On road diesel vs off road NO 2 red

[Dave M7040]

I find the key is first having a water block filter on the outlet of your bulk tank.

GOLDENROD 495 Bowl Fuel Tank Filter with 1" NPT Top Cap, Fuel Filters - Amazon Canada

GOLDENROD 495 Bowl Fuel Tank Filter with 1" NPT Top Cap in Fuel Filters.

www.amazon.ca

The second is before pumping fuel into your tractor, pump the fuel in the hose back into the bulk tank. This stops any condensation etc from entering the tractor system and in effect re-filters the fuel sitting in the bulk tank discharge hose.

My tractor is 9 years old and I have never had to change the tractor filter, never found any water in the tractor system

Dave M040

 

[Dave M7040]

If you have a tier 4 common rail engine, it requires ultra low sulfur diesel. The process of making the ultra low sulfur reduces the lubricity of the fuel, so a lubricity additive is used in diesel fuel that is not required in heating oil.
If you get off road diesel, with the red dye, it may or may not be ultra low sulfur and it may or may nor have the lubricity additive.

My locale requires ultra low sulfur heating oil, so I buy heating oil and add the lubricity and cold flow additives myself, that way I know for sure what is in my bulk tank. You could ask your supplier if they get the lubricity added at the loading rack, but I don’t gamble, I know for sure what I have.

I would point out that oil burning furnaces and boilers had many problems when low sulfur fuels were introduced. These problems initially appeared in Alaska as winter arrived there first during the mandated change in fuel requirements.

The greatly reduced lubricity caused the pump on the oil burner to seize. These pumps had to be re designed
to deal with the new fuel. The new design pumps runs reliably on ultra low sulfur fuels.

Dave M7040

 

[Cranblue]

I find the key is first having a water block filter on the outlet of your bulk tank.

GOLDENROD 495 Bowl Fuel Tank Filter with 1" NPT Top Cap, Fuel Filters - Amazon Canada

GOLDENROD 495 Bowl Fuel Tank Filter with 1" NPT Top Cap in Fuel Filters.

www.amazon.ca

View attachment 688666

The second is before pumping fuel into your tractor, pump the fuel in the hose back into the bulk tank. This stops any condensation etc from entering the tractor system and in effect re-filters the fuel sitting in the bulk tank discharge hose.

My tractor is 9 years old and I have never had to change the tractor filter, never found any water in the tractor system

Dave M040

9 years on engine fuel filter is impressive !! When working on cranberry farm we had a black algae get in our tanks it was a hell of a mess !! It would plug up tank filters and machine filters lucky to get 250-300 we finally got it under control our filters weren’t as impressive as Goldenrod of course machines had water separator filters.Thx for info appreciate it

 

[Cranblue]

Local LS dealer was having tractors come in with fuel issues, all used off road diesel. They've been running some tests to try to figure things out, so far inconclusive, but they are currently recommending on road fuel at the moment.
It is 'supposed' to be the same fuel, but the many many questions you can read about it here and other places, seems to point that it isn't, at least not in all places. This is a rural farming area, so the red fuel turnover should be decent.

Well it seems storage and additives are factors.There may be differences in filters at pumps this may be what Sun Belt tech was stating to me ?? I don’t know if there’s only one type of filter used at service stations or there’s multiple types like available for private storage.

 

[Cranblue]

I would point out that oil burning furnaces and boilers had many problems when low sulfur fuels were introduced. These problems initially appeared in Alaska as winter arrived there first during the mandated change in fuel requirements.

The greatly reduced lubricity caused the pump on the oil burner to seize. These pumps had to be re designed
to deal with the new fuel. The new design pumps runs reliably on ultra low sulfur fuels.

Dave M7040

I guess real question I had is final filtration the same at service stations do they use different filters or is there a standard or multiple types they use like you or I can ?? I think this was what the Sun Belt tech was leaning towards.

 

[RalphVa]

Growing up on blue berry farm and working on fairly large cranberry farm 20+yrs off road was standard for price and was allowed for farmers !! Now retired in Western NC off road not real easy to find but I did find some near me.I have a L4701 when I first purchased I put road diesel in tractor then I started with off road but it noticed tractor regeneration was more often ?? Then I rented small excavator I put off road in it was loaded with water.Service tech from Sun Belt told me road diesel was filtered more than off road not just dye.I’m using On Road from now on and Kubota fuel additive. Just curious on others experiences and opinions ??

The only time I bought off road was when I had some problems with wax globs coming out of solution and partially plugging the outlet of the tank. Took back to Exxon. They refunded me, and I bought on road again. Had a couple days down to 10 F that caused the wax globs to come out of solution. Never had this with on road.

 

[tibadoe]

Just filled up the tank for the first time and used on road diesel. I will continue to do so unless I find a local dealer that sells somewhat high volume fresh fuel, no water, and changes out their filters when needed. I don't mind paying a few cents more to know I'm not getting any water. I just retired from driving fuel trucks and I know which retail stores in my area have water and which don't. Most places have smaller above ground tanks which heat & cool daily which adds more condensation. They are not high volume sellers so they only fill tanks a few times a year. I stay away from these places.

I'm not saying this is what everyone should do. This is just what I do and it works for me in my small part of the world.

 

[Zakatak]

The only time I bought off road was when I had some problems with wax globs coming out of solution and partially plugging the outlet of the tank. Took back to Exxon. They refunded me, and I bought on road again. Had a couple days down to 10 F that caused the wax globs to come out of solution. Never had this with on road.

It is very likely that the off road fuel you purchased was a summer blend and the on road was a winter. Not so much to do with the fact that it was "offroad". The seller probably does not move as much off road and therefore had some leftover product from the warmer season.

Key thing here for everyone is due diligence on their fuel supplier. This is especially true in rural areas that do not move as much volume.

 

[DK35vince]

In the 20 years I have owned my tractor it I have run off road fuel only, never an issue

 

[jaxs]

Just filled up the tank for the first time and used on road diesel. I will continue to do so unless I find a local dealer that sells somewhat high volume fresh fuel, no water, and changes out their filters when needed. I don't mind paying a few cents more to know I'm not getting any water. I just retired from driving fuel trucks and I know which retail stores in my area have water and which don't. Most places have smaller above ground tanks which heat & cool daily which adds more condensation. They are not high volume sellers so they only fill tanks a few times a year. I stay away from these places.

I'm not saying this is what everyone should do. This is just what I do and it works for me in my small part of the world.

Now that's some special knowledge to have. Do you know this from having witnessed which stations have water added to their delivers? I aggree about above ground/low volume turn over tanks but people also pick up water from underground tanks. It's those underground tanks that make me ask how you know which does and which does not contain water. BTW,did you by chance deliver for Sunbelt before retiring?

 

[LouNY]

I would point out that oil burning furnaces and boilers had many problems when low sulfur fuels were introduced. These problems initially appeared in Alaska as winter arrived there first during the mandated change in fuel requirements.

The greatly reduced lubricity caused the pump on the oil burner to seize. These pumps had to be re designed
to deal with the new fuel. The new design pumps runs reliably on ultra low sulfur fuels.

Dave M7040

My tractors and my heating system have all been using the same fuel all my life.
My oil boiler has pumped in excess of 30,000 gallons without being replaced, filters annually and the little screen around the pump a couple of times.
The farm tractors and heating oil tanks are filled from the same truck and the same compartment all the time and have been.
The higher sulfur fuel did have better lubricity and would not have hurt a common rail pump, if it had a dpf that's different.
We started getting bulk diesel fuel in the late 60's prior to that it was just heating oil for the houses, and some of those
with exposed tanks got kerosene.

 

[tibadoe]

Now that's some special knowledge to have. Do you know this from having witnessed which stations have water added to their delivers? I aggree about above ground/low volume turn over tanks but people also pick up water from underground tanks. It's those underground tanks that make me ask how you know which does and which does not contain water. BTW,did you by chance deliver for Sunbelt before retiring?

Just part of the job. Had to stick each tank and document the water level -- if any. Yes - in ground tanks have water also. Can enter from a crack or rotted tank side, bad fill cap seals or poor drainage at fill caps, and of course from the terminal itself.

But all in all, dyed and clear diesel is the same. Just more stores will order the winter blend additives when needed if they order during the needed time frame.

 

[Industrial Toys]

All Diesel and heating oil are the same here. Furnace and Of-Road come out of the same compartment on truck. Just dye in the Road stuff and all are sold with different taxes. I have heard that generator service non-dyed could be taxed differently again.

Diesel has been here since 1972. Much of it sat in 1000 liter tanks for years. I never had issues. Just once when I switched pumps on a tank and the suction pipe was too long sucking (water and dirt) right off the bottom of a tank floor. I have a goldenrod filter on the pump.

Only trouble I ever had with algae was on a JD 770 tractor. I don't treat bulk for algae or water. Never have.

 

[daybreak1998]

It all depends on the location of the diesel.
Any location which does not have volume turnover can have water issues. Regular diesel or off-road. You can have a algae issue too. Say you fill up a 55 gallon drum, and its sits around a year or 2, and you then go to use it. You could have water and algae.

On the farm storage tanks get bulk filled. Regular and off-road are exactly the same. Red Dye just shows it is NON-Taxed. I add a winter gel additive when I get a fill up later in the fall to make it through til spring. My 500 gallon tank gets filled about 4-5 times a year. I am lucky to have access to Southern States Premium Diesel 50 cetane.

 

[paulfun9]

I like the idea of adding red dye, to teach a lesson

 

[Popgadget]

At the risk of being redundant, if you order low sulfur heating oil, and add your own BioBor, Lubricity and cold flow rather than relying on the fuel supplier, you will have clean, proper fuel with no waxing or algae and proper lubricity for your fuel pump.

I’m referring to bulk tank deliveries, if you are driving to a filling station and filling cans, you are probably best off with regular on road fuel.
Depending on your state, you can usually get a refund on the road tax if you use enough fuel and document your off road use to make it worthwhile.

 

[Cranblue]

Just filled up the tank for the first time and used on road diesel. I will continue to do so unless I find a local dealer that sells somewhat high volume fresh fuel, no water, and changes out their filters when needed. I don't mind paying a few cents more to know I'm not getting any water. I just retired from driving fuel trucks and I know which retail stores in my area have water and which don't. Most places have smaller above ground tanks which heat & cool daily which adds more condensation. They are not high volume sellers so they only fill tanks a few times a year. I stay away from these places.

I'm not saying this is what everyone should do. This is just what I do and it works for me in my small part of the world.

Your part of the world seems like mine !!! I’ll pay extra for road knowing contamination is out of it I don’t burn large amount with one tractor.

 

[WranglerX]

Locally the only thing different between on road and off road is about 65¢ a gallon road tax that is not on off-road...

Dale

 

[Cranblue]

Now that's some special knowledge to have. Do you know this from having witnessed which stations have water added to their delivers? I aggree about above ground/low volume turn over tanks but people also pick up water from underground tanks. It's those underground tanks that make me ask how you know which does and which does not contain water. BTW,did you by chance deliver for Sunbelt before retiring?

Do we know all stations filter both exactly the same ??? Types of filters all the same or up to station ??? Change intervals of filters is there a guide line or up to fuel station ???

 

[Cranblue]

Just filled up the tank for the first time and used on road diesel. I will continue to do so unless I find a local dealer that sells somewhat high volume fresh fuel, no water, and changes out their filters when needed. I don't mind paying a few cents more to know I'm not getting any water. I just retired from driving fuel trucks and I know which retail stores in my area have water and which don't. Most places have smaller above ground tanks which heat & cool daily which adds more condensation. They are not high volume sellers so they only fill tanks a few times a year. I stay away from these places.

I'm not saying this is what everyone should do. This is just what I do and it works for me in my small part of the world.

The down time I lost getting water in off road diesel road diesel was a no brainer !!! Bob Cat EX 85 newer machines are super sensitive to containment's lost a day of work drained whole system 2 filters just a mess !!! This was in-ground tank my Kubota the water separator handled it fairly well changed few times fairly quick interval one fuel filter !! Since road put back in haven’t touched water separator on L4701 estimate 150- 200 hrs. I’m sure it depends on where you get fuel off road I was getting was at a BP but there service intervals on filters could be horrible they do have some volume it’s little hard to find in western NC.