New Fuel Guy Brought Me Summer Diesel....!@#$!!

Scott.ID

Member
I had my fuel company drop off 200 gallons in my tank, but the new driver brought summer blend instead of winterized.I filled the Skidsteer tank 2 weeks ago in preparation for our first good snow, went up today to plow and she won't start.

I called the owner of the fuel depot and he's going to pump out the summer diesel and replace it plus give me an additional 50 gallons, but what problems am I going to run into on my skidsteer? It was 22 degrees today and she'll only cough. Fuel filter only has about 15 hours, cost 65 bucks, and I'd rather not try to replace it where the loader is. It's going to be up in the mid 30's later this week.....

Any ideas? No power anywhere close, and I don't have a salamander heater any more.
 
Scott
Power Service 911 fuel treatment. 1/2 gal jug treats 150 gal of #2,or summer, fuel, so you shouldn't need much. Pour it in the tank & let it sit 20-30 minutes. It will work its way through the system. Should fire right up. No damage done.
Willie
 
Summer diesel won't gell at 22 degrees unless you have soy in it. I am afraid you have other problems like dirty fuel filters.
 
I saw the local town employees with a hose on a city truck (gas)thawing a watermeter. Might work if you can get a hose in the right area.
 
Change the filter... mabey see if you can blow some air back into the tank. That would depend on what machine it is. I wouldn't want to try and force air back through a lift pump so be carefull of the plumbing.
Suspect you've got water in there... Also dump a cup or two of methyl hydrate into it.

Rod
 
good diesel should flow to zero F,I have combined corn and tilled ground many days and nights at less than 22 degrees with #2 fuel, I don't buy into that summer/winter crap, we always have atleast 200 gallons of diesel left in the fall and continue to use it all winter, if it gets cold we blend in some #1, this is in Mn, we know about cold temps and gelled fuel, pump shops tell me power service is good for their business and I will not use it, stanadyne has a good product thats also available at jd, I have also used Howe's
 
I have 1000 gallons of "summer" diesel here and use it all winter. Usually in temps from 0 to 30F in the dead of winter. I add some Power Service anti-gel to it and run at temps to below 0 easily. If it's 20 below (or colder) F I don't want to run any diesels anyway.

Winter diesel is less efficient. Dollar for BTU its more cost effective to buy summer diesel and treat it.
 
Howes is my anti gel of choice. I can't afford the milage drop I get with blended fuel in my truck so I always use regular #2 if I can get it all winter. Just put a 1/2 gal. of howes for every 200-250 gallons of fuel. Rarely have gel problems. But at 20 deg. I doubt your problem is gelled fuel. I would look elsewhere. I would suspect water in your new fuel.
 
Back in the day we built a charcoal fire in trash can lid. Slide it under the oil pan, after the flames died down, till she warmed up enough to start.
 
Your problem is not a gel problem. Even bio-diesel will not gel until it is down to around 10-15 degrees. Hours running mean zero on a fuel filter. I have changed them and only got a few hours on them before they plugged again if there is dirty/water fuel in the tank.

Like one of the other guys said get some charcoal and a piece of tin. (steel garbage can lids or the shallow hog feed pans work well) Build a fire and let it get down to the coals. Then slide it under the skid steer. Put some card board or plywood up around it so the heat stays around the skid steer. I have done that several times over the years to start things that are too far away from any electric.

If your skid steer has electric shut off make sure that you do not have an electric problem. Listen and see if you can hear the solenoid work when you turn the key on and off. Had a customer burn his starter up on a Bobcat skid steer because he had no power to the fuel pump. Argued with me for half a day it had to be fuel since it ran fine when he parked and it got cold. I finally loaded it up and put it in my shop. Let it set in the heat over night still zero fire. Found a bad wire under the seat that had the fuel system shut off. Must have broken when he sit down in the seat on the cold morning.
 
I never worry about using "winterblend". Haven't for 10 years. 22 degrees isn't cold enough to worry about, IF YOU have been maintaining YOUR fuel tank. Dump some Howes or Power Service in it and go.
 
You didn't say what brand it is. My ASV had issues a couple years ago, when the fuel pump relay took a dump.
 
The fuel isn't your problem. Does your skid steer have glow plugs or ether assist? Rent a non electric propane heater or get a weed burner and a length of pipe to warm the machine up. You can treat fuel that has gelled but it's not cold enough to gel at just under (water)freezing temp. You can also boost the machine if it's not turning over fast enough. Turning the throttle to full often helps in cold weather. My Kubota needs full throttle and the glow plugs for about a minute to get going in about -10C. Below that there's no chance of starting it unless it's plugged in. Once it starts reduce it to idle. The Perkins in my tractor will start as long as I can get it to spin fast enough. What engine is it?
 
Howes or PowerSource in the trucks and tractors all year around, every tank full. Only once, and I don't remember why in happened, but it involved me limping into a truck stop and buying PowerService 9-1-1 to put into the tank to unwax my injectors. Obviously it had cooled way down, and obvisously I missed a dose of prevention. Winter versus Summer? Like you, I don't care every tank, so to speak, so that never happens again.

Mark
 
Today we live in a society of "Zero Tolerance". The trend is to terminate whoever makes any mistakes. The truth is, however, that we all make mistakes, especially when starting a new job as you state is likely with this guy. I've made mistakes. That's right. Don't laugh. It's happened on very rare occasions. I fix the problem, make it right and move on. The company made the mistake good it sounds, by even giving you an extra 50 gallons. What recourse would you suggest? BTW, the summer blend should burn through. Are your glow plugs working? Even when we factor that so many workers don't care, the rest of us are still not beyond mistakes. We do our best, and when we fall short, the best we can do is make it right, which it sounds like they did.

That aside, I also realize that this board is as good a place to vent of some frustration before taking a chain fed machine gun to the fuel company and dealing old school with them as any place else. Don't get me wrong. I do it to. I've come on here and let my frustration with someone or something type itself before I hit the post icon. A few weeks ago I was angry, or such that Lowes didn't tell me up front that they didn't carry the chain for my very expensive chainsaw before I spent $400 on the biggest saw they had that day. Like you, I was just venting, so I suppose I shouldn't get hyper critical when someone else does. Good luck with your skidsteer. Perhaps you can park it overnight in the shop. Like I and the guy right before me said, it should still burn in the skidsteer.
 
They are correct, summer fuel isn't the problem. If you knew BEFORE you called and complained you are the !@#$. Why wouldn't you just dump a bottle of grey Powerserve in the tank if it made you nervous? That would have winterized your fuel right in the fuel barrel.

Ok, I'm back from Google. It looks like summer blend diesel will gel at 7 degrees Farenheit. I will go look for B3 or B20.
 
Think about it this way... If they gave you an extra 50 gallons of fuel FREE, the money you would of spent on that extra fuel someday could buy you how many fuel filters???
 

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