rocfarm
Well-known member
Is this garbage fuel the result of farmers using leaky fuel storage tanks on the farm or something? Never seen bad diesel from a gas station in central Texas.
Draining Tractor Fuel Tanks ?
- Thread starter Stocker Steve
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I happens. I have seen tanker trucks put contaminated fuel in at gas stations. It is rare, but it does happen from time to time.
lavacarancher
Well-known member
I've never dumped my fuel. I tried bio diesel once and had to change filters (twice) but I never drained the tanks. Had to stop using the bio diesel because every time I got on the tractor I became hungry. The exhaust smelled like French fries.
When I was fracking we used thousands and thousands of gallons of diesel. A crew of guy stayed on location 24/7 with a fuel truck fueling all the trucks and equipment in place the entire time. On multiple occasions I've seen them bring a bad batch out and kill every motor on that location dang near. The whole operation would be shut down to clean and flush tanks.
rocfarm
Well-known member
Sounds like the boss was taking the cheapest bid on fuel, or the supplier was trying to cut corners to make his profit, or both.
I usually run my tractor in the summer and am spraying mesquites with diesel and remedy at the same time, so I guess I'd notice if the fuel was off because my sprayer solution would not look normal.
May everyone have clean fuel in your tractors and smooth running engines and transmissions!
Going to get some tractor time in next month. Can't wait.
chevytaHOE5674
Well-known member
Dirty fuel can come from many things. Contaminated fuel from the supplier, condensation in your tank, algae growing in sunlight, dust and dirt entering tanks while filling, rain/snow when filling, people dumping things in your tanks, the list is almost endless.
If your putting all your faith in protection for your equipments fuel system in the oem filters then its a matter of time before you have problems. My supplier filters the fuel going into my tanks, I double filter out of the tanks (one water separator and the second a particulate filter) and only use the equipments oem filter as a last line of defense. If OEM filters miraculously filtered everything out then there wouldn't be an entire industry that services injector pumps, lift pumps, injectors, hpop's, etc.
If you have never experienced a bad diesel fuel problem or known somebody who has then id say you haven't been around heavy equipment long... haha
If your putting all your faith in protection for your equipments fuel system in the oem filters then its a matter of time before you have problems. My supplier filters the fuel going into my tanks, I double filter out of the tanks (one water separator and the second a particulate filter) and only use the equipments oem filter as a last line of defense. If OEM filters miraculously filtered everything out then there wouldn't be an entire industry that services injector pumps, lift pumps, injectors, hpop's, etc.
If you have never experienced a bad diesel fuel problem or known somebody who has then id say you haven't been around heavy equipment long... haha
i didn't filter my fuel for one week and it clogged my oem fuel filters up where the tractor had about 1/2 power.
didn't take long
I worked for a well off man that spoiled one of his sons terribly. Aforementioned son was pissed off because of some perceived slight, got drunk and dumped half a bag of calf pellets down the tank of his JD 4430, and most of a 2.5 gallon jug of glyphosate in the tank of his feed truck that was parked there (Chevy 3500HD, 454 gasser).
I pulled the tank out of the JD and sent it out for cleaning, eventually got it sorted. That was 10 years ago and up until recently was still clearing feed muck out of the sediment screen occasionally.
The truck was in way worse shape, I didn't have time to work on it, and it bounced around several different shops. The whole fuel system was trashed, and it stuck most of the intake valves. Last I knew he gave it to a neighbor that eventually got it running and sold it.
Nobody knew the equipment had been messed with, he tried to move the tractor to another farm and made it a couple miles down the road. I was able to swap the filters and backflush the lines enough to get it home, at that time I noticed the pellet crumbs near the filler cap. No good reason for those to be there.
The truck supposedly started for a little bit and quit right away, we spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out what went wrong, it was during a terrible cold spell and suspected ice. I took a fuel sample from the rail and noticed the fuel was very slick and slippery, smelled like spray chemical. Then I found the empty gly jug tossed in the corner with a funnel next to it.
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I sincerely hope the brat was removed from the will.
Silver
Well-known member
My fuel is stored in old tanks on stands to gravity feed. I only put filters on a few years ago, and not because I'd ever had a problem. But I never fuel up for at least several hours after the fuel truck is gone and I keep the fill hose end of the tanks a couple inches higher than the back end.
SCcattle
Member
I drained and removed and cleaned/washed/ out a tank on a Kubota this past hay season after having trash get into my tank. It is a bugger to do but needed it. I can't imagine doing it once a season as a preventative measure.
Dusty Britches
Well-known member
I drain mine more often. Just before it gets to empty, I refill it. I call it the continuous flow fuel change or the dynamic fuel change. 
I used to have a car that I'd do oil changes the same way - dynamically.
I used to have a car that I'd do oil changes the same way - dynamically.
My dad like to keep trucks like that. Just changes the oil filter every so often. Says the oil flushes itself.I drain mine more often. Just before it gets to empty, I refill it. I call it the continuous flow fuel change or the dynamic fuel change.
I used to have a car that I'd do oil changes the same way - dynamically.
