A (not really so) Radical Idea for Chasers with Fuel Cost Blues: WVO

[Darren Addy]

A lot of people are already doing this successfully. What we haven't seen yet (as far as I know) is a chaser doing it. But after investigating it, I think it makes a tremendous amount of sense.

Take one inexpensive Mercedes-Benz diesel* (a 300SD will work nicely - they routinely have 500,000-mile lives and can be found for (sometimes well under) $5000. The trick is finding one with working air conditioning.

Add one Vegetable Oil Conversion kit (example: greasecar.com.

Now, you are ready to grab free Waste Vegetable Oil from your local restaurants. (Most have to pay someone to take it away now.) Set up a filtering unit in your garage like these two guys.

*Alternative vehicle could be virtually any diesel-engined vehicle, but a diesel pickup truck with dual tanks would put you ahead of the game (and give the the capacity to take along a 55 gallon drum or two of WVO "fuel").

Except for your time, your fuel costs go from (approaching) $3/gallon to virtually ZERO.

More interesting reading: Vegetable Oil as Diesel Fuel, and this guy's "did it himself" site: installation and Filtering & Misc.. I also found this 50 minute documentary Freedom Fuels to be quite educational. (Did you know the diesel engine was originally designed to run on peanut oil?) *Note: this is an mpeg4 movie. I had to remove the ".mov" suffix from the filename (so it ends in .mp4) to get QuickTime to play it.

"Outside the box"? Definitely, but it's already being done. With gas being such a huge part of the chaser's budget, this is an idea whose time may have come!

 

[Darren Addy]

 

[Caleb Lawrence]

It's a good idea to bring this up. With fuel prices getting inevitably worse, we need to experiment with this stuff. I've often felt envy towards those who have diesel engines for wanting to experiment with this sort of thing. I think it could definitely benefit chasers.

 

[Matthew Havin]

What happens when people are fighting for vegetable oil waste outside of their local McDonald's?

I'm sure within the next few years restaurant will begin to sell their waste oil to drivers instead of just getting rid of it by other means.

 

[Jason Boggs]

What happens when people are fighting for vegetable oil waste outside of their local McDonald's?

I'm sure within the next few years restaurant will begin to sell their waste oil to drivers instead of just getting rid of it by other means.

BINGO!! Why wouldn't they try to sell it instead of just throwing it away?

 

[James Siler]

Me and my chase partners run in a Mitisubishi Lancer 03, and a way that I have been able to budget more money to our gas fund is.......no eating at fast food places. We decided to get an ice chest and we fill it with lunch meat, bread, condiments, and drinks ranging from bottled water to Monster energy drinks, I am addicted to those things! We also have a few other things like chips and such. We have our plastic Solo cups, styrofoam plates, plastic utinsils, and napkins. Also a trash bag for everything as I don't beleive in throwing trash out the window while just driving down the road. It may seem kind of cheap, but we have done it on April 21st and 24th and it has actually worked out quite well. We can access the cooler through the back seat and who ever is in the back is the chef, so to speak. But it has lead to us having $60 or more extra dollars for gas. Just thought I would mention our little way while were one th subject of trying to save money and or gas!

 

[Brandon Sullivan]

Exactly. Thats how I roll too. Pack my own food.. Also, you can sleep in the car.. Maybe a little uncomfortable, but saves some money. Not to mention you are in the car with all the equipment, ready to go

 

[Tom Romero]

We always pack food. Dinner is usually hard to come by in chase mode. Sleeping in the car...ugh...I'm too old for that!

I've often thought about chasing with a hybrid.

The diesel conversions are talked about alot here in Santa Fe. The only drawback is when you're behind one of these cars you get a nasty craving for french fries. There is actually talk that a station will be opening here soon.

I'm sure McDonalds and other fast food chains will eventually charge for their waste oil. Someday maybe they'll all have oil pumps in all the drive throughs. You can gas up while you...err..."Gas Up"...