Sam's is your source for Hatteras and Cabo Yacht parts.

Enter a part description OR part number to search the Hatteras/Cabo parts catalog:

Email Sam's or call 1-800-678-9230 to order parts.

Diesel vs heating oil

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bob Bradley
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 38
  • Views Views 22,961
B

Bob Bradley

Guest
OK, I've had several "experts" tell me I'm nuts for springing for diesel for my boat, when heating oil will do just fine, and that I ought to have my heating oil guy fill my boat, at least when it's on the hard. Legal ramifications notwithstanding, are the two interchangable?
 
diesel

I don't know if they are precisely the same but we have several people at work with diesel-powered cars who always fuel them with home heating oil which they pump out of their home heating oil tanks into their cars.
 
Re: Legal question

I'm not sure, but I think that CT wants you to pay the road use tax and then fill out a form to get it back. Unrefunded taxes then wind up in the state's general fund.
 
fuel

Nothing is wrong with putting it in your boat or tractor .But you can get nailed for putting it in your car or truck. Red diesel fuel in your car or truck is a no no. You did not pay road tax. That is why they color it so they can check it easy.You still may need to pay a usage tax if you are for hire. Bill
 
Re: Legal question

I believe diesel powered boats are not subject highway tax. That is why the fuel at the marina is dyed red. Red fuel has not been taxed, FYI if you get caught with red fuel in a truck or car the fines can be pretty steep. As far as the compatibility, it is my understanding that home heating oil is not as refined as diesel fuel. Burning home heating oil is an old practice that probably wasn't so bad for low HP naturally aspirated diesels. I've heard many mechanics say that a 71N series Detroit will burn just about anything. I would not do it to a high output 92 series Detroit.

A friend of mine thought it would be a good idea to put a 900 series Racor on his home furnace. He just had a new tank installed and thought he would be able to keep the system clean and fresh. With 30 micron filters he was getting less than 10 hours of use before fouling the filter. He finally removed the Racor and replaced it with a standard furnace filter and everything worked fine. This makes me believe that there is a difference in the quality of these two fuels.You have to be careful of the quality of the fuel you will be putting through your very expensive to repair marine diesel.

Jack Sardina
 
Home heating your boat

#2 Fuel Oil (home heating oil) should burn in your diesel just fine. HOWEVER, there may be hell to pay if the tax man gets wind of it and thinks you're not paying your dues.

I suspect that if you talk to your supplier and confirm you're paying sales tax (not road tax) you'll be OK.
 
Re: Home heating your boat

Well, I'm running 435hp 6v92ta engines. Not a 71n, but neither are they true high output engines. So, what's a cheapskate to do? I believe that sales tax is not an issue, as I'll pay that either way.

I just don't want to cause any damage to the engine start clogging filters regularly. I use Racor 2020 PMOR elements presently, and have had no problems.

My thought was to purchase a 150 gallon fuel pillow, and carry that in the bed of my pickup. It's about a 50' downhill run from the parking lot to the boat, so I could let gravity do its thing. I would then mount the pillow on the bow and fill it at the fuel dock for extended offshore trips. See my earlier post on increasing fuel capacity.
 
Re: Home heating your boat

Well as it was said by saltshaker in the post above it is not filtered as much so you will go thru filters much more. Also there are additives in diesel to improve the burn plus the cetane level is not watched as close so basically you are opening your self up for big problems not counting if you get caught. Here in N.Y and some other states I know it is Illegal.
Dan
 
Re: Home heating your boat

As farm fuel you don't pay a road tax.I was going to check today on another issue. Large U.S. tanker ships pay a giant fuel tax on every fill up of grain. Foreign ship don't. It's in the millions. I don't know if we need to pay this tax or not. In that we are pleasure boats.This money is used to clear the harbors.Just some thought. Bill
 
Hauling fuel to the boat

I used to have a 300gal tank in the back of my pickup. I would buy fuel at the local truckstop--all taxes paid, but still cheaper than at a marina. Then with my 12v pump and about 100ft of hose, just pump it into the boat. I did this 20 years ago, but I don't know if you could really do it now with all of the potential environmental concerns, ie spill potential, etc. And, what marina would allow you to do it?
 
Re: Hauling fuel to the boat

I'm in a private club, and transporting fuel is somewhat commonplace. We have rules and processes governing it. Any time someone is fueling, he places a road cone with a flag at the top of the ramp to the dock, and also hangs a fueling flag off the transom of the boat being fueled, to warn people that it's going on.

We also tend to use common sense, in that nobody fuels up during real busy periods like on holidays. You're more likely to see it on a weekday evening or early morning.
 
OK, here's the poop...

If the fuel meets ASTM standards for #2 fuel oil, then it does. It either does or it does not.

Ask your fuel oil supplier what the hell he is selling. If you need to add a cetane booster, do so - but I bet you won't need it. Again, the answer to those questions can be found from the people selling the fuel oil.

Don't believe the 'no additive' claim for a second. Fuel oil often sits from spring to next FALL without any supplemental additives whatsoever. In the fall the furnace is turned on and expected to fire right up. It usually does.

The few times I've checked this (and been in a position to take advantage of it) I've found the fuel oil being sold DOES meet ASTM standards. After asking that question, the next one is when the truck can be close enough to the dock for their hose to reach :D

For the most part it all comes out of the same bulk tank. Don't believe for a minute that they keep separate bulk storage tanks - they don't. Gas (scuba) suppliers try this crap too - there are multiple grades of "Oxygen", but they all have to do with handling protocol of the bottles - nothing at all to do with the actual gas, which all comes out of the same cryo tank.

Filtration is potentially an issue, but furnace burners, particularly MODERN oil burners, are fairly high precision devices. The orifices are definitely not something you want to have get screwed up - a clean burn is essential to avoid heavy sooting and possible FIRES in your chimney/flue pipe (carbon is COMBUSTABLE, and a flue fire is very, very hard to put out.) Now your fuel oil TANK at your HOUSE is another matter - its almost certainly absolutely stinking FILTHY, having NEVER been cleaned or flushed. So if you put fuel oil in there, then draw it out, you can expect it to be roundly contaminated.

There is no issue legally PROVIDED you are not using the fuel on-road. Sales tax is charged basically everywhere on fuel oil. However, if you put it in your car or truck you're in major trouble if you get caught - possibly FEDERAL trouble. Don't.
 
fuel oil

If you put dyed diesel in your car or truck and drive it on the public roads you are absolutely in violation of the Federal tax laws as well as your own State tax laws. Serious fines if you are caught. It is legal to use dyed fuel in off road applications. However you are probably in violation of the law if you fuel your boat from a non permitted fuel dock. I know this is the case in Massachusetts and I would assume this is true in other states. This also would result in heavy fines for violating any oil spill type laws. Ask anyone who has had a very minor spill at a fuel dock. These laws are the reason why the fuel dock attendant has you fuel your own boat. If you do the fueling and there is a spill you are the responsible party not the fuel dock.
BEEEE CAREFUL. Fred
 
Not in Florida

It is absolutely common for south Florida owners who live on the canals to call the fuel truck and have it come to their home, fill their boat, and drive off.

Happens DAILY.

Now if you SPILL fuel in the water, that's major trouble, no matter where you are. Don't. And by the way, those trucks have stupid-fast pumps on them, so be careful.
 
#2/Diesel

Folks, I may be wrong but I believe the price of home heating oil is pretty close to diesel. Why would anyone want to take any chances on damage to our engines to save a few cents? Cost/Benefit does not make sence. The cost of a few racors probably exceeds the savings and besides the extra hassle isn't worth it. Walt
 
Re: #2/Diesel

I don't know the difference between diesel farm fuel and home heating fuel for quality. But my farm fuel is red and I don't pay road tax and its cheaper. Is there a difference in the quality of fuels with the same color? I'm going to call my supplier. Bill
 
dyed diesel

The only difference between red diesel and clear is that road use tax has not been paid on the dyed fuel.
There are some regulations about fueling boats from a truck. I know a lot of people do it but they are required by law to do things such as put an oil boom around everything while fueling. The Federal environmental laws have a lot of things like that hidden in them that you can be grabbed for. Like I said BEEEE CAREFUL.
Fred
 
Re: dyed diesel

A friend who's family owned a fairly large farm told me that in addition to some std steep fine, if caught with non-road tax fuel in your truck, our state would look at the odometer assume you had been cheating since new, and collect road use taxes on the total estimated gallons consumed. Gad, I think that is a big run-on sentence, where is my english teacher? state of Wa.
Gary
 
Just for the boat - not the truck!

Thanks for all the warnings and concern. I'm only talking about fueling the boat, not the truck. As far as price is concerned, I expect a difference of about $1.00 to $1.50 per gallon, otherwise I wouldn't go thru the hassle.

Karl,
Thanks as usual for your clear and knowledgable information, and for the email.
Bob
 

Forum statistics

Threads
38,156
Messages
448,741
Members
12,482
Latest member
UnaVida

Latest Posts

Trending content

Back
Top Bottom