Oil & Fuel Use of Home heating oil in a diesel engine

[fried1765]

Around the world does not have US EPA requirements. You never know what those boneheads in congress legislated into the Tier 4 requirements! I think my little 25 HP Mitsubishi is non-emissions, but right on the engine is says Low sulfur Diesel only. Of course that sticker could have been a government requirement? It's hard to know and It's hard to trust what the dealer tells you because the dealer should only give the safe legal answer which of course is only use fresh Diesel. Which prompts a question of storage of Diesel. Perhaps I'll start another thread on that.

The question here is really..... what CAN you burn in a diesel.
The basic diesel engine does not care if the EPA approves the diesel fuel type or not.
I cannot quite imagine the EPA sniffing around barns and storage buildings, to sample diesel, to be certain that a particular type diesel is being used.
In addition: Thankfully, most of the rest of the world has never even heard of the EPA.
Good thing; or the entire world would be using 10-15% ethanol gasoline too.

 

[Roger66]

The question here is really..... what CAN you burn in a diesel.
The basic diesel engine does not care if the EPA approves the diesel fuel type or not.
I cannot quite imagine the EPA sniffing around barns and storage buildings, to sample diesel, to be certain that a particular type diesel is being used.
In addition: Thankfully, most of the rest of the world has never even heard of the EPA.
Good thing; or the entire world would be using 10-15% ethanol gasoline too.

Honestly since my tractor never goes over the road I don't even think there is a legal issue here. My only concern is did the EPA mandate some change to my 2017 engine to make it meet tier 4 EPA requirements that makes this new tractor require the new ultra low sulfur fuels. No doubt I could use it in my old pickup, but that would clearly be illegal. The only time I would do that is if there were some disaster that required us to evacuate, If I had time I'd pump out all of my heating oil into barrels so I have fuel to get some distance away. I like being prepared.

 

[fatboycowen]

Question: What's the best way of getting heating oil out of the tank, into your tractor, or into a fuel can?
2nd question: Is it legal to use the heating oil, assuming the tractor is only used on my property?

 

[CobyRupert]

Other question: Are there lubricants (for injection pump) added to diesel, that fuel oil doesn't have? Or does it all come from the same tank? I've heard people talk about how cutting diesel with kerosene in the winter robs the pump of this lubricant.
I also heard that in winter, No.1 fuel oil is mixed with No.2

Does diesel and furnace fuel have the same cetane number?

To be on safe side, I'd call supplier or add some Power Service Cetane Boost.

The more I've looked into what diesel fuel and/or fuel oil is, and how does it vary in winter/summer, No.1 vs. No.2 vs kerosene, low sulfur, high sulfur, cetane levels, etc.. the more I get confused. It seems we use 1 word (fuel oil) for a WIDE variety of products , but maybe we also use 2 words (fuel oil, diesel) for the same product ?

 

[CobyRupert]

If you want some light reading:
Standard for Fuel Oils: View attachment astm.d396.2002.pdf
Standard for Diesel Fuel Oils: View attachment astm.d975.2007.pdf

 

[Sawyer Rob]

AND, while all you are sweating and wringing your hands, all of my diesels are running just fine (and have been for years) on home heating oil... Including my new(er) tinker toy tractors.

SR

 

[Industrial Toys]

Here the heating oil and farm fuel come out of the same compartment on the truck.

However, there is yet a new snag. If the tank has some connection to it, then the fuel company figures that something on the other end of that pipe needs inspection and certification prior to filling the tank!

 

[truckdiagnostics]

Other question: Are there lubricants (for injection pump) added to diesel, that fuel oil doesn't have? Or does it all come from the same tank? I've heard people talk about how cutting diesel with kerosene in the winter robs the pump of this lubricant.
I also heard that in winter, No.1 fuel oil is mixed with No.2

Does diesel and furnace fuel have the same cetane number?

To be on safe side, I'd call supplier or add some Power Service Cetane Boost.

The more I've looked into what diesel fuel and/or fuel oil is, and how does it vary in winter/summer, No.1 vs. No.2 vs kerosene, low sulfur, high sulfur, cetane levels, etc.. the more I get confused. It seems we use 1 word (fuel oil) for a WIDE variety of products , but maybe we also use 2 words (fuel oil, diesel) for the same product ?

Diesel fuel has wax in it that is where it gets it btu's from, actually has more than gas. So, when diesel or home eating get real cold that wax solidifies. Your fuel jells and you can actually see a wax jelly in your fuel filter. So a winter blend is thinned. Having less wax and therefore lower BTU content. It is the wax that gives you the lubricating properties.

Our military wants everything "diesel" to run on JP4 which is a jet fuel which is basically kerosene. They will run on it, they have less power, and the fuel injectors don't like it due to the lower lubricating properties of the JP4, so the OEM's(cat) won't warranty injector failures.

Above is the simplified answer.


With that said as long as he can keep the fuel from jelling he is OK. he doesn't have a cat so the low sulfur fuel should not be an issue. The home heating oil theoretically is better for his fuel injection system.

 

[Msamt]

Question: What's the best way of getting heating oil out of the tank, into your tractor, or into a fuel can?
2nd question: Is it legal to use the heating oil, assuming the tractor is only used on my property?

I bought the northern tool pump,located here: https://www.northerntool.com/shop/t...cFPHUgzjYadIxIYy-fTQUt4PyhHzHLe4aAlOrEALw_wcB

I use a garden hose on the input to pump,out of a basement tank, into a poly 55 gallon barrel, then just attach the pump input back to the copper pipe I put in the tank.

 

[Fallon]

Question: What's the best way of getting heating oil out of the tank, into your tractor, or into a fuel can?
2nd question: Is it legal to use the heating oil, assuming the tractor is only used on my property?

It is ilegal to run red dyed fuel in a licensed road going vehicle. Red dye indicates no road use taxes have been paid on the fuel, so you can guess how excited about tax evasion the government gets (not that its a bad thing, I like driving on well maintained roads that those taxes provide. Cops & what not will occasionally dip the tanks of licensed diesel road trucks (semi & pickup) with a white stick. If they come back red, it sucks to be you.

Tractors are not road going vehicles, even if you road them occasionally & they aren't licensed so it's fine to run red dyed fuel in them.

I never said diesel in this, just fuel. Pretty sure the same applies to gasoline as well. But I've never seen or heard of dyed untaxed gas so that's probably moot.