Gelling up

I got a fresh tank of #2 last week, dumped a quart of power services in the 100 gallons, was driving the 3 miles back home this morning @ 15 degrees. It started missing going up the final hill, so I downshifted, crested the hill and coasted into shop. I got it in where it is warm and will leave it in there for the winter. I usually have the heat houser on and think that makes a big difference.

It was running super smooth until this.

This story is common for power service users. That is why truck stops sell ten times as much Howes diesel treat as all other brands combined. I usually get shouted down for saying this here, but the truckers know better and buy Howes. Most every truck driver has a story about power service letting them down.

In 2012 I had 3 different outfits treated 3 different ways. First was a 7045 Allis. Had Power Service in it. Second was a 276 Versatile using supposedly blended fuel from my supplier. Last was my 91 Dodge treared with Howses. All 3 gelled up. Grrr.

That's interesting, I have some white bottle power service, and almost bought some more recently. L&M had it on sale. I drained our tractor tank and put in 5 gallons of 50-50, and I won't be back to use it until mid March. I guess I will look for some Howes for the future.

Do you guys have a drain plug on the very bottom of you tanks for those above ground? If you do do you drain the water off be fore cold weather freezes the water/ condensation in the tanks?
I try to do that every year in the later fall before it gets to freezing so it is not ice in the bottom of the tank. I also don't have the gelling freezing fuel problems always brought up on here each year. Don't know If I am just lucky or if the local guys are getting better fuel.
I never had trouble with this in 20 years over the road with my semi either. I don't use anything in my fuel in cold temperatures either. Only once had a possible problem setting in the yard with some GA fuel in MI in January was below zero then also.

Well I have not used Powers Services or Howes in years. I switched to JD winter fuel treatment 10 years ago or so. At the time it was a cost move. I can buy the JD in five gallon pails during the Open house parts discount. I use it at the rate of I qt. per hundred. NO other blends or treatments. My cost is about 5 cents per gallon and I do not have the power loss from the K-1. Blending K-1 costs about 10-15 cents per gallon around here and you have power loss.

David I would bet that you do not have a gel problem but a water one. 15 degrees usually is not low enough for a gel issue unless your running biodiesel.

I start treating the fuel barrels on Nov. 1st. and add it to all equipment when I check the antifreeze for winter.

I have not had a tractor or truck gel in all of that time. The last winter I had blended fuel and used Powers treatment I had terrible issues with it. Semis freezing up out on the road and tractors dying half way through chores.

I now treat the fuel as the tanker delivers it. I also have a double water/fuel filter setup on the supply tank. I drain the water separators every Monday morning. Use an electric heat gun to thaw it if needed.

I agree with the others who say it is more than likely a water issue. I have been running straight #2 diesel in two 3020 JD tractors down to +5F with no problems, provided the engine block heaters are plugged in about 45 minutes before using them. I recently added 3/8 of a tank of #1 diesel to one of them, but the other is still running on straight #2 here in western MN. I intend to get some more #1 diesel very soon though, and mix it 50/50 with the #2.

Lon

power service at 1qt per 100 will never work ,if I had to use that crap I put 1gal to 100 -1 qt to 25 gals USE HOWES and at that I stand on the ratio, easer to keep it from gelling up then going through the process of getting it started again

I use a product called FPPF,it is hard to find, but 1 pint treats 300 gal and I never gelled using it.

If i fuel at home, i never buy additives. i blend number "1" fuel with my number "2". hwy diesel is another story. i try to know what every diesel station, that i might fuel at, policy on winter diesel. not much advice on hwy diesel but it's the best i have. over the road trucking, i always drove a truck that returned alot of fuel like a detroit and stayed away from cummin's. nothing wrong with a cummin's except it doesn't return much fuel.

You are probably right on the water issue.

I have never checked that on my 6610, will after it sits a while.

Yes, the fuel thickens, but ultimately the filter is the problem. With the least bit of crud in the filter, it will plug. Put in a fresh filter. You won't be sorry. As long as I keep all filters fresh/clean, I have no issues with fuel Jelling. ... and that is Northern Maine.

There is only 1 way to keep fuel from jelling, that is blend it with #1 fuel or run straight #1. When I owned the fuel business, I cannot begin to count the # of times I have been out on the road or in a feed lot switching filters and filling trucks, tractors, loaders with #1 fuel. I picked up a whole lot of new customers that way. I always heard "I poured the antigel in the tank before I left". That crap is no guarantee you are gonna get where you need to be.

The last time it hit 40 below here for a week and I was working at a truck shop that bought and used only Howe?s we had 5 trucks to thaw out it took us several days to get them all running again so Howe?s is no better either . I think the problem is it takes about 2 or 3 times what the bottle says to make it work I run power service in everything and the only time I had a problem Is when I was working out of town and decided to trust the fuel station and I partially gelled up truck would still run but no power so I pulled back in to work turned the heat up and went to sleep for about 2 hours and luckily it thawed out and ran

Is it OK to add some sea foam to the diesel to absorb the water, if so how much per 20 gallons.

So how do you explain that truckers consistently use Howes then? They buy fuel all over from all kinds of scorces, drive in all kinds of weather, sometimes going from warm southern temps to cold northern in a couple days and on the same fuel. Unlike most farmers who never get more than a short walk from a warm house or barn, they get many miles from safety, so their lives depend on fuel that won't gel. And they rely on Howes at least 10-1 over all other brands. Of course us truckers are not known to be overly bright. Lol

Buy some power service 911 will help remove water

The guys who dump the gallon bottle in every time they fuel don?t have issues but just trying to run the dose the bottle says on either product you?ll have problems . When it?s gets really cold guys here will dump a couple gallon gas in the tanks I?ve done that myself and it works as well but definitely got to be hard on fuel systems