Fuel Tx

dogghr

Well-Known Member
Do you guys put any tx in your tractor diesel fuel? I never have but this long zero deg cold spell made me think perhaps I should. I used to run tractor daily but now that I don't live on the farm it usually sits for a week or so. Never had any issues before. Thots??
 
Fuel treatment is very helpful in lowering the gel point of your fuel which should be a concern if it sets for more than a couple days in sub freezing weather. Over nite seems to be no big deal but there is cumulative effect with diesel gelling. Once it gels there is no starting your engine.
One thing I learned the hard way is that clean dry fuel is the heart of a long lasting diesel engine. I use Howse fuel treatment in every gallon that goes in the tank all year long. There are several on the market but Howse is what I've found most effective for me. I now take great measures to ensure that my fuel is clean and dry. Diesel fuel from the pump is dirty nasty stuff.
 
If your fuel does gel on you bring a replacement filter and prime it with treated fuel. The fuel passes through the filter first then on to the engine. Often the fuel in the tank is ok but the filter gells up. Gelled fuel in a fuel filter is hard to thaw out. Most I know just pitch the gelled filter.
 
I probably should add treatment to my fuel but haven't yet. As long as you don't have a bunch of summer diesel saved up you should be OK. Up here you buy it in the winter and it is already been treated with something and that has been good enough for me so far.
 
May be stupid question but does off road diesel gel as easily as road legal diesel? Not sure why all of a sudden I've given this thot.
 
Depends. Most companies that deliver off road diesel will treat it for Winter use. How much treatment they use and when they start treating it will vary from one place to another depending on what part of the country they are in and how much they want to spend on treating their fuel. Near me they start treating in October.
Personally I treat all of my own fuel and probably over treat it, partly because I don't trust the fuel companies to get it right. Plus there is some dilution to be expected with Winter fuel being dumped into summer fuel. Usually no big deal in October, but I like to make sure. Standing in freezing weather next to a machine that wont start with your fuel covered hands on cold metal is not my idea of a good time.
 
Off-road diesel and on-road diesel are the same thing, one just has a red dye added. The dye gets added while they are pumping it or shortly after they fill the tank and determine how much dye is needed. Our winter diesel is treated, but I still like to add some tx when I fill up. We usually run the storage tank dry around October and then fill it up when we find out that they have "winter" fuel. If we need diesel, we just fill up a few 5 gallon cans until then. I use Power Service in the white bottle.
 
I'm from PA, I know what fuel tx is. We have TX on all our fuel. Pennsylvania fuel tax that is. 58.2 cents per gallon, the highest in the nation. P.S. We also have the worst roads in the nation. Go figure.
 
I have meant to order Opti-lube xpd but haven't yet. Supposedly a very good treatment.
 
Castle 5 star Diesel conditioner is popular in this area; tractor starts without having plugged the block heater in and keeps running even at 5 degrees. Below that it is too cold for me on the open tractor so I don't know just how low it would run at. We start using it in October so it is completely in the system by winter weather. Without using it the tractors do not run. At minus twenty a few days ago saw 5 tractor trailers pulled off the road broke down along a twenty mile stretch of highway; guess they must have come from warmer area and hadn't treated their fuel.
 
I started mine at 2 deg this past weekend w no prob but it got me thinking. It does have the ignition heater. I used it for couple hours and man did I like the heated cab I traded for. . Guess I’m getting soft or smarter. Thanks for info guys. Another wk of zero temps then should get jan thaw. We seldom go all winter w crazy temps.


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I started mine at 2 deg this past weekend w no prob but it got me thinking. It does have the ignition heater. I used it for couple hours and man did I like the heated cab I traded for. . Guess I’m getting soft or smarter. Thanks for info guys. Another wk of zero temps then should get jan thaw. We seldom go all winter w crazy temps.


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You have a great tractor to start that well but are living on the edge dogghr. They can start just fine and then in about three minutes or thirty they just seem to run out of fuel and it is usually not in a convenient parking spot when they do. It's not worth the risk. I learned from personal experience. Spend some of that trump tax money on a bottle of the magic juice for the tractor. It is worth the effort even it only avoids one breakdown ever.
 
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