Off road diesel same as fuel oil?

[tuckermtn]

This isn't directly a sugaring question, but I would guess folks on here have the answer...

can you use off road (dyed) diesel in a home heating oil furnace? Specifically its a bouderous brand furnace.

Is there a difference in sulpher content, etc...

off road diesel here is 2.07. Home heating oil is 2.29.

[Haynes Forest Products]

The oil I use in my evaperator is red and I dont pay road tax. The oil a farmer uses is the same and like me if I got caught using it in a truck on the roads I would be in a world of hurt.

[sapman]

I believe they are interchangeable. I've been told to use whatever is cheapest, so I always ask the price for both. In NY, and maybe everywhere, off road diesel is now low sulphur, which raised its price here. The only time it has been less than heating oil was when new shipments of one or the other had come in, and prices were trending up or down.

Tim

[NH Maplemaker]

Eric, a couple years ago I delivered oil for a local oil co. I would deliver to a house for furnace. The next stop would be a construction company for there dozers and loaders!! So long story short, it's the same stuff!! Jm L.

Ps. This oil company is a Bouderous Dealer

[maplecrest]

as stated here before. #2 and off road were the same. but now off road has less sulfer. and new epa rules state that off road only in tractors ect.if caught with #2 in tractors is i 15000 dollar aday fine for every day they figure you had the oil in you tractor. this law has been in effect for over a year. and the oil company will pay a 25000 dollar fine for delivering that oil used. so if you use #2 in you in your tractor the oil company told me that soon they will add something to make then run rough forcing the issue

[tuckermtn]

Jeff - could you add something (I currently add Opti-lube to my off road and on-road- adds lubricity and its a cetane boost) to the off road that would make it better to run in a furnace? My main concern is if I put current off road in my friends furnace am I going to screw it up b/c of the low sulfur?

thanks -

Eric

[TapME]

I heard that in our state that they banned off road, anybody else heard this?

[maplecrest]

i put k 100 in my tank for the sugar house furnace and evap. seems to be working great say 40 percent added lubricity. the draw back is the price. used it in the off road too. but i think i am going to use power service in my tractors from now on. no freeze additive in k 100.

[gmcooper]

Tap ME
As far as I know we still can get off road in ME. We have not had our tank filled since summer with the prices dropping we finished the last tank and have been watching the market to refill at the current low price (hopefully).
The fines for using #2 are out of sight as Jeff mentioned. One of the two smaller dealers we use is scared to death of putting #2 in any tank other than in a house basement. They got caught not chargeing sales tax 2 years ago on farm deliveries of #2 which everyone believed were tax exempt. They paid all the back taxes out of thier pocket which nearly put them under.
I did hear one of the boiler tech's near us say the new off road low sulpher is not good for a furnace. I have no idea if he is right or not.

[markct]

being a truck mechanic for a trash hauling fleet we have a good bit of dealings with diesel and its issues and i have attended a good number of seminars over the past year or so regarding this new ultra low sulfer diesel. first thing to make note of when comparing price is that ultra low sulfer diesel has about 7 percent less btus so you are getting less heat per gallon. the next issue is that the ultra low sulfer has a shorter storage life without treating it, as the sulfer in regular fuel helps to act as a biocide and keep algea growth under control. another factor is that it has more water holding abilities due to the esters in it, thus it will absorb more moisture which is what the algea feeds on and it also doesnt help corrosion in tanks etc, now realize i am talking about water absorbed in the fuel not the water that seperates out at the bottom and can be drained off, i didnt believe it at first either but after seeing a few sample reports from times we were having various fuel issues i was surprised to see the ppm of water, at work we go thru a tractor trailer load of diesel in about two weeks so its a pretty regular turnover and every now and then ya get a load of fuel with high moisture or other little issues.also ultra low sulfer diesel has less lubricity, not an issue with a furnace but it does seem to have made a few older injection pumps die an early death, hard to know for sure if its the fuel or not, but our injection pump guy has said that he definatly sees alot more scored and worn parts inside pumps since this new fuel went into effect a year or two ago now. my opinions are that i wouldnt be affraid to use it in a furnace, theres no expensive or sensitive parts in a oil burner realy, nozzles are cheap, pumps are reasonable. but however if you plan to leave it stored in a tank for more than a few months in your basement or sugarhouse i would definatly look into treating it and dont forget the lower btu content when comparing prices