Originally Posted by CheaperJeeper
Thanks for the reply again, Phydeaux88.
In terms of selling the bio, I wasn't planning on selling it commercially. Just a 55 gallon drum here and there to friends with diesel trucks. Cash sales.
I think that would be the plan most of us would have. Just keep in mind, word of a "good thing" like this gets around. Your friends might send a diesel owning buddy your way for some "cheap fuel', and he may send a buddy, etc.
I don't want this to sound overly dramatic...but if I were wanting to sell Bio (as you describe, not as a co-op or anything), I'd treat it as if I were dealing drugs from the house. Cause when the proper authorities find out, it's -NOT- paranoid to think there could be a sting at your house, complete with EPA agents, tax authorities, etc. It sounds dumb, but the feds take fuel (and fuel taxes) seriously.
You made one point that I hadn't considered. How the conversion would affect the resale on the truck. I presume it will lower the value.
I would think so. Those who don't know of WVO conversions are going to be scared to death of the "hippy burning french fry grease in his truck". Those who -do- know are always going to be skeptical that -your- installation would be as good / safe / durable / perfect as -their- installation.
Wheras, with Bio...hey...you're just burning diesel, so there's nothing to disclose / create an issue.
SO, now you've made my decision harder by putting one more thing on the BIO side of the scales! Right now the BIO / WVO scales seem to be pretty equally balanced.....
One thing I don't like about the WVO conversion: the loss of either fuel space or bed space. My friend who is running WVO (successfully) in his '92 F350 dually has a big-azz metal tank in the bed, with plumbing, pumps, heaters, etc. That's a lot of real estate to lose in the bed of a truck. At least for -me- in the bed of a truck. And it's semi-permanent, so it's not like you can just pull it out in 2 minutes if you need to use the full-size bed for something.
Of course, you can use the built-in 2nd tank for your WVO, and just keep the diesel in the 1st tank. But what happens when you're on a long trip, or hauling far enough that you can't refill your WVO at home? Can you just put diesel in the modified WVO tank, or do you now have 1/2 the mileage / range you had before?
One thing I like about Bio, is it doesn't "tether" me to home like WVO does. Bio is a great way to cut fuel expenses when near / around / within a certain radius of home (so you can fill from your own fuel supply). However, when you have to leave that radius (overnight trip, vacation, moving, hauling, etc), you're hauling around bunch of useless WVO stuff, and losing either bed space or fuel space.
That's an important consideration for me, as my trucks (currently) don't roll unless I'm hauling something. I've got a little 36mpg Japanese wondercar for around-town / errand / family running. If I had a Bio rig out back, and a couple hundred gallons in storage, I wouldn't think twice about firing up an F350 to visit the family, or pick up the GF's kids 2 hours away. As it is now, though, the trucks burn too much fuel for that kind of "no towing / hauling needed" use.