Bought 4194 gallons the bill was $15089.00 gone in 3 weeks. yeaouch.
That almost makes you want to start cutting it with water, doesn't it?
mate what is Red Fuel?
Diesel fuel that's dyed red, in this case to indicate that there has been no highway use tax paid on it. The dye will show up if you use even a gallon of non-taxed fuel in a thousand gallons of taxed fuel (or something like that.) It's legal to use the non-taxed fuel for home heating oil, or in your off-road equipment, but there's a hefty fine for using it in anything that travels on public roads. They don't do that over there?
We use it alot here for all motor vehicles that are for Off Road or Off Highway use only, or a road that is NOT maintained by DOT or MOT.... All Forestry Roads are considered off Highway ...... ATV's , Logging Equipment, Off Road Logging Trucks that never see asphalt ........ All equipment like Generators, pumps, welders, ect..........it is also commonly called "Purple Fuel" or "Boat/Marine" gas or diesel , "Farm Gas" is another one .... it is available at every Commercial Card Lock here ... I use it exclusively for my Excavators and Skidsteer and all gas powered equipment As CM posted Don't get caught with it in a licenceable Motor Vehicle ..... the Fines are thru the Roof ! .... hope this gives you a clearer pic or should I say Purpler outlook at things JGS ....LOL ....Cheers
Just a fun fact, some places dye it green. Dan, I'm glad to hear you're going through that much fuel.:usa
We have it here but it green and there is a huge black market in bleaching it to make it white for road use. The bleaching process leaves the diesel acidic which destroys both common rail systems as well as standard pump and injectors. The authorities here now put in a chemical marker that cannot be removed and can be detected in the exhaust gasses. http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0328/diesel-laundry-operation-uncovered-in-co-cavan.html
Ya thanks, we've got a couple jobs running, one is + or - 82K cu yds the other is a city street gut and base rock. Good to be busy although we're spread a little thin, at least they are close together. Operating costs are insane, if it was easy everybody would be doing it.
mate never seen it in china or australia.
Wow. Confusing one of my posts with one of CM's? That's the nicest compliment I've had all year.
Here's yer red, looks good enough to drink don't ya think?
Now Dan you didn't go out and fill that so as to show the folks in Oz.
Yes I did, I don't want you guys to be uninformed, did you know the red fuel makes red smoke too? ha ha J/K
Dan me "olde flower" I remember when it was red here and when they changed it to green to stop the smuggling ............................put enough of them both up through an exhaust pipe at this stage........................... and enough Derv out the exhaust of my daily drive.....................................
Red , Green, Clear , back in the 70's it was dark brown like ice tea, spill it on your tank and it was 2 weeks before it quit collecting dust, now that was real fuel!!
Yep remember the fuel of the 70's used to play havoc with my hands, couldn't wash it off or feck all, spill it on cloths and it would be there for a month........................and equipment never suffered as much injector pump failure as they do now....................this new low sulphur stuff is causing grief, algae growing in tanks that looks like slugs......blocks up every thing and impossible to get rid of it.............................
I still don't know if its true, and don't really want to find out, but rumor has it the red dye causes the exhaust to give off a telltale sign that the DOT can pick up with sensors located near most scale houses. When clear fuel was $1.00, and red dye was $0.60 or so, it was a big deal, percentage wise. Now, with clear past the $4.00 mark, and red dye at $3.60, it is a lot smaller percentage, even if the savings per gallon is the same. Dan Glad to hear you burning go juice like that again. Hope it all pays off.
well dose the mining industry in the US also use this red fuel?
Any machine/vehicle that's not on highway using fuel subject to highway use taxes can burn red dyed fuel JGS.
The exception to this as I have seen in some areas is that school busses are allowed to use red dye. Even though they are on the road, they are a tax exempt use. I am not sure how widespread that is though.
For those new to red fuel the state and local sales tax still applies, in my area 7.25%. It is the Federal highway tax that is omitted. Of course the sales tax is based on the total sale amount so the tax goes up with the fuel per gallon price.
OK that's the nicest compliment I have had all year . OK.... enough of the sappy bs... Damn, I paid $3.69 for red fuel last Wed. I thought Cali had the some of the most expensive fuel prices.:beatsme Glad to see you are burning some red fuel Dan, just hope there is something left over after the exhaust.:drinkup
Hey Dan, Do you or anyone you know add any lubricity additives to your fuel, other than cetane booster? Have been wondering if the cost would be justified.
Just wondering if anybody has, or knows of anybody that has ever had your tanks dipped on your pickups or road trucks to check for off-road fuel? I was working in the shop of a contractor one winter about 15 years ago or so. Me, the shop foreman and a mechanic hopped into the master mechanic's pickup to go to a job site in Pullman,WA to drive two shop trucks and a service truck back to Lewiston, ID. We had to pull into the scales at the top of the Lewiston Hill, and quess what, all three trucks had red fuel in them. I was driving the pickup because I don't have hazmat on my CDL. The fines were close to $10,000 per truck, and that fines goes aginst the driver because it's an IRS thing. The company paid it of corse, but there was alot of rear ends being chewed on when we got back to the office!
Ya, but I had to buy 1/2 truck & trailer load to get that price. Get a break because they deliver it direct to my tank. It went down a little I have another 1/2 load coming tomorrow @ $3.54
Well I don't know what to say other than ....OOOOOOPPPSS !! ....was on 3hrs sleep when I was going thru yesterdays posts ...was about to have a really nice Rum toddy last night (just as it got dark) when the pager went off for a banger of a house fire in a very rural area where we were one of three fire houses to tender water to it ..... that was at 9:30pm ...we went till 5:30 am ....... SO Again Sorry for the OOOps
if the Ministry of Transport, UK catches you using red in your car, pickup, truck or anything that is used on the road,they immediately impound the car, which they then sell at auction.then they assess your unpaid duty on the mileage reading and add that to your already big fine.
This guy has his fuel bill figured out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZdPkrghUZM&feature=related If you could fuel your equipment with wood gasifiers, you would have needed 32 cords of seasoned firewood to give you the same btu's as 4,194 gallons of diesel. Wood pellets would be alot more practical just in terms of transport and storage (grain trucks and silos). Fuel is getting expensive to the point where alternative fuel sources start to look interesting. Wood pellets cost about $11.50 per million btu's. A gallon of diesel has about 114,000 btu's. If you could simply pour wood pellets into your fuel tank, you'd be paying 1.30 per gallon.
Dpete that's what i remember most going to work with my dad riding shotgun on an old D-8 and the smell of dirt and diesel down the tank and everywhere. We used it to heat our old farmhouse in a Ziegler stove too. Here today's price 3.59. Really takes the fun out of things.
Diesel in Australia (victoria) Today 1.49cents per litre x 3.79 litres to a US gallon = $5.65 in oz. No rebates or cheap fuel that i can claim, Road or Off Road same price Cheers Leroy
Although fuel is still way high, it's nice to see it coming down.
I heard that a gallon of filtered used diesel oil will turn 100 gallons + of diesel black as coal and un detectable to dye inspections. Any thoughts?
there have been many methods tried. Some worked but damaged the structure of the diesel causing burnt valves etc etc.. My own view is, better a machine that is working than a damaged engine. I used to do a lot of plant hire so the customer is paying. The guy who is running doctored diesel is going to break down anyway
I presume you meant used engine oil? Used diesel oil is exhaust.
well technically the used diesel fuel in the used diesel engine oil is what makes it black as coal. so in a round about way were both right. Personally i have been looking at investing some money in companies that are on the consumer end of natural gas fueling. With the price of natural gas plummeting due to over production and development they are talking CNG in the range of $1.50 a gal (diesel equivelent) I think a some shares of Westport innovations might be in my future.
Here in new zealand diesel is nz$1.61 per lt , and then we pay road users tax that is 49 cents per km for 21tonne truck (6x4) or 42cents per km for 14tonne (4x2)trucks. we have a hubdometer on the back axle to record the kms we do and have to pre pay the tax at 1000kms lots. you can get a off road clame back for off road work. the price for your road tax gets cheeper if you buy lighter weight tax (you get a fine if over total weight, axle weight,and road user weight )
Just worked out the price per gallon on today exchange rate...$7.92per gallon usd!! our dollar buys about 77cents usd at the mo.
I don't know if any of you guys have had your tanks checked. We had an inspector come to our shop and check all the trucks and the bulk tank for the trucks for redness. Nice guy, he asked first although he didn't need to. We had conversation with him afterwards. We were OK by the way. One of his favorite things to do was go to grain elevators around 5:00 AM and check all the trucks lined up to offload grain as soon as they opened. The previous fall he caught 5 trucks from the same farm running red. Cost them $25,000.00 and he put the trucks out of service. They were not allowed to drive away but had to be towed to get their tanks flushed. Bad enough but they also suspended their permit to have bulk storage on the farm for five years.
Bought 8,500 gallons of 100LL Aviation Fuel the bill was $42,585.00 its getting crazy
Yes the mines use the off road cheaper fuel
Yair . . . nzpatch. We are just a little better off than you blokes over there . . . $1.51 at the pump in Central Queensland this morning and our dollar is on about parity with the U.S. This forum is good in that it gives folks in the 'States a bit of a reality check on what is going on in the rest of the world . . . how would they go coping with moving dirt with eight dollar dieso? On this and other boards I get flamed if I dare to mention or suggest that there may be ways to economize on "whole of job" fuel consumption (as we do here) and the need to look at alternative fuels including plug in excavators. Cheers.
Scrub Puller have you ever heard the term thin ice?:cool2 If you have then you are treading on it and the sun is shining bright.. An excerpt from Willies post to You in the Keystone Pipeline Thread - Scrub do you get it and don't care or just don't get it???? The Mods have had to close several threads because of you and this topic - there is really only one more thing to close.:cool2
Yair . . . CM1995 I've reread my #41 post and I'm stuffed if I can see anything inflamitary or offensive in it. Just remember it cuts both ways mate, how do you think I feel when I see a thread bitching about $3.90 deaso when I'm paying nearly seven bucks myself. I tell it like it is. I appreciate this site but untill my posts are blocked I will comment as I see fit. It gets up my nose when folks in the US complain about the cost of fuel and the cost of equipment. As I say posts by nzpatch from NZ and others in Australia and Europe should provide a reality check but obviously they don't. Cheers.
I agree with you Scrub Puller
Scrub, I have varied interests, and that leads me to frequent a number of different forums, not just HEF. We don't have this a part of our official rules, because it really doesn't become necessary that often, but on other forums, it's sometimes called the "One Trick Pony" rule, and it goes something like this: In case it's not yet clear to you, to the extent that your views on liquid petroleum fuels are well known and often repeated, the other staff members have asked you to limit or refrain from posting on that topic. On those other boards, violation of that rule is a bannable offense. Please don't be the one to establish the precedent that it's also a bannable offense here.
Yair . . . Digger. So Americans bitching and grizzling about fuel prices that are about half of what the rest of the world pays is okay and I'm supposed to sit back, cop it sweet and not comment on the b/s? I thought forums like this were for education and entertainment and maybe a few folks could discuss different ways of making a dollar with a little less expense. Dirt hasn't changed and I would like to discuss ways of moving it that have been pretty much forgotten. I have mentioned Electric mini-ex'son here before and on another forum I mentioned that I have done road cuts with nothing but a fleet of single drive road trucks, a bitzer one yard dragline, a D6 and a chinaman . . . for probably less fuel than the same job done today. Cheers.
That's not what this is about at all Scrub. True, we in the states have had affordable fuel prices for many years, far longer than other parts of the world. I would wager the degree of our bitching (as you call it) about fuel prices is comparable to the degree of bitching about fuel prices when they started rising in areas of the world apart from us. The difference is, the rest of the world has settled into this norm, the US consumers are just now going through what you folks did at some point in the past. So your argument is less about the difference between us, rather the difference in time frame. Time and market forces will sort this thing out one way or another no matter how much we "b-i-itch" about it. What we are talking about is repeated attempts to bring up a personal agenda subject again and again and again with some illusion that it's going to yield a different result. Respectfully, what we're saying is this topic is nearing the end here, real near the end.
In the UK it's called 'Cherry Diesel' (It's green in Northern Island) Tax free and allot cheaper. It's actually better as its high in Sulphur. With a low Sulphur content the Diesel looses some of its lubrication properties. Hence the increase in manufacture cost of Diesel to compensate over the years. DERV use to be cheaper than Gas. Less refined, lower on the fractional distillation table. I use to run my old Renault Partner van on cherry. Works a treat.
In the UK Red diesel only allowed for off road use but the Ministry allows road going plant to go to a site without paying full tax. Green diesel is a warning that it has been issued to the Gas Board.The penalties if you are caught using Red are severe. Instant confiscation of the vehicle,which will be auctioned off, a big fine based on the odometer reading( they assume you have always used red in the vehicle).If they catch you twice, probably jailtime. I have never heard off red diesel being referred to as "cherry"
You have Lived a sheltered life then Robin. Gas Board? You must be living in the 90's. And there's ways to scam the it. For instance. I installed a diesel in my 'Originally Gas' Ford Escort. Lovely as the plate threw a petrol ID up on the UK police data base resulting in a No stop by the rozzers. Then I would have recent purchased Diesel receipts under my sun visor to indicate that I buy DERV. Then u would place a value of less than £500 on my van. This would lead to a significantly reduced fine. Who would pay £1000 to keep a £500 van? It's always been called Cherry in my end of the UK. Even in mining, construction and farming applications. Jail time for being caught twice? Get real. People get caught with dead body's in there boot and still dodge jail these days.
I retired from construction in the early 2000s, I have been dipped in my PETROL Peugout on a construction site, the Ministry dipped every vehicle on the site. I have also been pulled over by the Ministry in my JCB 3CX, I was asked if I knew red diesel was illegal on a road going vehicle. I replied it was not illegal in my type of plant. They allowed me on my way.Red leaves a stain on your fuel pump so anyone who is risking driving on red better be prepared for a bad conclusion.The value of the vehicle has no bearing on the size of the fine. Please check this out, thank you
Wow I didn't meen to start a war, just find it interesting to see sum of the different costs and ways other people do the same work as me in other countries .
I'd venture to guess (it's not worth my time to search them all up), that there have been a whole lot more posts by Scrub Puller essentially complaining that the price of gas in America is too low, than there have been posts by any other single poster that the price of gas everywhere is too high. That's what constitutes a "One Trick Pony" as mentioned above. You've been asked more than politiely, more than once, to give it a rest. In less time than it takes to read this message, the One Trick Pony rule can be incorporated in the Forum Rules. Anybody have a stopwatch? No worries, mate. It wasn't you.
died fuel
I paid $3.44 today.
One Trick Pony rule would hurt a lot of us. Next thing would be Dog and Pony Show rule.
I paid $3.239 yesterday for dyed.
Noted Cat287B, however it is Forum policy to not debate the Forum rules, they are what they are. HEF is a private club with few rules and the vast majority of members have no issue with abiding by the posted rules. Now that the "One trick pony rule" has been incorporated into the official rules list, it has become Forum policy. Thank you for your cooperation.
The only thing I'd like to add to CM's reply is that, as I commented above, it was never a rule before because it really doesn't happen that much. Cat287B, if you'd care to share your thoughts on who exactly it'll hurt, and how, feel free to contact me via PM. Now, back to our regularly scheduled program...
We are pretty close to CM1995's price.I paid 3.47 for off road fuel today.Barley soda is at 5.87 a gallon. No complaints here
What kind of cheap beer you buying there 25? I paid $11.02 for a 12 pack of Busch Light tonight. (and $3.75 to fill up my drag tank with red fuel) There are 144 oz. per 12 pack, and 128 oz. per gallon. Are you drinking the same stuff my uncle used to drink, just called BEER in black letters on a white can?!?!:drinkup
Red diesel fuel in the U.K. is now come down in price slightly to around £0.72p per Litre, as already said this Rebaited (reduced Tax) fuel has a trace Die added to catch out the people who run on the cheap, using this fuel on the roads ether in cars or Lorrys, this fuel is known through-out the U.K. as Cherry Aide or Vimto and obviously is about half the pump price of the standard diesel for road use, the penalty for being caught with it in the tank of a road vehical is not set in stone and often leads to a fine for the most simple case or a visit to the "Big House" for the big Fiddlers, green diesel is the Die used in S/Ireland where the Euro Coins are used, the price of fuel in Europe can change within a few hundred yards, as the Borders are hard to see in places, Luxemburge has always been a good place for trucks to get fuel as the price is always very low, A pal of mine filled up his Land-Rover in Iran about a year ago including all his fuel cans (Jerry Cans) and paid for it with 4 Biro pens that you buy in the U.K. for £1.00=10 pens so if you whant cheap fuel take ball point pens to Iran???
That's a great price. Fuel in general has been falling around here. I need to pick up some this morning to finish up a job I am on so I'll get a price update.
The price of fuel around my neck of the woods changes within a few blocks as well. Shell station by the Interstate $3.98 per gal, Racetrack a few blocks away on a major US HWY, $3.76. Both stations are in the same City and County.:beatsme TC, so you guys in the UK are looking at around $4.3o-4.40 per gallon for red fuel?
I need to move south I just paid $ 4.45 and was happy because the station across the street charged .20 more if you paid with credit card.
Yair . . . Just curious. Is this red fuel available at service stations? That is to say can you just pull up at a normal pump and fill a gerry can or fuel tank in the back of a pick up . . . as opposed to going to a designated depot I mean. Cheers.
Yeah Scrub, where I bought it the other day was on the same pump as gasoline. That's odd though, most stations have a designated fuel island for off road or red fuel.
CM1995,the £ not $ cost is in the region of £3.30 to £3.50 for the Red fuel per Imperial gallon (U.S. Gallon = 0.80 imp) there is some price difference within the U.K areas also the more you buy the price is less, this would be the same in any location on a Global scale, there is a few fuel filling stations about that you can buy Red Diesel from in the U.K. but its not something that I would risk as I have no need to try to scam off a few £££'s over something that would put me in a very poor light with my customers, as they could loose any trust placed with me?? the other day I was repairing a fair chunk of iron that was fitted with the CAT C18 motor, I was told it was sucking up about 190 -200 litres of red diesel an hour???it was running full bore for at least 23 out of 24 hours every day for 2 months excepting break downs and servicing, so if the fuel thirst thing is true it was costing around £150 pounds an hour on fuel, or 24 hours shift £3'300 just to keep in "Vimto"
What we call marked gas is available at a lot of gas stations here. Same pumps, side by side. People put it in their boats, off road dirt bikes, quads, etc and also fill jerry cans for lawnmowers chainsaws etc. Also convenient for filling equipment in the back of the truck or on the trailer at the same time you're fueling the truck. Personally it's too much hassle trying to remember what's in which can for the few cents difference in price. For what I'd save on lawnmower and saw gas it's not worth the worry about putting the wrong one in the car or truck when they need enough to get to town to the gas station . Regards d.d.
Yair . . . Thanks CM1995 and donkey doctor, that's interesting, I didn't realise the concept also applied to gasoline (petrol in our talk) . . . thats starting to get complicated! When it comes down to it I suppose the marked stuff can be used in anything that can't legally be driven on the road. Cheers.
I didn't realize there was such a thing as "off-road" gasoline, learn something new everyday, thanks for the info dd. I wonder if "off-road" gasoline is available anywhere in the States? Now there is racing fuel (high octane) but I don't know if it has tax on it or not. TC, the off-road pumps are used by folks like me with a slip tank in the back of the pickup. I have my fill side of my slip tank on the same side as the trucks tank. I can usually pull straight through without turning around and fill up both tanks - with the respected fuels of course. I am sure that some folks use off-road fuel in their road trucks but the fine here can be quite substantial. I just did a quick conversion from pence to dollar and liter to US gallon but it was early this morning and I had just one cup of coffee, so my math doesn't count.:tong Back during Hurricane Ivan or Katrina don't remember which one, we were allowed to run off-road/red fuel in on-highway vehicles because the supply of reg. diesel was low and the supply lines were interrupted.
Now see, you learn something new every day. I've never seen off-road diesel at a filling station, only from the same dealers that deliver it as home heating oil. Of course, I'm pretty much a city boy. Maybe it's more common in more rural areas, for the farmers?
That's been my experience digger. Like you, I live in a more metropolitan area, if the big town of Knoxville qualifies for that, where you won't find off road diesel at any service station island, you have to get it from the oil distributors. But in my travels across this great nation, I've been in more farm type country, where a farmer is just likely to drive his tractor up the highway to the service station, there you'll find an off road pump alongside the road diesel and gas pumps. Depends on the area your in.
LOL JTL.......I like www.keystonelightbeer.com It's a "Coors" product, Costs 16.50 for a 30 pack case 12 oz cans. Bush & Miller light are about the same price in my area.Have a great memorial day weekend JTL! Back to the red fuel ,local service station has had off road diesel for the last 20 years,they also keep the off road gas for boats ,chainsaws,ect.The off road gas dosent have any alcohol or additives in it.
I usally buy Stones, but the gas station didn't have any for some reason, so I had to settle! Have a great weekend yourself there td25! I have never heard of "off road gas" either! Me and my snowmobiling buddies and my logging buddies have talked about that for years. Why should we pay road use tax on a G.D. chainsaw?! We can still get non-ethanol premium 92 octane at certian stations, but its like $4.25 a gallon here in North Idaho. Thes tation where I get my fuel has off-road and on-road diesel right next to each other. The sweet thing is the off-road pump has the same size nozzle as the on-road pump does. I see Canadian pickups, as well as U.S. pickups filling up with off-road all the time. You will never see me doing anything like that!!!!:angel
Digger I'm out here in west MN on a farm.....I haven't seen off road diesel at the pumps between here, north central ND and eastern IA.....so no it's not always available at the pump......in fact my supplier for off road adds the dye himself as he fills his delivery truck from the pumps. So I'm getting the same stuff that you would put in a raod diesel. On the question another poster ask.....yes I have been checked when I had a diesel pickup, once on the north side of Battle Lake Mn and another time in Pelican Rapids MN. In both cases I was good but I knew people who were caught. At the time it was 750 dollars, vehicle had to be towed to a shop to be drained and flushed......everyone that I knew who was caught spent about 1500 dollars total plus the ones with farm tags (much cheaper regestration) lost thier farm tags for 5 years. For what most of em saved in fuel prices spent more in fines and repairs than they saved in fuel. Rick
On another note for the non US folks. Sure you pay more for fuel but the cost of doing earth work, transporting items and such is much higher than in the US too. I'm not talking without knowledge......I'm retired US Army and spent many years living and working overseas to us (more than 9 years total on just overseas assignment not including deployments). I've never bothered to check but I bet most developed nations have a higher minumum wage too. So higher wages/cost offset the difference in fuel prices. I dod know that toher developed nations pay thier sercive members much better than we were. An example was the Canadian Army was paying the same pay grade I was when I was making 28,000 a year 60,000 CD. Rick
Well the red fuel I bought was at a BP station (yeah I try NOT to buy fuel from BP _) off of I-59 about 10 miles from downtown. The Birmingham-Hoover Metro area has a population over 1.1M people, hardly metropolitan but certainly not rural.:cool2 I live on the more populous south side of the metro area and I do have to drive a ways to find red fuel. However this last week I was working in the northeast portion of the city and that is where I ran across the off-road fuel next to the normal pumps - actually that's the first time I have seen that myself. :beatsme I wish we had more stations on the southern end of the city, it's harder to find where I normally work. Believe it or not Digger, I actually took a paved road to get there....:tong
I've never seen it at a station in Illinois, might exist but I bet there's a dumb regulation against it. My cuz in Wisconsin (Wisconsin seems to be much more fair to business than Illinois) has a special credit card that he can use to buy the red stuff at certain stations. For the non US folks every state has there own rules about a lot of things even though federal law will supersede usually. Just for example there is a federal fuel inspector and a state fuel inspector in our area - makes no sense.
Have a station Ican walk too that has off road in a pump, but not really much cheaper kinda takes you on price for the conveince.
Really? I'm curious to know where. Cause the Pittsburgh region is where I've spent all the time that I've never seen it at a station....
Its in Ambridge well Harmony twp Leopardi service center or something notsure. it is owned by an old Italian family do everything from fuel and gas and repairs to notary work. Ill drive by and see what theyhave it for in a little.
Some stations carry off road here in the pumps, but not real wide spread. Price is usually about for cents less than on road. We do have to pay sales tax of 5.5% on off road here unless you are agricultural exempt. If I order off road delivered I get hit for several cents a gallon for the convenience of having it brought to where I am at.
When I bought the red fuel for $3.44 last week, on road was $3.78 per gal so that's a $.34 per gal savings. $34 per 100 gal is worth getting it when it's available.
guess im lucky, if I fill a barrel or tank in the back of the truck, I can fill out an address for the bosses farm and pay puc price, 26 cents per gallon less. Not as cheap as dyed but a little break, then just pump it in the pickup.
In Aus we only have the one type of diesel, or so i believe.... Is this red dyed diesel any different to the standard on road fuel? And is there a difference between winter and summer diesel nowadays?
FarmerAlex, the red fuel or off-road is the same as regular diesel, it just has a red dye added to it. I couldn't answer the winter/summer question because I live down south and we don't have different mixes due to the temperate climate.
Thats what i thought, Australia is temperate as well, the coldest being -5 to +55 deg C. Some old farmers say that there is a difference, but i wonder if it is more a case of poor maintenance, or worn out machinery, is why it doesn't start in the cold
Well to be brief, there is also a winter fuel. classified as No 1. Most of the summer grade fuel is No.2 ( good to about 15 degrees F) There is also a No. 4 but is not widely available. No. 1 fuel is basically a further refined No.2 that is has more of the wax removed to prevent gelling in cold weather. I dont claim to be an expert in fuel , so there is probably more grades out there as well, but this is just the basics
All diesel up here in the north has to be blended in the winter or the risk of gelling is a problem. The more modern trucks heat the fuel themselves, but older trucks still have trouble. One winter it was 10 to 15 degrees F for a week and the company I worked for had about half their trucks go down to gelling, the fuel supplier caught an earful!!
Just thought I would put up the Diesel fuel price (average) for the U.K. at this moment, Red Diesel = £0.72 per litre, road Diesel standard Truck - Car fuel = £1.40 per litre, so the red fuel is on average half the cost of the on road Diesel.
Hmmm, bought another 1/2 load 4170 gals @ $3.26 including sales tax. from 3.60 to 3.26 in 6 weeks, what a fickle industry!
and i heard it was going to come down from there in the next couple of weeks
Well, I finally will get to burn some in a week or so, so I am glad to hear it is coming down. Dan Glad to hear you are working enough to get a refill.
Thanks Jerry, the job is winding down, just finishing roads now. Went pretty smooth, lost a day with the 623F with a hoist ram issue and a day on the blade with the Topcon mainfall sensor that decided to blow fuses one morning. Also had a turbo lock up on Ecco's D6N rental, they fixed it in 1 day. Have some smaller jobs lined up that won't use so much fuel. Glad to have a good spring, good luck to you.
Wow guess we are not that slow if we are burning that much in about a week and a half, be more if it quit raining every other day.