I have a 99 7.3, and an old tractor. Was looking into a cheaper and safe alternative to diesel. I've heard of WMO, WVO, Bio, used trans fluid.... Just wanted to hear your experiences.

Thanks in advance.

 

WMO and used tranny fluid is a no starter for me. There is no way that any amount of filtering will clean it up. The chemicals from combustion cannot be removed from WMO. Trans fluid contains fibrous material from the clutches. No thank you...........

WVO works just fine as long as you start and stop on regular diesel AND heat the WVO before using it. In my application it just won't work because I have multiple diesels and the cost to convert all of them is cost prohibitive.

Biodiesel is my choice. I've been making and using bio for over 5 years with NO fuel related problems. Simple to make, My processor cost less than $200 to make, and I've made thousands of gallons.

Do a search on this forum and you'll find tons of info. There are a lot of us making bio here, and we'll help you get started if this is the direction you wish to go.

 

Thanks Don. I agree with you about the cost of conversion. I'd more interested in making my own bio. I'd def like more info on building a processor and making my own fuel.

 

First thing, do you have a source of oil? It gets messy collecting oil and making bio, but it's kind of addicting...

 

Yes it is addicting, I don't make BIO but I do use Veg oil. All that filtering and heating to eliminate the water in it and refilter while warm is fun. I went through about 150 gallons of veg oil this summer. Sure made filling diesel a lot cheaper.

 

I agree with Don - except I decided it was more economical to convert my trucks and reduce my cost/gal to about $0.10 - as opposed to the continuing cost of chems for bio-d. Then a friend got a BioPro 190 and that just makes B100 waaaaaay to easy!

If you do a conversion, please 'do it right' and save money on fuel instead of fixing your conversion - or worse, your truck.

 

That's part of the reason I'm on the fence between BioD & WVO. WVO isn't as likely to cause a fire when compared to BioD processing; and I never took chemistry in high school...so the whole process is intimidating to me. But I hear about guys that have BioPro 190 and it sounds like it's almost idiot proof...I'd love to have one, but what I've seen them go for I don't think I can talk the wife into one just for one ride. Though I'm trying to talk her into replacing her Exploder with an Excursion. I've been trying for almost three years with no luck, something about driving an aircraft carrier in city traffic. I tried the VW Jetta Wagon route a couple of times...and I quote "ain't no way in #$%@ I'm going to drive a station wagon or any other small car". I will say she has no issue with the sounds & smells of a diesel; though that could be because she like to intimidate Ricers with my truck when she drives it...did I mention I'm married to a vertically challenged woman? Anyway, so for now I do my part by buying retail BioD; I'd love to find a local Co-Op but they either (A) don't exist in my area or (B) are some kind of secret club/Co-Op.

 

The Guy I make Bio with and I got together because I ended up posting a free ad on the on-line TV site. He also was interested in bio, but didn't know if anyone else was until he saw the ad... Then ended up running into a couple other guys when a "bio-bus" stopped in town.
Just a couple ideas on connecting... good luck!

 

I'd love to be able to do more but in reality I don't have enough space. I was making more and ended up with almost 40 jugs of wvo in storage and about 25 at home. I made most of it to BIO then started running it straight then just got fed up and gave a lot of it away.

 

I found out there is/was some form of company/Co-Op making BioD 30-35 miles to my west. But I haven't had any luck getting in touch with them. I'd like to see what kind of deal/co-op I work out with them because I got that way a couple of times a month...and my truck loves BioD. Though I've never burned anything over B20.

 

When burning 100% there is slight loss of power when pulling the boat in the Hills, and I think I lose an mpg or two. Runs much quieter though, the exhaust smells better, and my last batch was less than a dollar a gallon... Heard Bio has 93% of the energy of regular diesel, not near as bad of a loss as the gassers have when going to Ethanol.

 

Is Ethanol really the scam that I think it is. I see all these GM trucks wuth that yellow badge on the rear but have never seen one station selling ethanol. I hear of race cars running ethanol or methanol tunes but never seen a pump. I've seen a few bio pumps and know a few stations in my area that sell it.

 

The process isn't very efficient at this time, takes a lot of water to make 1 gallon of Ethanol. Doesn't sit too well with a lot of farmers here...

 

I've seen one place in Oklahoma that actually sells E85 at the pump, and it was 15-20 cents a gallon cheaper. In my mind, it better be considering gassers burn more of that crap just to make the same power. Sad part they're paying the same price (higher per gallon cost for lower BTU) to go "green" as those of use that buy BioD from a retailer; or at least where I'm at. All of the WM/Murhpy's in my area are selling E10, there are a couple of stations that advertise they sell pure gas, I'm waiting for someone to ask what's the big deal.
There is also the issue of getting rid of the used corn...I used to have dealings with a chicken feed mill, they couldn't used the distiller's grain because it was too "hot". The mill manager said they'd love to use the stuff because it's cheaper that stock corn on the open market, but the several different times they had tried to run it they had problems handling it (unloading from train cars, through the elevators & chutes), the water content was never consistent and the protein was also never consistent either. Some of the farmer's co-op type places around here carry it, but there have been some issues in the past. Besides, the BTU spread between gas/ethanol is huge compared to dino-diesel/BioD. Anyone noticed the TDI Audi commercials on TV lately?

 

How many yrs has everyone run their specific product, and what maintenance have you incurred? I've seen some posts of diesel purist claiming people are ruining their car engines with bad product. I have a Nissan diesel from the 80s that I thought about trying before I convert a daily driver.