mowermech
Billings, MT
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Joined: 06/28/2003
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HedoTravelers wrote:mowermech wrote:Just remember the tax man. It is illegal to run untaxed fuel for road use.
It's a non-issue. Call it experimental.
I hear the fines can run upwards of $10,000 for running untaxed fuel on the highways. good luck with the "experimental"!
Remember, it is BOTH State and Federal taxes.
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'94 Dodge 3500 4X2 CTD, Std. cab, LB, 5 speed, 4.10 LS diff., Jacobs Rambrake, 273,000 Miles
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Matthew_B
The boonies near Dallas, Oregon
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Joined: 08/18/2005
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I hear the latest source of biodiesel is from sewage treatment plants and grease traps at restaurants and schools. At the treatment plants, they are able to separate the floating scum that's rich in greases, fats and oils.
There is only one problem: When you burn biodiesel from McDonald's, it smells like french fries. When you burn biodiesel from KFC, it smells like fried chicken. Guess what this stuff smells like?
The solution is they are intending to blend it into dino-diesel at the fuel rack with no more than 1% concentration, where it can't be noticed.
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russd
northern az
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Joined: 10/27/2004
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my friends brother sells a machine that does most of the work for you. he says he can do 50 gallons in 48 hours with about 20 mins of his time involved. not counting collecting the oil. down side is this machine costs 7k. i don't drive enough for that price. fusionbiodiesel.com is his website. seems like everyone i read about or most anyways say their truck runs better on bio.
russd 2003.25 f350 cc sb 4x4 6.0/torqshift 06' artic fox 811 photos
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PJ Colahan
Antioch, CA
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Joined: 04/15/2008
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Northern Tool has a unit that you can buy that will process the cooking oil into bio diesel. Kind of expensive at $8K but if you travel a lot it could pay for itself.
As for the fuel tax. That applies to fuels produced by refineries. There are two types of diesel, commercial/agricultural and highway. The Highway fuel has a dye in it to identify it. The law is so that you cannot use the agricultural fuel which is sold without a lot of additional taxes in highway vehicles.
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armpics
New Providence,Pennsylvania
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From the research I've done; bio diesel made from used vegetable oil is cleaner and better for your engine . The process is supposed to be easy enough to do in your garage. A processor can be made out of a old water heater for a couple hundred dollars,or a prefab unit for anywhere from about 2 grand to 8 grand. With all the innovative people on this forum I guessed that there would be a few making their own fuel already, I guess I'm in front of the curve for a change. which is good because from what I've read the free used oil gets hard to find once it catches on in an area.
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sleepy
Oak RidgeTN
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Joined: 04/07/2003
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mowermech wrote:HedoTravelers wrote:mowermech wrote:Just remember the tax man. It is illegal to run untaxed fuel for road use.
It's a non-issue. Call it experimental.
I hear the fines can run upwards of $10,000 for running untaxed fuel on the highways. good luck with the "experimental"!
Remember, it is BOTH State and Federal taxes.
When you make moonshine experimentally you go to jail... tax evasion.
When you put off road diesel in your truck and drive it on the highways you are breaking the law.
The only place that you can legally use homemade diesel is for off road use.
I'm sure that some over zelous tax man would like to make an example out of you.... even worse someone you know would probable turn you in for having 50 gallons of FREE diesel when they had to pay almost $450 for the same amount.
You probably don't use 50 gallons a week now... you'll be tempted to sell some or at least share. DON"T
My advice... if you are going to do it... don't talk about it... don't write about it...just quietly do it.
Good luck.
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sirdrakejr
Las Vegas, Nevada
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California is already going after the makers of their own juice. No one gets away now. What a thing to do. First they ask for help and then go after you if you try.
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sleepy
Oak RidgeTN
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PJ Colahan wrote:Northern Tool has a unit that you can buy that will process the cooking oil into bio diesel. Kind of expensive at $8K but if you travel a lot it could pay for itself.
As for the fuel tax. That applies to fuels produced by refineries. There are two types of diesel, commercial/agricultural and highway. The Highway fuel has a dye in it to identify it. The law is so that you cannot use the agricultural fuel which is sold without a lot of additional taxes in highway vehicles.
I think you have it backwards:
Off road diesel has the dye in it.
If your fuel tank has dye in it you are in trouble. I'm told that the dye is very hard to get out of your system if you should every use it even just once
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Redneck bling
New Jersey
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To make bio diesel you need to heat the oil and add Ethel alcohol and lye...two very flammable and caustic chemicals. Then the oil separates to bio diesel on the top and glycerin on the bottom. You then need to cook and aerate the alcohol off. Its a pretty serious operation. Research it better and see what your getting into. There are a lot of sites devoted to it. You need to get rid of the glycerin and the bio diesel needs to be burned after warm up and you need to convert back to diesel prior to shut down. Its also temp sensitive as in it gels sooner than diesel. Meaning you need to have a separate tank for it. That's why its mixed so often with diesel. Now for the big wham....less BTU's per gallon so if you get say 16 mpg on diesel.....you will get maybe 13 on pure bio diesel with the wind at your back. Like I say....research it good. Cost of alcohol and lye....the electric for heating it.....the glycerin waste......for less mpg range. Also.... biodiesel is like a solvent and you WILL have to replace your fuel filter 3-4 times. Its amazing how much stuff frees up and travels the lines. I'm not anti bio diesel....it's just too much effort and contamination risk for me what with children, dog's and fire risks.
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silversand
Montreal
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Joined: 09/12/2004
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....wow! $8,000 for a biodiesel conversion unit, + $6,000 for a diesel optioned truck...I'd say: fergit diesel, Buy a filling station instead 
Cheers,
Silver-
Silver
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