Used vegetable oil
- Thread starter hope to float
- Start date
I've not used old fryer oil though it should work in your old tractor. At the very least it should be well filtered and there is a process for turning it into bio diesel. Many of today's engines are touted to run on a certain percentage of diesel mixed with the petroleum diesel. I did look up some sites telling how to make biodiesel: https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=making+bio+diesel&atb=v150-1&ia=web
GreensvilleJay
Well-known member
Equipment
BX23-S,57 A-C D-14,58 A-C D-14, 57 A-C D-14,tiller,cults,Millcreek 25G spreader,
neighbour ran a diesel VW Rabbit for years on it, well, summertime... Always smelled like frenchfries to me.... he had some slick system for converting VO to bioD, cost about 25 cents a litre as I recall...
I am not sure about your "L" will it run yep how long will it run is another thing. A friend at one of the mines ran his Ford diesel and a VW wabbit on used stuff and cut it 50/50 on the winter with diesel though he always put some kind of additive in the oil. Then he started making Bio Diesel, and the cost was pretty cheap, how ever now this is according to him, in order to make it work so it didnt nuck up the motor it needed some kind of additives for lubrication and combustion what they are/were I dont know
shootem604
Member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L245DT with Kubota (Arps Model 22) FEL and Kubota B/L4520B (Woods 650) BH
I get a few hundred gallons of it every once and a while and I use it for dust control. I've considered filtering it and using a thinner to run it in the tractor, but I don't want any issues.
its hard to get around here. Biodiesel "makers" want it all.
I don't replace a lot of diesel injection pumps, nor do I rebuild many, but of the ones that I do.....a lot of them had poor biodiesel run through them. One of the machines in particular; had to replace the engine. M7040SUHD. Expensive experiment for the owner.
you have to refine the veggie oil. Used oil is VERRRRY dirty
I don't replace a lot of diesel injection pumps, nor do I rebuild many, but of the ones that I do.....a lot of them had poor biodiesel run through them. One of the machines in particular; had to replace the engine. M7040SUHD. Expensive experiment for the owner.
you have to refine the veggie oil. Used oil is VERRRRY dirty
My advice is don't use it then. I had a very bad experience with bio diesel some years back and it cost me over a grand to rectify and I did all the grunt work myself. Never again. Could be wrong but I think fryer oil would gum up the works.
Diesel is cheap anyway, why chance it.
Not following your comment. All diesel is petroleum, fryer oil is vegetable oil.
Back when diesel was $5 a gallon I filtered drained engine oil and used it in one tank on an '86 F250 with the diesel engine. Diluted it with diesel according to the temp. And always started the engine on the straight diesel, then switched to the mixture after about 10 minutes and ran for the day, and then switched back to straight diesel coming home for the last few miles. Never had any problems with that truck. Sold it a few years back, and it still runs.
About 25 years ago I had a pump and filter setup that connected to a hydraulic coupler on the oil pan drain and pumped it into the fuel tanks. Used it on Cats, Cummins and Detroits, never had a problem. Was 10 gallons of free fuel. I always made sure there was at least 50 gallons of fuel in the tanks, though, before I pumped it in.
armylifer
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
BX1860, FEL, RCK54P MMM, BB1548 Box Scraper, Quick Hitch, Piranha Bar, BX6315
There are numerous articles on the web about making bio-diesel. The most reputable of those sites suggest never using straight vegetable oil mixed with #2 diesel. fuel. Virtually all of them recommend making the vegetable oil into bio-diesel and either using it straight in the summer months and mixing it with #1 and/or #2 diesel fuel. Running unrefined vegetable oil can, and has caused coking in the combustion chamber. I promise that you will not find it economical to repair that problem if you mix unrefined vegetable oil, even if you mix it with #2 diesel.
In the early 2000's, when I got into diesel vehicles, VW TDI's, Benz 240D's, Dodge Cummins 12v, diesel was pushing $4/gallon so I decided to make biodiesel.
I built a processor, located waste oil sources and got to work.
Over 2 years and 40,000 miles of driving, the only problem I ever had was fuel gelling at very cold temps.
That was dealt with by cutting the BD with D2 in proportion to the temps, colder = more D2.
My life got much busier after a while and fuel prices dropped so I phased out of production.
The caveats I took from my experience are, BD use:
1 -It should be restricted to older, less complex diesel engines.
2 - Quality BD can be made at home but requires care and careful monitoring and measurement.
3 - Clean, properly washed and dried BD is essential to prevent problems
I never went the filtered WVO route as it had too many potential problems particularly engine damage.
I built a processor, located waste oil sources and got to work.
Over 2 years and 40,000 miles of driving, the only problem I ever had was fuel gelling at very cold temps.
That was dealt with by cutting the BD with D2 in proportion to the temps, colder = more D2.
My life got much busier after a while and fuel prices dropped so I phased out of production.
The caveats I took from my experience are, BD use:
1 -It should be restricted to older, less complex diesel engines.
2 - Quality BD can be made at home but requires care and careful monitoring and measurement.
3 - Clean, properly washed and dried BD is essential to prevent problems
I never went the filtered WVO route as it had too many potential problems particularly engine damage.
I've done a little reading up since asking the question and guess what! I don't think I'll bother!! Along with all the warnings given here, there is a very real possibility of me burning the place down. I'll find other uses for it; maybe coating timbers in a shed or the like.
yeah one of the chemicals you have to "play" with it methanol
u can make it but not easily, nor cheaply, so most people have to buy it
methanol is a really dangerous compound (CH3OH). It is dangerous in a lot of ways--I have plenty of experience with it
the liquid methanol fumes when inhaled in higher quantities can impair vision and possibly cause blindness. They can also mess with your brain, and with enough concentration you can start to gag. It hurts your eyes just from the fumes, it hurts your nose and throat too. Get enough it it in your lungs and it starts to impair breathing somewhat similar to nitromethane, makes it where you can't breathe
methanol is also dangerous in that it's crystal clear, so stored, many might think it's water and use it accordingly. You don't want that. Yes I have done it when I was young. Thankfully I'm still here.
Thirdly methanol is highly flammable, actually we use it for the sole fuel in race cars. The real danger here is that during the daytime you cannot see it burning. At night it burns with a very pale blue flame, real pretty to look at but it's even kinda hard to see at night. For that alone, if you have a methanol fire, and there's enough light in the shop, you can't see it, you walk right through it and become toasted--quickly. You can't see it so when it lights off, it's easy to miss it and next thing you know there goes the entire shop/house/barn whatever. The good thing is that water will put the "fire" out. Just make sure the water...is water (which is what happened to me when I was a kid, threw "water" which was in a jug, onto a fire in the shop, but it was methanol meant for the go-kart and the fire got bigger and hotter).
I treat the stuff like it's gasoline, keep it away from heat sources, label the jugs, don't keep a lot on hand, etc.
lastly, used to be that you could get a gallon of methanol for under a buck a gallon, and it wasn't that long ago. It's about 2.50/gal now when you can find it, so figure that into the cost of making diesel. I can get it a little cheaper if I buy 110 gallons or more but I don't, usually just 10 or 20 gal at a time. Even when I was buying it in drums, you never get a full 55 gal drum, usually only get 53, but you pay for 55. The last 2 gallons you get ripped for pay for the drum I guess.
An interesting tidbit about methanol. It is renewable; although currently most of it is produced from methane, which is considered non-renewable, however it can be made from wood, or a bunch of other things. Pure methanol when combusted gives off carbon dioxide and water only. No nitrogen oxides, etc. Runs pretty clean, but you burn 75% to 100% more to make the same power as you would with gasoline. And it stinks! Had the race car running Sunday after a long season of fixing problems, and the shop still reeks and the neighbors still hate me. They'll get over it.
u can make it but not easily, nor cheaply, so most people have to buy it
methanol is a really dangerous compound (CH3OH). It is dangerous in a lot of ways--I have plenty of experience with it
the liquid methanol fumes when inhaled in higher quantities can impair vision and possibly cause blindness. They can also mess with your brain, and with enough concentration you can start to gag. It hurts your eyes just from the fumes, it hurts your nose and throat too. Get enough it it in your lungs and it starts to impair breathing somewhat similar to nitromethane, makes it where you can't breathe
methanol is also dangerous in that it's crystal clear, so stored, many might think it's water and use it accordingly. You don't want that. Yes I have done it when I was young. Thankfully I'm still here.
Thirdly methanol is highly flammable, actually we use it for the sole fuel in race cars. The real danger here is that during the daytime you cannot see it burning. At night it burns with a very pale blue flame, real pretty to look at but it's even kinda hard to see at night. For that alone, if you have a methanol fire, and there's enough light in the shop, you can't see it, you walk right through it and become toasted--quickly. You can't see it so when it lights off, it's easy to miss it and next thing you know there goes the entire shop/house/barn whatever. The good thing is that water will put the "fire" out. Just make sure the water...is water (which is what happened to me when I was a kid, threw "water" which was in a jug, onto a fire in the shop, but it was methanol meant for the go-kart and the fire got bigger and hotter).
I treat the stuff like it's gasoline, keep it away from heat sources, label the jugs, don't keep a lot on hand, etc.
lastly, used to be that you could get a gallon of methanol for under a buck a gallon, and it wasn't that long ago. It's about 2.50/gal now when you can find it, so figure that into the cost of making diesel. I can get it a little cheaper if I buy 110 gallons or more but I don't, usually just 10 or 20 gal at a time. Even when I was buying it in drums, you never get a full 55 gal drum, usually only get 53, but you pay for 55. The last 2 gallons you get ripped for pay for the drum I guess.
An interesting tidbit about methanol. It is renewable; although currently most of it is produced from methane, which is considered non-renewable, however it can be made from wood, or a bunch of other things. Pure methanol when combusted gives off carbon dioxide and water only. No nitrogen oxides, etc. Runs pretty clean, but you burn 75% to 100% more to make the same power as you would with gasoline. And it stinks! Had the race car running Sunday after a long season of fixing problems, and the shop still reeks and the neighbors still hate me. They'll get over it.
Yes you can make it work but you have to be careful.
You would need to run with two different fuel tanks, one diesel and one for veggy oil (preferably a blend of good diesel and veggy oil), and a bypass valve. Once the engine has warmed up and is running you can swap over to veggy oil. Before shutting down you need to flip the bypass valve and run pure diesel for a few minutes to clear out all the veggy oil.
Caveats:
If you forget to flip the valve back to diesel prior to shutting down or don't let it run long enough to purge the veggy oil you might not get your engine started again.
Veggy oil contains glycerine. Biodiesel is chemically separated veggy oil with the glycerine removed from the diesel.
Glycerine will act as glue inside your diesel pump. If you leave glycerine in your pump for long periods it will get siezed.
Used Veggy oil needs contains LOTS of crud and needs to get super filtered or risk buggering your pump.
You would probably be better off making your own biodiesel to pre-filter the crud and pre-separate the glycerine out, then blend the biodiesel with your diesel supply.
if the tune is wrong yes
14 seasons on mine, so far (probably won't make 15), and hasn't even been opened up for inspection, aside from a valve check in 2018.
i had far more trouble out of gas and race gas and e85 than I ever have with methanol. FAR more!