Old diesel fuel in a tractor

I have a tractor that doesn't get run much. Couple hours a year at most.It has had the same tank of fuel in it without being added to for at least 5 years now.(Filled it then. now down to about 1/4 tank.) I want to get it running for fall.
How would you deal with it? Just start her up and run it like I always have? Change the filter?Dump fresh fuel in and top up the tank? Drain it and refill it with fresh fuel?
Always have just started up and run it but I keep hearing about alge growth it diesel and reall don't want to screw up the fuel system any worse than I probably already have...

Myself..... I would drain it, put in a half tank +/- of fresh, and if the old stuff looks OK, dump it right back in. That's just me tho..... Or, to be 100% safe, just keep the old stuff to clean parts....

bring it here , i will not be afraid to use it ,, always use a little Lucas fuel stabilizer in old diesel ,,, it is the modern gs that is a problem ,, seafoam remedies that problem , a little in the sediment bowl will straighten outa dormant gasser

I'd scrape the bottom of the tank with a clean stick and see if there's any pasty stuff in there. If it's clean, I'd just run it.

Could you take a small flashlight and get a good look in the tank? The trouble with most tanks you really can't drain from the bottom. our only diesel tractor is a newer JD with a 12 gallon plastic tank. It is shaped like a large funnel with a drain right at the bottom. The fuel tap to the engine is up about 2 inches, so I drain out about 8 ounces about 3 times a year for starting bonfires. I think this is a very good system.

I posted this on another board a couple of days ago.
Pertains to your question I think.
click here

I have run diesels with fuel as old as 10 yrs in the tank without problems.
But then,algea are not a problem in my neck of the woods.

I just fired up an old truck yesterday that had been sitting for 3 years.
20 sec cranking and it fired right up on the old gas in the tank, ran like it ran every day.

Make sure that you have good filters then run it. The fuel won't hurt your engine only what's in it. If you have good filters they clean the fuel before going into the engine. Old filters can break down and cause trouble so replace them with new and go for it.
Walt

Make sure your filters are clean and run what's in it. If the stuff that's in there now has algie growth in it, you can drain and refill all day long, you can steam clean the tank, and it will come back, I've seen it happen more than once. If your worried about algie growth in the fuel get an algecide like Bio-Bore to put in the tank, and several sets of filters to go with it.

I haven't figured out why people think that the algie will hurt the injection pump or anything else downstream of the filters. The filters are there for a purpose, and the media in them are sized for a purpose, and anything, be it algie particles, debris, etc, etc that would pass through the filter normally shouldn't be a problem. The biggest concern with the algie is that it will clog a filter really quickly and cause it to rupture if let go too long. Personally I've seen a sock filter that was origionally close to three feet long pushed/sucked down until it was less than a foot long when it became clogged with the stuff. At that time the machine was crossing a road and blew the O ring gasket out of the bolted on ends of it's housing, shutting the machine down where it sat. This machine had just had the tank (about 200 gallon) drained, opened up, and steam cleaned, because of algie, less than a week before this happened.

Once a tank has been cleaned out and had fresh fuel put in it, along with a biocide, the stuff will still try to grow back. The good thing now is the biocide can now kill just the new growth instead of a whole tank full of the mess. That's why you always need to keep a few sets of filters handy because the dead algie will still clog filters as fast, or faster, than the living stuff will.

Check the fuel for algae and/or water. If you find neither, you should be good to go.

Dean

you don't mention what size tank; however, 1/4 tank in a smaller tractor can not be that much fuel, for me i would add fresh and go.

Personally, I would drain the tractor tank and pour the fuel into clear glass gallon jars and let it set overnight and take a look at it for obvious things. Water in the bottom, clarity, sludge, etc. If it looks good, I'd filter it and put it in the tank along with fresh. I have pulled fuel from the bottom of my storage tanks in the fall and put it into 6 gallon containers and put it in the machine shed and waited for -10F wx, then poured off into glass jugs for inspection. The only time I ever encountered ice in the bottom of the containers, though, was with gasoline. That's me. I'm finicky with fuel. It's something I picked up being in aviation for 52 years although the highest I ever got in my WD was about 950' above sea level. (;>))

Diesel isn't gasoline. It's oil. Oil has been in the earth for millions of years. Get yourself a box of filters and have at it. When the engine starts to slow down, change the filter and go on.

I bought an 18 wheeler tractor that had been sitting for something like 10+ years with a couple of 100 gallon tanks pretty full of diesel.

Got a box of filters and before the filters were gone I had a shiny tank and a great running engine.

Mark