I had a brainstorm today and I want to know if anyone else has tried it. Diesel is hard to find in my immediate area. ($1.60/gal) BRAINSTORM: Find a large oil tank like the ones used in homes. Put it behind the garage with a hand pump installed. Call the local fuel delivery service and have them come and fill my tank. The fuel is home heating oil and it sells for $1.09/gal. I can buy 200 gallons at a time and fill up at home. Has anyone tried this??????

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hehehe...

This would be a great idea...

...if it were not a crime. The difference between the $1.60 and the $1.09 is taxes. There are folks in your state that would have no sense of humor if they found you doing this.

Folks around here decide to save money by going down to the local farmers co-op and buying red fuel which is dyed so that if they find red fuel in your tank they can legally put the bad whammy on you. I use it in my Kubota Tractor. Each time I buy it, the purchase is logged and my purchase history reviewed.

The Great State of Tennessee is pretty serious about collecting their road tax revenue inasmuch as they have an statewide Orange Cone Farm system to support. The DOT goes around to truck stops and sticks the tanks looking for offenders. I think the fine is around $100,000. Considering that you might save about $500 per year if you drive 25k miles in that time, not a good gamble IMHO.

Best Regards,

Also, many states have laws regulating above ground fuel storage tanks in the event of a spill/leak and fumes. Farms and ranches can install such tanks and (in some cases) not follow the more stringent controls for spills/leaks/fumes -plus they have the ag. exemption from paying state road taxes (as sschweg wrote). When the fuel supplier shows up to fiil such tanks they must verify that it is legal to do so because they have laws regualting who they can sell to (in some cases) and could be liable for selling non-taxed fuel to non-authorized persons/entities. The tree care co. I once worked for had a branch off. with an above ground fuel tank, the city then passed laws regulating such tanks, and the only reason this tank was not shut down was a grandfather clause. The branch off. did pay fuel road taxes, the tank was a convenience to save time trying to fuel up at local service stations (as I recall, a minimal saving was incurred because purchases were in the 1,000 gallon range).

Good Try!!

Tom

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Legal ramifications aside. How quickly would you use the fuel? Wouldn't there be a chance of too much water mixing with the fuel over time? I know that diesel absorbs moisture, but not sure about how quickly.

I read somewhere on this forum that I should get fuel my 300 CD at a Truck stop or filling station on or near a local highway, because that is where the fuel is replenished most often. Thus reducing the risk of fuel with too much moiture content. In fact I have 'felt' a difference in acceleration after a fill-up when I get fuel at a highway Truck stop vs at a corner gas station in town.

Just some fuel for thought.

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Are you really interested in saving money on fuel? How serious are you and how much do you consider your time to be worth? You have one legal option and one that borders on the edge. The totally legal way is to make biodiesel from used veggie oil and run that in your car. This requires NO modifications to your car and depending on where you live, you will probably have to pay "road tax" on your methanol (required mixing agent) when you purchase it anyway. Even though the methanol don't stay in the fuel, you will still have to pay a tax on it. The second way is to do a "conversion" on your car i.e. install a second "heated" tank and do a little plumbing work. Then you can run "straight veggie oil" or SVO in your car. After the initial conversion, all you have to do is filter the used oil down to 5-10 micron and pour it into your second tank. You start and cool down the car on regular petro diesel and do the majority of your driving on waste oil. BTW , if you use the "bag type" filters that are washable the cost for this type of operation is "zero" per mile. All you have to do is wash the filters. ( so it costs somes time) Tom

Fryerpower, as you know, I've been seriously looking into the SVO option, myself. What is a good source of those filter bags?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but one can also run filtered, used motor oil and ATF as well.
Finally, I'd like to say that more folks should consider biking and walking, if possible, as they are the most economical means of transportation.

Yes, you can run used motor oil and tranny fluid for fuel if you filter it. The problem with this is, the pollution. Veggie oil has near zero as far as pollutants. There are however, folks who are "recycling" their used motor oil. There are a few of the larger fleets of Rigs, in our area that filter out the used oil and then dump so much back into their next few fillups and get rid of it that way. It smokes like crazy, but when you only dump in 5 gallons into a 100gallon tank and top it off with diesel fuel most people won't notice the difference. Think about that savings, it only takes 2 fillups to get rid of the drain oil from each truck. Around here it takes a special license to dispose of "toxic waste" So I guess unless you get caught somehow...it may be worth the risk???

Isn't home heating oil hard on a diesil engine?
William Rogers......

How could home heating oil be bad for a diesel engine? Is there something in that "red" dye that I don't know about? If you are uncertain as to the formulation in your "local" heating oil all you have to do is ask at the petroleum co. hdqtrs. I have done this for each of the suppliers in my area to see just what the difference is. ( it's the "red" vs. "green" dye pretty much) Home oil MAY have more sulfer in it, but what will that hurt? Nothing, since that is what the "older diesels" needed for lubrication. It does smoke a little more, everything else being equal. Otherwise it is pretty much the same as #2 diesel fuel. Premium diesel is a different story, with all the additives for lubricity, lower cloud point/pour point etc. There are a lot of farmers who run on "heating oil/ off-road" fuel around here. The only reason it is dyed red is to tell the "authorities" that it was sold as NON-TAXED fuel. BTW, others may argue this with me if you wish, this is just my understanding from what I've researched in my locale Tom