Clear, red, or blue?

[milkmania]

Ok, I looked in Alternative Fuels section first...

I have 2 fuel tanks with separate gauges, one for primary Diesel engine, one for secondary engine.

I read a 1994 article from New York Times discussing different dyed fuels...

Blue diesel, which is higher in sulfur and tax exempt, is for use in commercial boats, trains or some farm equipment; it is the least expensive. Falling in between is red diesel, which is lower in sulfur than blue, tax free and meant for buses, government vehicles and off-road use.

I don't know what information they were quoting, and I know the difference between OTR and farm diesel... Taxes


That being said... I'm really considering installing a solenoid switched T-valve and running primary engine from whichever tank I want.

Anybody got any feedback? Positive or negative, I don't care. Just looking for previous experiences mostly.
You don't have to commit to which fuel you buy/burn... As you'll notice, I didn't commit to anything either... I spoke true Clintonese

[somewhereinusa]

It you are talking about using farm fuel (red) on the highway, don't do it, the fines get very expensive. I think can be $10,000.

[Versatile]

Agreed. Some states ask you to turn in users of non taxed fuel.

[aaronsb]

Keep your non taxed fuel system separated from anything that is connected to a power train that uses public roads.

Originally Posted by milkmania

Ok, I looked in Alternative Fuels section first...

I have 2 fuel tanks with separate gauges, one for primary Diesel engine, one for secondary engine.

I read a 1994 article from New York Times discussing different dyed fuels...


I don't know what information they were quoting, and I know the difference between OTR and farm diesel... Taxes


That being said... I'm really considering installing a solenoid switched T-valve and running primary engine from whichever tank I want.

Anybody got any feedback? Positive or negative, I don't care. Just looking for previous experiences mostly.
You don't have to commit to which fuel you buy/burn... As you'll notice, I didn't commit to anything either... I spoke true Clintonese

[cadillackid]

I didnt even realize you could have taxed and untaxed fuel on-board the vehicle.. even if its 2 engines and separate systems...

years ago dad used to keep untaxed kerosene in a tank on the scout for filling our kerosene heaters at home... but because the scout was a diesel and kerosen was "close enough to diesel fuel and would run in the scout".. the tank couldnt be permanently attached.. it was just easier as we could just fill the tank and not have to have messy cans inside the truck...
-Christopher

[PNW_Steve]

I have been driving diesel rigs for 30 years and saw my first enforcement action about two years ago. I was driving my Dodge pickup and was pulled over by Washington State Patrol.

The trooper approached my rig with the sampling gizmo right off. No question why he pulled me over. He sampled my tank and sent me on my way.

After that happened I became curious and started reading up on the subject. As best I understand it, less than one ounce of red fuel can be detected in a 35 gallon tank of road fuel. It would appear that cross contamination between red and road tanks would be hard to avoid.

As mentioned in an earlier post, penalties for running un-taxed fuel are severe.

[Iceni John]

I've heard that even if you have some red transmission fluid (such as Dexron) mixed with your diesel to help clean things out a bit, it can show as a false positive during red-diesel checks, and you will still be liable for the DOT fines until your sample is tested in a lab. In other words, don't even think about putting anything except regular taxed diesel in your tank! Only if you have a completely separate tank and fuel system for a generator or Webasto heater, then you could use red without worries.

For the relatively low mileages that most of us converted-bus owners drive, the cost of the tax on the diesel we use each year is not much in the big scheme of things. Heck, almost anything for a bus conversion costs more than a year's worth of diesel tax!

John