All Fuel John Deere

I have an H John Deere with 2 fuel tanks. I just burn Gasoline but does anyone know anything about using Tractor fuel or Kerosene and how it works? A lot of tractors were multifuel but you never hear about anyone doing it any more. I would try it but i don't want to mess something up that works okay already. I just wonder what the real original enthusiast think about it?
cleddy

The all fuel tractors were started on gasoline and when the engine temperature reached 180 degrees you switched them over to Kerosine or what they called heavy fuel. No advantage to that today.

I have a 1935 JD-B all fuel and have run it on a good number of mixes and if my grandfather was still alive he could tell you a whole lot more then I can. The all fuel tractors if warm will run on distillate kerosene diesel fuel moon shine, vegetable oil and gas or a mix of gas and any of those things. By the way this 1935 JD-B I have has had 5 generations of my family on the seat

I am from The UK - gas was and still is much more expensive than kerosene and that is why gas tractors never really caught on here and spark ignition tractors were mainly kerosene - or we would call them TVO. TVO was a kerosene based fuel blended for tractors that did not attract tax and duty so was much cheaper than gas. As gas was relatively cheap in the USA, TVO was never marketed in the USA as far as I know. The design of many of the TVO engines over here originated from car engines and were not as easy to operate on kerosene as American tractor engines such as John Deere and Case where the engines had been specifically designed from new to burn kerosene or distillate. The main problem with kerosene is that it condenses in the cylinders and dilutes the engine oil. I still run a 38 B and a 1960 MF on kerosene. More frequent oil changes are needed when using kerosene. My John Deere burns kerosene much better than the Massey Ferguson

What everyone else has said is dead right. The all-fuel engines will run on just about anything above 180 degrees, 200 is even better. It won't hurt a thing to run it on these fuels, except that they are so much more expensive to burn (nowdays). Your tractor will actually run smoother, quieter, and smell much "sweeter", on the kerosene than it does the gas, but it will have a little less horsepower than a straight "gasoline" engine.
The manifold is the primary difference in how the fuel mixture is treated as it comes into the engine. The all-fuel engines use a "hot" manifold to help vaporize the the heavier distillates as they enter, thus the reason for needing to be above 180 degrees before switching to the heavier fuel (and reintroducing gasoline before shutdown, for the next cold start-up). The same hot manifold is also the reason for so much crackling and bad smell when burning straight gas, when the engine gets hot. The gasoline starts getting a little pre-ignition before it gets lit by the spark plug.
If you have the means, try it sometime, you will see the vast difference in how the engine runs and smells.
To Geoff Mathews; Thanks for your input and info. I always find it interesting how much different things are, and frequently always have been, in another country. My BIL and his wife are from England, but he has no particular interest in, or knowledge of things related to tractors or the like.

I run my 46 JD A on diesel with a litte gas mixed in to prevent pinging under load. I put diesel in the small tank. Like others have said you must get it up to 180 before you switch it over. I think strait korosene will work without a little gas but never tried it. good luck and have fun. Jim

When I was a kid our local Co-Op fuel delivery man mistook the 500 gal gas tank for the diesel tank and filled it with diesel. He was very upset thinking he had just bought 500 gallons of contaminated fuel. My dad told him not to worry as there was some gasoline remaining in the tank when he filled it up so he would just burn it in two of our old all fuel "A"s. As everyone said, we just started them on gas and then switched to diesel when they warmed up. Never was a problem although one of the A"s a few years later threw a rod through the top of the engine case. We also used to burn a lot of "power fuel" which was a low grade kerosene. I did like the smell of the diesel/gas mixture but not sure if it would be a good fuel for a long term use unless you have the proper mixture and if the gas will stay in solution for longer periods of time. Don"t have any all fuel John Deeres but if I did, believe I would use kerosene as an alternate fuel or 100 low lead. JMHO

Thanks for all the information. I'll try it soon as I get some kerosene for my heaters. It sounds like the tractor will do fine. Mine is a 3rd owner 1946 H and always starts easy and runs good anyway. No matter how long it sits or how cold it gets it always starts good and the only repairs it had since 1999 was a spark plug and flat tire once. cleddy

My Grandads always referred to fuel as "COAL-OIL"..

"Pour the Coal-Oil to it" was a common term to "Open the throttle"..
OR..."Take the Bridle off it"..!!!

Was that a different "Grade" of Kerosene product or nearer what would come straight from the oil well..?

Coal oil was what was used in many furnaces of the time and yes it was not as good as kerosene

Don't forget to switch back to the tank with gasoline in it 5 minutes before shutdown.

WE had a fleet of 6 JD H's with No. 5 mowers when I was a kid and all ran on "tractor fuel" a low octane mixture of kerosene and gasoline which was dyed bright blue so it could not be used in hiway vehicles. When we shut down at noon and in the evening the fuel was shut off and the tractors ran until the carb was empty then there was never a question of trying to start a cold engine on fuel rather than gas. One advantage of filling your tank with fuel/kerosene is that it will protect the tank from rust. The alcohol blended gasolines of today will quickly compound rust problems in old uncoated tanks.

Just an aside, plowing in Siskiyou county, in northern California in the early spring, "heating her up" and switching to fuel kept you just a little bit warmer. There was no problem telling when someone was plowing. On fuel and leaning into a three bottom plow, the "G" really barked.
If you forgot to switch back to the small tank, (gasoline) prior to shutting down you had to get the fuel out of the bowl and lines before she would cold start.
Here in the US you pay a road use tax on gasoline and diesel. You then apply to the state for a rebate for the tax you paid on the gasoline that you used off of the road. Tractor fuel, unusable on the road, was not taxed, thus keeping your money and saving the paperwork.
We had a tank that was just for fuel. The fuel guy delivered it, so I'm thinking it was probably kerosene. Dad called it "rocket fuel".
I've still got Dad's "B". I can start it by hand and it runs fine. The engine has been apart once, in 70 years.