Fuel for my JD H

Hi everyone. I'm new here and hope I'm doing this correctly. I just purchased a 1939 beautifully restored, John Deere H tractor. I plan on just driving and and having fun with it. Maybe taking the grandchildren on a hay ride.
From what I read, the engine was initially designed to start with gas and convert to kerosene. There are two separate tanks for both. The previous owner said that he only runs 93 octane gas in the tractor. He uses the tank which I think initially contained kerosene. It has a green cap on it. The other tank has a red cap. I see fuel in the green capped one. Haven't looked yet in the red capped tank. Is it ok to run just plain gasoline in this tractor?? Is it necessary to run 93 octane. He also mentioned to try and run non ethanol in it, but that might be difficult where I live. I do have an octane booster that I can use. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks, Nicholas C.

Just run regular gas 87 octane and it will be fine. The larger tank has a sediment bowl and is better to use that one. That is if is still set up like original.

You should be fine with good ol 87 octane gas. I suspect the previous owner told you he ran 93 octane, is because that is more likely to not have ethanol in it, at least where I live. A slow running, lower compression engine such as your H doesnt need the higher octane, so skip the octane booster.

I read somewhere that 93 octane has a longer shelf life than 87.

If you don't plan to use a tractor daily and use very little gas, I would recommend draining the tank annually and filling it with fresh fuel.

Each to their own. No gas will last forever, even ethanol free gas. Google shelf life.

It will run on gasoline much better than Kerosene. Kerosene has two main problems. It will cost 3 or more times as much as gasoline, and it will stink and be difficult in maintenance. The reason for the design was because the petroleum refining in its day could produce Kerosene for less than gasoline, and today the opposite is true. Unless the tractor is operated for 20 minutes under load it will not get warmed up to the temperature needed to operate cleanly on Kero. Even then it will smoke. The engine oil needed to be changed often because the fuel condensed into the crankcase and diluted the oil. After operation, the oil was usually over full and was drained down to a quart low, then a new quart of oil was put in.
You can use both tanks for gasoline. The tractor, when new had a low compression ratio due to the kerosene fuel low octane rating. Unless it has been modified for extreme tractor pulling, it will still be low compression compared to cars running E10 or E15 gasoline. If it has a clean fuel system, ethanol fuel will not be a problem. Enjoy the tractor. If using it around children, gain experience with it and learn its quirks before doing so. Make sure of the brakes and clutch operation so operation becomes automatic muscle memory smooth. Trailer or wagon operation is also a practiced skill. If you are a seasoned operator, this info may be un needed but i offer it in case you are not. The same is true of tractor rides, what we did 70 years ago is not todays accepted risk. Jim

No need for high octane gas, but non ethanol would be a better choice.

Ethanol blended gas does not do well in open (not sealed and pressurized) systems, especially when it is stored unused for periods of time.

Even nonethanol gas will eventually go stale but takes longer. Either fuel will store better in sealed containers, like jerry cans.

Pulling the drain plug on the carb is good storage practice. Just running it empty leaves a small amount of gas in the bowl, often making matters worse.

Stabil will help but it's not a permanent long term fix.

You do not need to run high octane gas in that old tractor, it was designed to run on kerosene! Our Farmall C is similar, I mix 5% diesel in E10 to lower the octane a little, and reduce corrosion in the tank, it has worked well like that for years.

Gas, you will never get it hot enough to burn anything else. I have a H that I run with the radiator shutters closed most of the time.

I have had my 41 H over 30 years and have always used regular gas in it.
I always just cut the fuel off and let the tractor run the carb dry when I am through using it.
I let it idle till it quits.
That way if your carb float needle ever leaks gas, it won't fill the crankcase with gas.
I work mine in the garden and they are a great little machine.
Richard in NW SC

I run regular E10 in my 2 cylinders. No issues. If you put it away for more than six months, consider adding some stabil or similar product, and drain the carb.

Does 93 octane have ethanol in it?
They use to sell 93 octane which contained 10% ethanol. Now they sell 91 octane ethanol free. The difference simply is that the 93 was 91 octane pure gas with 10% ethanol added to bring the octane rating up. What percent of ethanol is in premium gas? Also, almost all gasoline in the US contains 10 percent ethanol.

Hello Nicholas welcome to YT! Not sure if this is your first tractor or not, a lot of times on here it is a recommendation to obtain an ..Operators Manual.. for your machine. I will place a link here to the manuals YT has to offer for your tractor. Just keep in mind a lot of things have changed since this tractor was new. So as with you question about the fuel in the case of all fluids and lubricants it may be a good idea to ask here before use. Also it is fine to ask questions here in the ..Tractor Talk.. topic section, but just so you know there is also a ..JD.. brand specific section as well and they also have them for all brands. Post back in a ..Reply.. from the box your original post shows in if you have more questions or other comments.
John Deere H manuals available from YT

I have ran my H on # 2 diesel before. It ran fine on it but my JD A did not but it runs fine on kerosene. Mixture screws usually need some extra adjusting to fine tune them. So they may not all run the same. Some don't like the smell ? I don't mind it and can even adjust it to blow smoke rings. I was just doing this as an experiment. However on the A I was plowing one time and was running out of gas and switched the valve to kerosene while running right down the furrow. I could not tell the difference in power only noticed the smell of the exhaust smelled like a kerosene heater. I also tried this on my early all fuel B which does have gas pistons in it. I can tell you for sure do not do that ! It ran ok just sitting running , but the instant it had any load on it at all like a slight grade in the driveway it knocked terrible and I couldn't shut it down fast enough ! ( disclaimer ) That is the results of my experiments yours might be different.

You can run gasoline in it; no problem. Preferably without Ethanol. You see, when Deere and other manufacturers built these tractors, gasoline was a 'premium' fuel and 'Distillate' was much cheaper and safer to store. When I got my John Deere 'B' in 1969, I was told by 'Harold' an expert on Deere equipment, that gasoline was preferable as it wouldn't 'soot up' the spark plugs if I didn't run it long enough to get it hot.

Ethanol-free 93 is readily available in MN, but other states it can be really hard to fine, and very expensive.

Yep, just run it on gas, and don't screw around with kerosene. It will be fine.

Just a few days ago a station here intown had K-1 that is kerosine posted on their big sign board for just a few cents LESS per gallon than regular gas and I would not know where to even be able to go to get non ethanol gas.

Yes, burn gas. On our G and power blocked A we always used that small tank as a reserve. That A always ran dry at the far end of the field and I mean dry. Open the main tank cap and nothing but vapor, it would pull strong right to the end.

Your tractor was designed to be started on gas, and the engine warmed up to near hot, before switching to kero. Burning the kero in a cold engine, did not work. So, that is what the whole (gas start) thing is about.
Truth is, it doesn't matter at all, if you run on gas all the time, and never switch to kero.

Kero at one time was considerably cheaper than gas. Kind of like the difference between diesel and gas prices that we are seeing now. Your tractor was built during the time of cheaper kerosen. But trying to burn it now, is POINTLESS. No one has bothered about burning kero in these dual fuel burners probably since the 60s. About the same time, they quit the option of dual fuel burning on new tractors.

Everyone just dumps gas in main tank, and run all the time on gas. Maybe use the little gas starting tank, as a reserve tank, when they run out of gas in the big tank.
Worse than that even. If they ever replaced a part that was different than a gas burner and required to burn kero, they rarely put the kero part back on. Just replaced it with a part for gas only. Several parts are different on a kero burner versus a gas. I would be very surprised if your kero burner has all the right parts to burn kero, and those same such parts are still functional (meaning, your tractor likely not function right today, even if you tried to burn kero).

If your tractor today, has a gas only carb, manifolds, or whatever else that is different than the kero burner was from factory, then your tractor today will do a poor job of burning kero, or no longer even have that capability. In order for it to have that capability today, it would have to be as it was from factory. No gas only parts put on for replacements over the years.

I just use 87 octane. No matter if it has ethanol in it or not. I agree with other posts about ethanol free being better. I personally don't pay any attention to that. I'm not going to drive all over the world to try to find some ethanol free gas.
I do only dump in what I think I might use for that day. I never keep large amounts in the fuel tanks. If they are parked for awhile, and have a few gallons in them, I usually siphon the tank dry, and dump gas into something else that I am using.
Not filling tank up, or not keeping it full, and transferring gas over to what I am using, keeps fresh gas in just about everything I have. It's easier to dump fresh gas into something that's empty, than trying to keep the gas fresh in everything just sitting around with full tanks.

Your tractor does NOT need 93 octane. There was nothing about kerosene that was high octane. Your tractor certainly does not require high octane. Burn it if you wish. Just wasting dollars in my opinion. Extra performance level of 93 octane on a JD H, will go completely un-noticed!!!!

You can find it here.
Pure Gas

There are inexpensive test kits to determine if ethanol is in gas. Basically it's a test tube you fill with water to a certain level, add gas and shake. If the water level in the test tube doesn't change, no ethanol.

Nicholas. Just know as a side note the some JD tractor owners ( and others ) paint the radiator cap red. It is the owners preference. I have a JD H whereas my gasoline tank cap in green , my distillate tank cap is black, and my radiator cap is red ( hot ). Now thats my way of knowing what goes where. Wingnut

Thank you very much everyone. I never expected so many replies, but I am very happy about it. Now, I know what I have to do, Nicholas C.

(quoted from post at 07:00:50 05/05/22) Hi everyone. I'm new here and hope I'm doing this correctly. I just purchased a 1939 beautifully restored, John Deere H tractor. I plan on just driving and and having fun with it. Maybe taking the grandchildren on a hay ride.
From what I read, the engine was initially designed to start with gas and convert to kerosene. There are two separate tanks for both. The previous owner said that he only runs 93 octane gas in the tractor. He uses the tank which I think initially contained kerosene. It has a green cap on it. The other tank has a red cap. I see fuel in the green capped one. Haven't looked yet in the red capped tank. Is it ok to run just plain gasoline in this tractor?? Is it necessary to run 93 octane. He also mentioned to try and run non ethanol in it, but that might be difficult where I live. I do have an octane booster that I can use. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks, Nicholas C.

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Gasoline looses octane with age . old 87 octane has damaged engines with detonation .
Around here the 87 has the undesirable ethanol , premium does not .

That's what we did with the 36 B. Use small tank as reserve. Two row cultivator until it ran out of gas. Switch valve to small tank. Then run it up to yard and fill both tanks.