What kit did you use for your conversion?

Noonien · 08-10-2014, 09:53 AM

I'm having difficulty deciding which kit to use, so I figured a poll would be a good idea!

Also, if you did a DIY, please share how you did it!

sdwarf36 · 08-10-2014, 11:36 AM

I have 2-a Greasecar kit in my VW Jetta + a home built kit in my bus. (and a veggie furnace in my garage.) I'm also seem to be the sites nay-sayer. Greasing is way harder today compared to 10 years ago When I started. Like next to impossible to find. Used oil is bought up by large companies that can afford to pay well for it for the the raw material for bio D + bio heating oil. Stuff the resturants use to have to pay to get rid of (therefore glad to give away) are now paid for it-and locked into contracts. Go read whats written on the dumpsters. Property of XXX rendering company-theft will be met by arrest.
Before you spend any money on a kit-answer these questions:
Do you have a steady source of oil?
Do you have somewhere you can store + process oil? (somewhere that can get messy)
What are you plans for the bus? Local close (one full tank) trips or long distance traveler?
Are you able to install a kit by yourself? Able to do a roadside repair?
If you are planning on traveling-are you ready to give up bus space for proccessing + storage?
How much are you willing to spend on a kit? And how much diesel will that buy? Example: you spend $2500 building you kit-diesels $4.00 a gallon-you get 10 mpg. Using those numbers, you would have to drive 6000 miles on veg to break even-depending on your cost of getting 600 gallons of veg. (One thing about greasing-you become good at math.)

I really really hope someone proves me wrong + manages to make a long trip on veg work-where you dont't know where your next tank may be. 10 years ago, there was a great community-and a website "fill up for free." You could look up where you were going + make a connection. I was a filling stop on the list. If you end up spending all your time driving around on diesel looking to fill up your veg tank, you become a slave to it.

charles_m · 01-14-2015, 12:16 AM

I second all that! i did my bus in anticipation of an 8000 mile trip. I was so concerned, that I left with 400 gallons of veg in my bus in tanks and barrels!
It really isn't what it used to be, and I will say that when I ran out of veg, it was scary finding, and then trusting the veg that I could get. I would only do it if I had a sweet hookup for free, quality oil, like the kind you could get prior to 2007.
That said, it was fun running on (sometimes) free fuel. The bus ran smoother, quieter, and I had no noticeable loss of power.

jazty · 01-14-2015, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charles_m

I was so concerned, that I left with 400 gallons of veg in my bus in tanks and barrels!

This is what I plan to do. I have a second 75 US gallon tank and would like to add a third 50 US gallon tank. If I can fill those tanks before a trip with freely found veggie oil then I'll be more than happy to pay for straight diesel from then on out. It still saves about $450 in fuel for any long distance trip.