973man.com/cummins/general/2-cycle-oil/hfrr/hfrr.htm
I use super tech 2 stroke myself.
I have been using Power Service diesel kleen for a few years. Now I know it is useless.
I think the biggest problem might be contaminates (sand or other kinds of grit, water) that might be in the fuel, These won't really hurt the burner in a boiler but they aren't any to good on pumps and injectors. Running the fuel through a set of fillers before you fill the machine should solve this. After that the viscosity would be my next concern, but NR2 should be NR2. You fuel dealer should have a sheet with the analysis of the fuel, I'd compare this the engine's specs and see if it should be okay. Remember will run on and will run on with out problems are two separate things.
JDB
Quote from: Holmes on April 28, 2011, 08:43:32 AM
JDeere That is interesting . Tier 4 engines I will look up. I had heard of an excavator engine being ruined by home heating oil, must be a new one.
Someone is pulling your chain...they don't make seperate fuels.
Quote from: MaineLogger on April 29, 2011, 04:52:33 PM
Quote from: Holmes on April 28, 2011, 08:43:32 AM
JDeere That is interesting . Tier 4 engines I will look up. I had heard of an excavator engine being ruined by home heating oil, must be a new one.
Someone is pulling your chain...they don't make seperate fuels.
On-road diesel and off-road are the same fuel (<15ppm of sulfur) with the exception of the dye. #2 fuel oil is an entirely different entity. #2 fuel oil can can legally have very high ppm of sulfur, up to 10,000.
Changes are planned for heating oil in the Northeast. In our region of the country where the preponderance of heating oil customers are located, several states are reducing the amount of sulfur allowed in the fuel.
•New Jersey announced recently that it will lower sulfur from 2,000-3,000 parts per million (ppm) to a maximum of 500 ppm on July 1,2014, and then down to 15 ppm on July 1, 2016.
•New York has passed legislation reducing the sulfur content from a maximum of 10,000 ppm to 15 ppm in 2012.
•Maine's regulation, signed into law in April, will reduce sulfur to a maximum of 50 ppm by January 1, 2016 and to 15 ppm by January 1, 2018.
•Connecticut has chosen to follow the lead of three other states. It will reduce heating oil sulfur to 50 ppm in July 2011 and down again to 15 ppm in 2014 only if Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York take similar action. Connecticut also would mandate a 2 percent biodiesel blend in July 2011, which would move up to a 20 percent blend by 2020.
Generally speaking, today's heating oil contains less than 2,000 ppm sulfur but the point is, "all fuels are not created equal."
That additional refining of home heating oil to get out the sulphur is going to drive up the price of heating oil to that of Diesel. And given the gelling potential of biodiesel, requiring it in home heating oil does not seem to make a lot of sense.
Quote from: JDeere on April 29, 2011, 08:38:36 PM
Quote from: MaineLogger on April 29, 2011, 04:52:33 PM
Quote from: Holmes on April 28, 2011, 08:43:32 AM
JDeere That is interesting . Tier 4 engines I will look up. I had heard of an excavator engine being ruined by home heating oil, must be a new one.
Someone is pulling your chain...they don't make seperate fuels.
On-road diesel and off-road are the same fuel (<15ppm of sulfur) with the exception of the dye. #2 fuel oil is an entirely different entity. #2 fuel oil can can legally have very high ppm of sulfur, up to 10,000.
Changes are planned for heating oil in the Northeast. In our region of the country where the preponderance of heating oil customers are located, several states are reducing the amount of sulfur allowed in the fuel.
•New Jersey announced recently that it will lower sulfur from 2,000-3,000 parts per million (ppm) to a maximum of 500 ppm on July 1,2014, and then down to 15 ppm on July 1, 2016.
•New York has passed legislation reducing the sulfur content from a maximum of 10,000 ppm to 15 ppm in 2012.
•Maine's regulation, signed into law in April, will reduce sulfur to a maximum of 50 ppm by January 1, 2016 and to 15 ppm by January 1, 2018.
•Connecticut has chosen to follow the lead of three other states. It will reduce heating oil sulfur to 50 ppm in July 2011 and down again to 15 ppm in 2014 only if Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York take similar action. Connecticut also would mandate a 2 percent biodiesel blend in July 2011, which would move up to a 20 percent blend by 2020.
Generally speaking, today's heating oil contains less than 2,000 ppm sulfur but the point is, "all fuels are not created equal."
In this part of Maine there is only one fuel now and it's all ulsd.Heating oil and off-road fuel is exactly the same here.I guess it could be different in your area.
That's why my New Holland is going strong. I was going to check that out.