off road diesel fuel

[chakaman123]

will it hert to run off road diesel in my 01 f350 is it better than the store stuff

[SmokeyWren]

In most areas the only difference between off-road diesel and on-road diesel is the road tax has not been paid on the off-road diesel, and the refinery added some red dye so the tax cops could catch you if you put red diesel in your on-road pickup. Most red diesel is sold for use in farm tractors or construction equipment. But a modern John Deere or Cat turbo diesel engine needs the same quality of diesel your truck needs, so most refineries make only one kind of #2 diesel.

In a very few places, you can still get high-sulphur off-road diesel, so in that case the refinery adds a slightly-different color of red dye so the enviro cops can catch you. So whether the red dye is IRS-red or enviro-red, it will cost you a bunch of money if you get caught with red diesel in your truck.

There are several kinds of cops looking to catch you with any hint that red diesel has been in your tank. Federal IRS cops. Federal EPA cops. State troopers. And if you live in California or New York or Houston or Dallas or Denver or most other cities with air quality problems, then the local yokles and county mounties are after you too. Farmers around here that have a storage tank full of red diesel for their John Deeres learned long ago that it's not worth the risk of burning "tractor gas" in their pickups.

If you put red diesel in your tank, it takes about 10 more tanks of clear diesel to dilute the red. So if a cop dips your tank after about 9 tanks of the good stuff, you still get the ticket for tax evasion. And that's usually a Federal ticket that must be cleared with a Federal judge. Very expensive. Last I heard it was a $1,000 fine for first offense.

[SilveradoHauler]

Yep on all accounts.

Washington state will dip tanks for a sample, even on diesel pickups. Montana and Wyoming also.

I was in a lineup 2 years ago, all diesel trucks and pickups were pulled over for tank dipping. I was legal, but saw 2 trucks pulled over in a holding area.

Once you are caught, the fine is the cheapest part. The IRS will go through all your tax records for years back in a full audit and look for tax evasion in other areas. Their theory is if you cheat on fuel, you will cheat on other taxes.

My local Texaco dealer sells off road, he has a stand alone 500 gallon tank for it. It is the same fuel that goes in the big tanks, but he just adds die.