Diesel prices

drkelly

drkelly

Dipstick who put two vehicles on jack stands
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Location
Oak Ridge/Stokesdale, NC
What is the highest you have seen while driving around or have paid? The station a couple of miles from my house has it at $3.48/gal right now.
 
Was in Baltimore a couple of weeks ago, $3.56, and that was at the beginning of the recent surge. Paid $3.49 at exit 150 (I40, FlyingJ) last week.
 
Good topic, I am gonna stray a bit, but I am curious. I saw a sign yesterday at a fuel place that said "we now offer Biodiesel" The were selling it foe $3.38 a gallon. Now a week or two ago I watched an episode of "Trucks" where Stacy had this kit to measure/mix/drain and so on, biodiesel to be put right in the tanks you are running now. It was a good show. I looked it up the kit is like $2999.00 !!!
But if a couple of guys went in together a bought one it would pay for it's self in a short time. And with around $.70 a gallon invested (not counting the cost of the kit)seems to be a good deal.
Why are more not doing this?
Could you not research it and get into it cheaper than $2999. with a do it yourself with info from the net??
I don't even have a diesel truck, but seems like the way to go if it was me.
 
Exit 24 off of I-40, Pilot gas station $3.49 cash, $3.55 credit. I absolutely hate Pilot gas stations. When I lived in Knoxville, their headquarters were just above where I lived and every station in town was always the highest. The bad part is the gas isn't that good IMO.
 
upnover said:
Good topic, I am gonna stray a bit, but I am curious. I saw a sign yesterday at a fuel place that said "we now offer Biodiesel" The were selling it foe $3.38 a gallon. Now a week or two ago I watched an episode of "Trucks" where Stacy had this kit to measure/mix/drain and so on, biodiesel to be put right in the tanks you are running now. It was a good show. I looked it up the kit is like $2999.00 !!!
But if a couple of guys went in together a bought one it would pay for it's self in a short time. And with around $.70 a gallon invested (not counting the cost of the kit)seems to be a good deal.
Why are more not doing this?
Could you not research it and get into it cheaper than $2999. with a do it yourself with info from the net??
I don't even have a diesel truck, but seems like the way to go if it was me.
Click to expand...

http://www.biodieselcommunity.org/appleseedprocessor/
chip, I have already made plans to make my own. check this out.
hijack over
 
I am paying right around 3.50. For biodiesel.

The reason more people are not making their own is that you have to have a source for ethanol and used grease. A steady, free/cheap source of grease is hard to come by.
 
I keep seeing these shows talking about bio fuels made from bio-mass/ organic stuff. Be nice to work out a 'reactor' type machine to wad your leaves and mulch in and get fuel out the other side :)
 
upnover said:
Good topic, I am gonna stray a bit, but I am curious. I saw a sign yesterday at a fuel place that said "we now offer Biodiesel" The were selling it foe $3.38 a gallon. Now a week or two ago I watched an episode of "Trucks" where Stacy had this kit to measure/mix/drain and so on, biodiesel to be put right in the tanks you are running now. It was a good show. I looked it up the kit is like $2999.00 !!!
But if a couple of guys went in together a bought one it would pay for it's self in a short time. And with around $.70 a gallon invested (not counting the cost of the kit)seems to be a good deal.
Why are more not doing this?
Could you not research it and get into it cheaper than $2999. with a do it yourself with info from the net??
I don't even have a diesel truck, but seems like the way to go if it was me.
Click to expand...

Making biodiesel is great if you have the time. I built a processing system that could make 40 gallons a day. I ran a few tanks and realized I just didn't have time to deal with it.

Collecting the waste oil is slow. I tried several different collection pump setups and the best I could do was an hour to collect about 100 gallons (usually much worse in winter). Then the oil has to be dried either by letting it sit and only using the oil on the top, or heating the oil (heating 40 or 50 gallons of oil takes a while).

The oil has to be tested to ensure it is completely reacted. The Lye and methanol has to be mixed (you also spend time sourcing these two ingredients). The ingredients have to stay warm and mix for a period of time I usually mixed for 2 hours. The mix has to settle for hours, then the biodiesel portion has to be washed to remove unreacted lye and methanol, then warmed again to remove the wash water. If you don't do all of these steps you run the risk of leaving impurities in the fuel.

Also, I got about 11 MPG with bio and 15 to 17 with regular diesel. So, with the decreased mileage and the time put into making a gallon, the bio costs more (to me anyway).

I'm buying diesel now for $3.40 a gallon. At 16 MPG, it costs me $0.21 to drive 1 mile. With the time it takes to make bio diesel, I have about $2.55 per gallon in it ($0.80 materials, $1.75 time). At 11 MPG, it costs me $0.23 to drive 1 mile.

By the way. The fuel meister costs way too much. You can build a better system for half the cost.
 
Down&Dirty said:
I am paying right around 3.50. For biodiesel.
The reason more people are not making their own is that you have to have a source for ethanol and used grease. A steady, free/cheap source of grease is hard to come by.
Click to expand...

X2

Most restaurants in my area have an arrangement with a recycling company who picks up their used oil. If I didn't know A couple restaurant owners, I would never have been able to get my hands on the free oil.
 
$3.49 on the way in this morning.. I've been driving like a Grandma for about 2 weeks now.. trying to squeeze out the most MPG from that big bitch..
 
I paid $3.29 at the shell on Hillsborogh last week. I've been away so the fillup before that was 2 months ago and $.50 cents cheaper.
 
Down&Dirty said:
I am paying right around 3.50. For biodiesel.
The reason more people are not making their own is that you have to have a source for ethanol and used grease. A steady, free/cheap source of grease is hard to come by.
Click to expand...

So the whole "Most Restaurants give it away free" isnt true?
 
Macdaddy4738 said:
So the whole "Most Restaurants give it away free" isnt true?
Click to expand...

Not necessarily...

A few GOOD sources (what constitutes "good" IMO does NOT include the usual fast food/fried chicken joints = grease is "burnt"/old/chocked full of chemicals to "extend" the grease) I've contacted have no problem breaking/dropping their contract w/ CBP (Carolina ByProducts) or other reclaimers... *IF* there's NO doubt you'll show up at whatever interval is needed to keep their drums emptied... which is another issue as many are supplied the large green tanks as a "perk" for contracting with a reclaimer. This means they'd need a suitable amount of vessels to hold the WVO...

FWIW, my "honeypot" (as Slade calls them) nearby me is creaming to ditch the monthly reclaim fees, even if it means having to spend several months of initial "savings" on a holding tank...
 
Fawks that. When I'm shopping for fuel, I stop at the cheapest place. I don't care what the expensive ones want.

It's $3.29 cash at the truck stops on I77 in VA, as of last week. That compares with $3.40 at the place right downtown on Tuesday AM.
 
3.18 this afternoon at the kangaroo across from the office (Spartanburg, SC)
 
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