Mild winter and diesel fuel

So here we are at the last week of January , and so
far it’s been a mild winter for us. I have two 300
gallon fuel tanks, one at each farm. I usually book
some of my fuel this time of year on a fixed price.
And go onto auto fill. So when ever the fuel truck is
in my area, he will stop in during the summer and
top off my fuel tanks. I usually call in come fall and
tell the dispatch to take me off of auto fill for winter,
so I can use up the summer fuel through the fall,
and get a load of winter fuel in
November/December. I always burn through at
least the 300 gallon of winter fuel before spring
work starts. But this year I forgot to call the
dispatch, and the fuel truck came November first
and filled the tank at the home farm. I don’t know if
they had already switched to winter blend, or were
still carrying summer fuel. But I am pleased the
weather has been mild, cause that summer stuff will
jell once you get Zero Fahrenheit sure as heck. My
Kubota tractors will take around 50 gallon to fill, so I
know from the amount of times I have filled them, I
must be 3/4 the way through the tank of fuel on the
home farm. No problems so far, but two more
months of winter yet to come. I’ll burn through
2000-2500 gallons of diesel in tractors each year.
My friend puts more than that through his combine
alone, he must get some scary bills

In minnesota the summer blend is up to 20% biodiesel, the winter blend is 2 or 5% I forget. So it’s real important to get a tank of winter diesel which they sell the winter mix after October 1st. I love the bio but in a minnesota winter you want the low rate for sure!

They don’t do a winter blend for bulk delivery unless you ask for it, so they bring #2 all winter if that is what you want. I also burn it in my furnace, heating oil it is tge same #2 as diesel fuel.

I find my tractors start having problems at 20f but not a big deal, but if it’s down to 10 degrees you better have a conditioner in the fuel system, and below 0 it sure helps to have a blend with #1.

My furnace tank is in the basement, but it is in the cold room with an open porch over it so a prolonged cold snap below zero and that furnace fuel tp can gell up enough to not flow through tge tank filter either. I have to keep track of that, if the highs are below zero I better get a 1*2 rate of fuel anti gel in the furnace tank as well.

Paul

Bruce, I don't even come close to using the amount of diesel fuel you do. But I never trust the dealers to treat their fuel so I treat my own. It cost a little more but I have a better feeling about it. Good Luck to you and hope spring comes early this year.

Use enough ag diesel here too, but have a propane tractor that gets snowblower duty in the winter. Don't need winter fuel although I put some in the loader tractor just in case. For almost 30 years I drove my own truck otr and farmed. Used 5-600 gallons of fuel every week in the truck. When it was almost $4 a gallon I had to carry $2500 cash a week for road fuel. Carried cash as I hated to look at a monthly fuel bill.

i am pretty sure the blending is done right at the refinery. next time i am at the dealer i will ask him. pretty sure dealers dont blend.

The Guy That farms our land has john deere tractors, told me his big one uses 26 gallon an hour...I think it holds 300 gal, Wow! He farms 2000 acres.

I don't use near the fuel you do but I don't trust the supplier and just add my own additive starting about mid Nov. to my 300 gallon tank. Haven't add any problems since I've started doing that and keep the filters clean and replaced yearly on the tractors.

I filled tanks up this fall for the next year and will run on that all winter with no problems. They blend for the area and temperature it is in. I'd not worry about it and just add what you want and run it. I used to buy fuel in Florida and then fuel along the way north with no problems. Come home and set for the weekend and leave on Monday or when the next load happened.

My friend and business associate has two gravel pits, many trucks on the road, and excavating business. Not unusual for him to burn close to 1000 gallons a day. I don't know how he did it when fuel was $5/gallon. Guess he charged more.

Bruce, I am pretty sure that you are referring to blending as opposed to additives. Here Irving starts pumping blended on Nov. 1, at least that is what they tell you. I would think that they could tell you if yours was or not.

Bruce, I could show you some scary fuel bills. I buy on average 2,000 gallons of diesel every day. Yes 60,000 gallons a month. If the price goes up one penny per gallon, I pay $600 more in a month. The place we buy the majority of our fuel drops off cookies every once in a while because we are such good customers. I am not pulling your leg about the volume either. Bill

The suppliers in this area are onto winter blend by November. I take care of all additives myself.

Paul, are you getting your fuel from Luepke?

FIL owned a 48’ convertible boat. Didn’t fish it just cruised. Had 2 C15 cats in it. It liked the kitty juice.

Vito

Own a locomotive ?

Oh ya, I understand your level of fuel consumption very well. I have a window into the trucking business with our Co-op, feed trucks , fertilizer tender trucks, water trucks for sprayers, fuel and propane delivery trucks. Takes a lot of fuel and drivers to keep the wheels going around. And it isn’t always easy to pass along those penny a gallon price increases.

A number of years ago, I was running a 485 quadtrac. It held just over 300 gallons. Getting into evening hours one day I called the boss and asked if anyone could bring me out some fuel? He got all over me for not filling the tractor that morning. Computer said 28 gal/hr fuel consumption. Seeded over 250 acres that day with a 50 ft airdrill.