Hello, and welcome to the first post in Pickett Equipment’s blog series. I’m Bailey Everett, and I operate Pickett Equipment, my family’s business. If you’re unfamiliar with us, we service the ag industry, selling a variety of products to move liquid. We sell pumps, hoses, valves, fittings, spray nozzles, dry breaks, and fueling equipment. 

I have been with the company since 2009, but my mother likes to say my first day on the job was when I was three days old. In the intervening years, I have held a variety of roles: marketing, product photography, forklift operator, repair technician, phone sales, and more. These days, while I still do these things, I primarily focus on running the shop, marketing at trade shows, product development, and technical support. It’s a combination of all these that enables me to provide detailed information that should prove useful. Today’s post will focus on fuel filtration. Don’t let your eyes glaze over just yet! There’s important stuff in here.

Most folks in ag are familiar with the spin-on filter housings. Brands like Cim-Tek, Baldwin, and Fleetguard, for example. They’re the most popular filters in the industry. They’re affordable, do a decent job, and can be found just about anywhere. I wouldn’t be surprised if they offer you one right after asking if you want to SuperSize your combo at the drive thru.

That said, these spin-on filter housings do have their limitations. They only filter down to 2-micron, which sounds quite small. It is, but it’s not the cleanest you can get. Also, they usually offer a water-absorbing feature. However, here’s something a lot of folks don’t know: once that spin-on element is full of water, if another glug of water comes in, it will displace an equal amount downstream into your equipment.

Enter brands like Facet and Velcon. These are the brands Pickett carries, and here’s why: it offers you the cleanest, driest fuel you can get. We can get your fuel down to 0.5 micron. That sounds crazy small, but in certain industries, it’s a requirement. Take aerial applicators, for example. That Pratt & Whitney PT6 at the front of an Air Tractor needs clean, dry fuel. When you’re flying 140MPH and 10’ off the deck, the last thing on your mind should be, “jeez, is there water in my fuel?” If my memory serves correctly, the fuel filter on a Pratt is 0.5 micron. Wouldn’t it be nice to ensure the fuel going into your plane is already clean and dry? Also, unlike a spin-on, when the element absorbs water out of the fuel, it retains it. The Facet FuelGard and Velcon Aquacon elements use a super-absorbent polymer to trap the water. Think of them like a baby diaper; once that liquid is absorbed, it holds onto it.

Now, I know some of you out there are thinking, “Hey, I’m running a Deere. This doesn’t pertain to me.” My opinion is that you, too, can benefit from higher-quality filtration. Clean fuel is an important step in maintaining your equipment. Whether you’re running a ground rig, tractor, skid steer, combine, etc., your equipment needs clean fuel. Yes, they have on-board filters, but if you’re using high-quality filtration to pump into your rig, the filters on your rig will last longer.

We recently had a customer referral. Our new customer oversees a fleet of dozens of pieces of large equipment. They run through a 10,000-gallon tank of diesel fuel in a few days. The issue they had was their filtration was not up to snuff, and as such was costing them downtime in repairs, delays, and just general “great, one more thing to deal with” issues. They wanted cleaner fuel, and heard we could help.

My recommendation to them was to run a Facet filter housing. At first, I suggested they run the water-absorbing FuelGard elements and they were happy. After installing the new Facet, the fuel cleanliness was immediately improved. Over time, we switched the customer over to a coalescer-separator element and the elements lasted longer.

Now, we touched on the spin-on filters briefly. As I said, they do have their place. In the case mentioned, our customer called up and said that while he loved how well Facet was cleaning his fuel, he noticed the elements were still getting dirty quickly. Here’s where the spin-on filters come into play. Take that spin-on you probably already have, and plumb it before the Facet or Velcon. The reason for this is that, while the Facet and Velcon filters do a terrific job, they’re best suited for tanks that are already clean and treated. If you’ve got a 25-year-old tank that is full of rust and algae, the Facet and Velcon will clean the fuel, but you’ll churn through elements quickly. Better to let a spin-on handle the bulk of the cleaning down to 10 micron or so, and the Facet or Velcon take it the rest of the way. 

If you’re going to run a spin-on before a Facet or Velcon, take note: you can only flow as fast as your smallest restriction. Many spin-on filters limit you to about 25GPM. That’s fine for a 12V fuel pump, but if you’re using a faster pump, you need a larger spin-on filter. Or, you can run two in parallel. Most of the Facet and Velcon we keep on the shelf can filter fuel at 50 to 60 gallons a minute.

There’s another point to consider regarding fuel filtration. You want your filter as close to the point of discharge as possible. That’s not always possible, especially since you’ll be dragging a hose out to your equipment. So, what do you do? If you’re running one of these Facet or Velcon housings I’m raving about, will it always be perfectly clean once the fuel leaves the filter housing, travels through 50’ of hose, and then gets dispensed into your rig? Unfortunately, not always.

There is that 50’ of hose to consider. Some folks replace hose when it starts showing wear, and some folks run a hose with five or six splices in it and the jacket is sun-bleached white. Given hose is a rubber product, and rubber products break down, how do you keep the hose particles from entering your equipment? Most folks say “just send it,” and let the onboard filter catch it. There’s a better way: a 100-mesh inline strainer.

Pickett worked with our vendors to develop one of these, years ago. It’s a 1” male thread by female thread strainer assembly that threads onto the end of the hose, between the hose and nozzle or dry break. While it will not filter out water (that’s what the Facet and Velcon are for), it will catch pieces of hose that break away and follow the fuel flow. This can be mitigated by using the correct fuel hose, of course.

Well folks, I hope you found this useful. While I do run a business and want to grow that business by selling our inventory, I also want to be of help and service to folks. If something I mentioned here sparked a thought or idea and you’d like to run it by me, please feel free to do so. My email is bailey@epickett.com, or you can reach me at the office at 800-238-9095.

Thank you for reading, thank you for your business, and thank you for the opportunity to earn your business.

Have a safe and prosperous season,

• Bailey