Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/885126
EquipmentWorld.com | October 2017 51 once a week. Larger production machines that consume more may require DEF refills more often, so it's best to monitor your equip- ment when new and have DEF available until you familiarize yourself with its consumption rate related to fuel use, he says. Engine load, humidity, tem- perature and purity can also affect consumption, says Luke Van Wyk, sales manager at Thunder Creek Equipment. Don't get caught short The key point to remember is if you run out of DEF, your engine will derate to the point where the ma- chine won't be productive. There- fore, estimating how much DEF you will need is crucial to maintaining machine uptime. Running out of DEF is as shortsighted and as pre- ventable as running out of fuel. For a new Tier 4 Final machine, Van Wyk says, one strategy is to use off-the-shelf jugs of one or two and a half gallons until you have a good idea of your DEF-to-fuel ratio. This should only take a month or so to establish a baseline. Then you can start investigating more economical bulk storage and dispensing solu- tions to meet your long-term needs. Once you've got your baseline established, you probably don't want to continue using jugs of DEF except for emergency fills. Even though they may seem convenient, frequent refills from jugs increase the possibility of contamination. Storage and dispensing Beyond individual jugs, DEF bulk containers come in a variety of sizes to meet just about every need – 50- and 100-gallon totes for service trucks, and trailered tanks that can hold from 500 to over 1,000 gal- lons of DEF to service large fleets. Smaller contractors with a handful of equipment can get tanks that fit across the bed of a pickup truck and hold both diesel fuel and DEF. For large fleets, many fuel suppli- ers incorporate DEF onto their fuel delivery trucks to accommodate contractors' needs, says Andy Miller, new product support supervisor at Caterpillar. In selecting one of these options, it is important to consider future needs, says Van Wyk. "Take a long- term look at this. The technology is not going away. This will be a large part of your fleet management strategy over time. Have a solution that is scalable." Van Wyk encourages contractors DEF can be carried and dispensed from transfer tanks in the back of pickup trucks for fleets with moderate DEF refill needs.