During the first 50 years of the 20^th century, the energy needs of the US were met with coal, wood and selected distillation products of petroleum. By the year 1900, petroleum was used to produce kerosene, lubricating oil and a number of other minor products. Gasoline had no use and was primarily discarded.

Dr. Wilhelm Maybach and Gottlieb Daimler perfected the carbureto which made gasoline an easy-to-use fuel for engines. By about 1910, gasoline became the fuel of choice for engines. So petroleum was now used for kerosene, lubrication oil, gasoline and the emerging use of tar for making roads. Products we now know as diesel fuel were discarded as having limited practical value.

Although the Diesel engine was invented in 1896, it did not become practical until early 1930. The German Army of WWII used the Diesel engine effectively in tanks and other heavy equipment. Holt converted the caterpillar tractor to diesel and the US truck manufacturers began using diesel engines because diesel fuel was cheap and much safer to use.

During the 1930’s and 40’s the manufacturers of farm tractors wanted an engine that could use the cheap diesel fuel but didn’t want to use the massive iron that a high compression Diesel engine required. The farm tractor manufacturers invented an engine that could use a petroleum based fuel that was graded somewhere between kerosene and diesel fuel that was called ‘Power Fuel.’ This engine was started on gasoline and was switched to Power Fuel. In order to make the engine run on the lower grade Power Fuel, the fuel-air mixture was preheated by wrapping the intake manifold with the exhaust manifold. Many of the tractors in the Owen County Antique Machinery Association have the two fuel tanks, switch-over assembly, multi-fuel manifold required to burn either kerosene or Power Fuel.

Today, the demand, and therefore the price of engine fuel is very high. By the year 2005, the price of gasoline had risen to a point that was higher than the cost of making alcohol (ethanol). The use of Ethanol became a viable financial competitor to gasoline, but most engines are not designed to use this lower BTU fuel.

Sometimes the old technology is good technology. The old multi-fuel tractor design can use E85 (ethanol) fuel today. The engine design is old and perhaps not very practical but it is interesting to see old solutions applied to modern problems.