The place I fill up has 2 grades of diesel: regular and off-road. I assume tractors and equipment get the off-road, and anything street legal requires regular. But, I'm wondering what the difference is? I believe the off-road has a higher cetane rating. Does this mean I'd get better performance with off-road in my PSD? Is it just an emmissions thing? Any thoughts?

 

I believe it is emissions related. I also believe that it is Federal Law that mandates that you cannot run farm use / off-road diesel for automotive use. Big, Big, BIG fine.
I run both in my tractor but would not dream of putting farm use fuels in my 6.0.
Why take the chance?

 

What is the difference in price? I believe that road diesel is taxed much higher that'
s what makes it illegal to use on the road.

 

The main difference is sulfur content. EPA mandates 97% sulfur reduction in road use diesel fuels by 2006. 99% sulfur reduction in non-road use diesel fuels by 2007.

I don't think taxes are a factor here. In Texas, as in most states, we get some relief on our Ag (agricultural) exemptions anyway.

I don't remember what the price difference here is as my last purchase was for 150 Gal of farm use diesel last August.

 

In Washington the difference in price is based on taxes. Sulfur content is a little higher in the off-road diesel but the main difference in price is highway tax.

 

same here in CA,

#2 is 2.21 cheapest I've found, usually 2.39
farm-red diesel is about 1.75

 

The reason it's cheaper is that the red diesel is immune from the federal and state road use tax, which can be as much as 20 cents per gallon. That is also the reason it's illegal to use on the road. That being said, even though Ford says not to run it, there's not supposed to be any difference between the fuels except for the dye. We run red diesel in our marine engines, our tractors and heavy equitment, and it doesn't hurt a thing.

 

Here in Alaska the off-road diesel is the same product as standard diesel and home heating fuel. It all comes from the same refinery and is the same color. The only difference is the taxes. Standard pump diesel has a state and federal highway taxes added. The off-road diesel only has federal taxes, not state road taxes. Home heating fuel has no road taxes added, so should represent the base price of diesel. They don't sell agricultural fuel here, but if you save your reciepts you can claim a refund for the federal taxes when you file your tax return. This is true only if you qualify for the agricultural/farming exemption under the federal tax laws. The off-road diesel I use in my Bobcat loader still has to pay federal taxes, although it is never on the highway, go figure.

I heard that there was a guy who bragged about running ag fuel in his truck illegally for about 25 years so he wouldn't have to pay the road taxes. Well the IRS found out and hit him up for back taxes and penalties. Something to think about.

 

I know my PSD would run just fine on Red, but I don't want to pay the big fine for running it.

 

"NASTY" little fine here in CA.. And the fines 'compound' with repeat offenders.. One of our trucks ran out of fuel, and they put a few gallons of red in from the fuel truck.. State happened to visited our job site and checked all the trucks.. One was polluted.. State fined us 1000.00 and the Feds sent us a payment request for another thousand.. 2000.00 total.. Ouch.. Next time is double.. And we have been checked again, for those that think lightning doesn't strike the same place twice!! Could buy alot of nice "add on" pieces for the price of 'getting caught' trying to save a few bucks, OR, now day's, ALOT of bucks!!!

...........HP..............

 

Thanks guys. The whole taxed Vs untaxed thing makes a whole ot of sense. But, there's still the issue of cetane rating. I don't remember the exact numbers, but the off-road diesel had considerably higher cetane rating than the street stuff. Is this just the sulpher content thing, or is it better diesel?

 

66coupenw,

I don't know where you are located at, but at least for me; all pump diesel, off-road diesel, and home heating fuel are the same. The come from the same refinery and are loaded onto the same trucks, but are taxed differently and sold for different purposes. Some areas may require low sulphur fuels for road vehicles so there may be a difference to the off-road fuel. I think most of the difference would be in power output (BTU's) / unit of fuel, not cetane rating. You will see a difference in cetane rating with premium diesel fuels, but this is because of the additives. You can make your own "premium" diesel with diesel fuel additives such as Stanadyne, PowerService, Howes, etc.... which will increase the cetane rating along with other benefits.

I think the best bet to find out if there are any differences in the fuels you are buying is to contact the fuel distributor in your area. Look up "Fuel Distributor" in the yellow pages. I would guess that the two different pumps where you fill up at are getting the fuel from the same underground tank. One station where I get fuel from used to have a off-road pump. I asked where it went and the station attendant told me all I had to do was to fill out a waiver with all my information and I would get the discount. This just leaves a paper trail for the state to follow up on to ensure off-road fuel is truely being used for "off-road" activities. I think they would really frown upon pumping off-road diesel directly into your truck.

 

Out here the sulfur is higher in off-road diesel and the trucks that run it actually run better than the on-road stuff. Our state is initiating a cleaner diesel resolution by 2005 and the state owned diesel vehicles are going to bio-diesel and I agree that the only reason it is higher in price is taxes. You just said it much better.

 

Yea don't let the D.O.T. catch you running off road diesel in your pickup or over the road rig. Your wallet will hurt for a while. I have seen the DOT in WV be real sticklers when they caught people running this stuff on the highway.


PSDboy

 

Out here in Washington it is a $300 fine if you get caught using it. I think if I had the capability I would use it and chance it. Fortunately for the law, I don't have that capability and for some reason they won't let you pump it right into your truck at the station.