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Post by 1dave on Mar 17, 2016 7:59:05 GMT -5
jamesp and I were discussing long hard workdays when I mentioned my "Propane Express," and he wondered what it looked like. Last night I stumbled across this photo of a rainbow that happened to capture part of the P.E. To make a short story long, My friend Reg was working for Billings energy in Provo Utah, trying to make a hydrogen powered car when he was called on an emergency back east. On returning, he concluded that even if they were successful, people would never buy them, so he started his own company, DUEL FUELS, that allows vehicles to run on gasoline or propane at the flip of a switch on the dash. At the time I was driving over a hundred miles one way to work each day. I usually had passengers to help pay for fuel and repairs; 3-4 in the front seat, 3-4 in the back, and 2-3 laying down in the rear. Gas was around 90 cents per gallon, and propane was 25 cents. When I got a weekend off, Reg and I did his first conversion with a two manifold tank to keep it from sloshing around too much, and some 2"x1/4"x8'support steel inside to make sure the roof didn't collapse. As the years passed the price of propane caught up to gasoline. THEY always get us.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,709
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Post by Fossilman on Mar 17, 2016 9:56:19 GMT -5
I worked in the oilfields years ago,worked for a Company that had their 1-ton trk's running on propane and gasoline... Mileage was great,but I didn't like the smell....
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Post by radio on Mar 18, 2016 17:41:09 GMT -5
I had a 1976 Ford pickup that I had a dual fuel conversion put on. Usually got a bit less MPG, but propane was a lot cheaper than gas, so it paid for it's self pretty quickly. It does have a distinctive odor when burning though :-)
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Post by nowyo on Mar 18, 2016 22:37:22 GMT -5
Wampidy Jim had one of those setups on his Ford truck. Worked okay, but when he went to fill it and they added the road tax to the propane it wiped out any savings.
Russ
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Post by radio on Mar 19, 2016 4:05:17 GMT -5
Wampidy Jim had one of those setups on his Ford truck. Worked okay, but when he went to fill it and they added the road tax to the propane it wiped out any savings. Russ If you fill up at a propane vendor, then yes, they must charge road tax. I filled my own from the 500 gallon tank at the house. Kind of like Red diesel. Offroad and farm vehicles can burn it with no road tax, but get caught with it in your truck and it's a huge fine. If you convert a vehicle to propane, it's a good idea to pull in and fill up at a propane station once in a while and get a receipt showing you paid road tax
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Post by 1dave on Mar 19, 2016 14:49:28 GMT -5
Wampidy Jim had one of those setups on his Ford truck. Worked okay, but when he went to fill it and they added the road tax to the propane it wiped out any savings. Russ If you fill up at a propane vendor, then yes, they must charge road tax. I filled my own from the 500 gallon tank at the house. Kind of like Red diesel. Offroad and farm vehicles can burn it with no road tax, but get caught with it in your truck and it's a huge fine. If you convert a vehicle to propane, it's a good idea to pull in and fill up at a propane station once in a while and get a receipt showing you paid road tax YOU are a wise man!
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