Where to dispose of old diesel?

[Jdege]

I have 25-30 gallons of years-old diesel I pulled out the tanks that was in my boat when I bought it.

It's in six Jerry cans, and I'm wondering where to dispose of it?

[Chotu]

You can often dump it down into the big diesel tanks at a gas station.

Other than that, marinas take it as well.

[Scubaseas]

Works fine in a home oil burner.

Do check with local auto repair shops but not all States will let them take it but most will. It would go into their waste oil tank. No place in their right mind will let you dump stuff in their retail tank. Many do use waste oil for heat though.

[gonesail]

i took mine to the county recycle dump where they had a solvent waste tank .. but you have to be a county citizen to do that.

[Bill O]

Had >200 gal of "old" diesel when we purchased our boat. It was suggested to pay someone to haul it away, then buy new ($$$).

After some research, decided to polish the fuel to remove crud/water, cleaned the tanks and added cetane booster. We burned it on the return trip home and had no issues.

Unless you feel strongly about disposing of costly fuel, would refurbish the fuel and use it. (if you burn oil for heat, putting it into your tank is a good idea as suggested by scubaseas).

[marcjsmith]

jdege. bought my boat with nearly ten year old diesel boat ran fine on the old stuff.


if you were concerned about cleanliness, run it through some filters, clean it up and use it...

[Cheechako]

Give it to someone with diesel pickup. Craig's list?

Polishing is too costly for 30 gallons of diesel.

[Jammer]

In Minnesota, the county household hazardous waste drop-off centers will take it for free.

[wholybee]

My local Oil Stop will take it. They just dump it in with the used oil.

[1affiah]

Originally Posted by Chotu

You can often dump it down into the big diesel tanks at a gas station.

Other than that, marinas take it as well.

I bet that would be a felony in most places!

[deltaten]

So....how contaminated is it? Depending on what's in it could lead you to find what is contaminating it to begin with, highlighting the actual problem. If no dirt, water or "the bug" gets in it, might be good to go.
I've topped off my 19 gal tank 3 times in over ten years, never more than 10-11 gallons. How much of the original fuel is still there? btw..it sat on the hard for prior 6+ years with better than. 1/2 tank aboard.

[Brioche]

Hate to see good fuel go to waste. As suggested above, it would probably work fine in a diesel truck or tractor. If you don't know anyone, try putting an ad in Craigslist and someone will want it. I had an old oil tank with some oil left in it and was quoted a large price for removal - ended up having a farmer pick it up for free. He burned the oil in his tractor and used the tank as a feed trough. Someone will want it.

[mike d.]

Get a small electric fuel transfer pump ! ! I got 1 on line for 15$ ! Hook up to your battery, run fuel through your filter to get out any contaminants ! You have it out, clean the inside of the tank if there is any thing in there ! Run pumped fuel back in ! As Bill O posted you might want to add some cetane available at Walmart ! Run it !

[sailingharry]

I have bought two sail boats.

The first had been on the hard for at least 4 to 6 years, and then had been a live aboard but not used for 4 years before that.

The second had been on the hard at least 3 years.

Both boats, I checked the filters and ran the tanks until they were nearly dry. Filled them up and used the boat for years. The first boat clogged the filter about halfway through the tank, had to put on a new filter. Carrying a spare filter and replacing it is considerably cheaper than polishing or replacing the fuel! 30 gallons of diesel is $100.

In your case, since the fuel is already in Jerry jugs, I would pour it back into the boat through a water separating filter funnel, 20 or $30 on Amazon and well worth having anyway. Then you're truly just dealing with old diesel, not dirty diesel.

[thinwater]

In with the used oil is not waste. They will recycle it as marine fuel (not diesel).