[Live Oak]

For those of you with diesel tractors be sure to consider whether you need to add an anti-gel additive to your diesel fuel or switch to #1 diesel, or at least mix in some #1 diesel or kerosene.

In some cases diesel can gel at or slightly above freezing. Best to be safe instead of sorry and treat your fuel with an ant-gel additive. If you are just now adding an anti-gel additive, be sure to start the tractor up and run it long enough to get the treated fuel through the entire fuel system so as to prevent gelling of the fuel in the injector lines and pump.

 

[leolav]

Good tip Chief!!

I am sure that alot of folks will be really angry when their machines won't start!

 

[Live Oak]

It is not just a matter of not starting. Even though it may start and they usually do for a limited time as the fuel may not be completely gelled or wax crystals have formed. When enough gelled fuel and wax crystals have built up in the fuel filter then the engine will stop running and more than likely the tremendous restriction against the fuel filter will cause the filter element to collapse.

 

[Argee]

Most fuel received from the filling stations in snow country already has the additive.

 

[Live Oak]

They SHOULD have winterized diesel fuel but that is not always the case and I wouldn't go bettin' the farm on that. :fineprint Most fuel dealers and stations that sell high volumes of diesel are very likely to have good winterized clean diesel. Some may have some quantities of fuel left over from summer that has not been treated or has been mixed with an ineffect mix of winterized fuel. Some tractor owner's may not use their tractors much or may have diesel fuel on hand which they purchase during summer; this fuel if left untreated in very cold climate is more likely than not to gel. In short, it is just not worth the hastle of fixing the mess if it does gel and you need the tractor right away. A couple of bucks worth of fuel additive is cheap insurance.

 

[MowHoward2210]

Chief,
I used my "garaged" tractor to push snow around my neighborhood for a couple of hours. The temp was about 25 degrees. No additives in the fuel, no problem. I assume this was because the fuel tank was sitting in a warm environmnet 50 to 55 degrees in my garage. Did the operation of tractor keep the fuel "warm"?
I probably would have had different results if it had been sitting outside all the time, right?

 

[Live Oak]

In most cases the temps have to get down into the teens or lower and the equipment sets outside and gets cold soaked. Depending on the condition and additives in the fuel or lack there of; it can gel. In most cases you will be fine but it is cheap insurance. Fuel manufacturers and distributors are supposed to treat the fuel adequately for the geographic location of the fuels use. For some of the above and other reasons, this may not always happen. Better safe than sorry.

 

[Live Oak]

LOW TEMPERATURE OPERABILITY

Low Temperature Operability Additives

CURRENT ASTM D 975 ISSUES

This detail of info. is probably getting into what I call "pole vaulting over mouse turds" :cowboy: :smiles: but sometimes it is nice to see what the actual standards call for.

In a nut shell, in areas where severe cold is a factor; the fuel is treated. Should be in bordline areas as well. Doesn't cost much to cover your back side.

 

[Ingersoll444]

I see it all the time. Working at a VW dealer, the first week of the first cold snap, we get a TON of the VW tdi's towed in with gelled fuel. And this is on cars that are used a lot, and in the northeast where the pumps "should" have treated fuel. And I am not talking about the first cold snap that may happan early in Nov. This year it was in Jan, and all the old,summer fuel should have been gone from the pumps by then in our area.

 

[Live Oak]

Sounds to me like the last bit of summer fuel left at stations that gets through the cracks. I treat with Howes to prevent gelling. Doesn't take much and is cheap insurance. It should not be needed but I don't want to take the change and risk the expense of gelled fuel and the hastle it can cause. Plus, Howe's has a no gell guarantee.