Fuel use question

[nybirdman]

My two nephews work for a large dairy operation,do mostly field work.This year the owner did a spot buy for 50,000 gallons of diesel hoping to last until July.
Running the same tractor,with the same equipment,in the same fields
they are only getting 1/2 of the run time they were last year.Is there that much difference in this new fuel?
I am glad I only use 150 gal.a year or so.With my small tractor(44hp) I haven't seen any difference.

 

[schoolsout]

That doesn't sound right to me...the 1/2 part, that is

 

[John Morgan]

Me either... I could do an evaluation, possibly test the fuel and find a possible solution.

 

[MHarryE]

I know at the plant where I used to work we got significantly worse fuel economy on the No 1/2 blend used for factory fill (Minnesota, never know when a machine needs to be started, so we filled with the winter blend year around). We got a tank for our test machines so we could run them on No 2 except during the middle of winter when we used a special cold flow that was more like No 2 than the 1/2 blend. Other than that we didn't really see any drop in fuel economy with the change to very low sulphur. Are you from New York and is it possible they didn't give 50k gallons of Number 2, but were trying to get rid of winter fuel? My cousin also says the 90 HP JD loader tractor he uses during the winter on his beef farm goes through winter fuel a lot faster than it does summer fuel. I am not sure if he uses straight No 1 in the winter or if it is a blend. We had several mornings when it was -30 or colder last winter and I never had problems with fuel gelling so it may have been straight No 1. I can confirm that my tractor went through that fuel a lot faster than it did the No 2 I usually keep for winter use.

 

[clemsonfor]

My two nephews work for a large dairy operation,do mostly field work.This year the owner did a spot buy for 50,000 gallons of diesel hoping to last until July.
Running the same tractor,with the same equipment,in the same fields
they are only getting 1/2 of the run time they were last year.Is there that much difference in this new fuel?
I am glad I only use 150 gal.a year or so.With my small tractor(44hp) I haven't seen any difference.

That doesn't sound right to me...the 1/2 part, that is

Dont sound right to me either. The other part that dont sound right is 50,000 gallons only till july!! How big is this farm and how big is the dam tractor and how many of them?

As a forester i deal with loggers, i think i had one tell me who has 3 crews that there currently burning something like 15000 gallons a month between 3 crews. Thats 3 loaders three skidders and 3 cutters plus a dozer working part time. So they would not even use that amount of fuel by then. Their skidders are like a couple hundered HP i guess. They also run a fuelwood chipper with a 700HP engine as well. They work 5 days a week 10 hours a day.

 

[PoorMansCat]

They also run a fuelwood chipper with a 700HP engine as well. They work 5 days a week 10 hours a day.

700 hp..... must be a small one.. hahaha... What brand of chipper are you running?
I've worked on a bunch of Trelan chippers... have all of them running 860hp...

 

[clemsonfor]

700 hp..... must be a small one.. hahaha... What brand of chipper are you running?
I've worked on a bunch of Trelan chippers... have all of them running 860hp...

Its a contractor on my timber sales. I own none of this stuff but its aaa...aa. Heck i dont remember i know the other guys run Morbarks. Grizzely? that seems to stick in my head, not sure if thats a brand i will google it.

I just looked Grizzley fuel wood chippers up, it kind of looks like them but i dont see the model they have so still not positive.

 

[dmccarty]

There is something wrong with the fuel or the tractors.

I have not seen any difference in mpg or tractor usage between the USLD and LSD fuel. My best mpg on the truck has been on USLD.

MPG on the truck goes up a bit in the summer but drops a bit in the winter. Best mpg has been 22.1 or 22.2 on the F350 in the summer with usual mpg about 21.5/21.7. Winter can drop to 20.5 to 21.0 depending on how cold it is and the diesel blend.

Even if they were using 100% Number 1 fuel or even a high mixture I would not think the number of hours per tank would drop by half.

I would get the fuel tested. Heck if I was buying that much fuel I WOULD get the fuel tested.

I get my oil tested at Blackstone Labs I do not see that they do fuel tests but they might. I would call them and ask if they do test fuel. If not can they recommend a company that does.

Later,
Dan