So what do you guys do with your used oil?

[bontai Joe]

I know a couple of guys that pour it in their fuel oil tank to mix with their heating oil. I take mine to the recycler, or to the local junk yard that has a waste oil heating system in their shop. So what do you folks do?

[Splicer]

Propane heat here. I recycle. No reason not to unless yer a commie! (did I just cross some sort of line with that remark ROF ) I take it to the auto parts store. :fing32:

[Ingersoll444]

I work at a car dealer, so I just bring it to work with me, and dump it in the shops used oil tank.

[jodyand]

Yea same here i bring it to work and put it in our used oil tanks.

[glenn27]

I work for a friend part-time that owns a lawn-care business, and he heats his shop w/ waste oil burners, so into his 500-gal. tank mine goes, 2- 5 gal. buckets @ a time.....

I figure that's my contribution....

[vrocco1]

I just open mine over the nearest storm drain (just kidding). I'd have to go to the suburbs to find one.

[dirtybernie]

a service station i used to work at lets me dump it free of charge. :fing32:

[MowHoward2210]

Recycle at a parts store. We used to have curbside used oil pick-up, but the city did away with it.

[Carm]

I drop the stuff off at a Recycling tank at a state highway administration depot. WhenI change the oil in my car at work, I just put it in our waste tank. I have used clean used motor oil before to paint things like wood that is exposed to the elements, and soak stuck metal things with great results though...and thats kind like recycling!

[Argee]

I use mine up as a catalyst when I start one of the many brush piles I burn.

[Dachshund]

I use mine up as a catalyst when I start one of the many brush piles I burn.

:ditto: I also mix it into my weed sprayer (with some dish soap) to help the chemical "stick".

[Jim_WV]

I do the same as Argee, use it to burn with brush piles.

[drbailey]

A recycle co. pumps out my tank twice a year , about 200 gallon each time.
some of it is used here locally as chainsaw ( chain ) oil

[Oslo in NC]

I'm thinking about mixing a little Kerosene with my used oil and coat my trailer with it. Has anyone ever done this? The only down side that I can think of is the dirt that may be there from the oil itself. Thining it down should make it soak in and not be a problem attracting all kinds of other dirt. What say? oslo

[chrpmaster]

I also use it to start brush piles and fires in my burn barrel.

Andy

[Keweenaw4310]

It's part of my brush pile cocktail...

- I mix the drain oil with some diesel fuel to thin it out
- Soak old stumps or other dead wood with the mix
- possibly add more drain oil if available to the surrounding wood
- a little more diesel to create pockets of heat in various areas of the pile
- use about 1 gallon of gas as a "wick"
- gas is poured to touch the oil & diesel & then in a line off to the side.
- use stick with diesel & oil soaked rag as a huge "match"
- light huge lighting stick and toss into the gasoline "wick"

As long as not too much gas is used, the whoomph sound is contained. It just goes up into an intense crackling ball of fire. Add entire trees as needed to fuel the flames. Sometimes I can keep fires that I start going for up to a week by just stirring up the ashes with my loader the next morning and toss more wood on.

[johndeereL100]

I use mine to burn trash and brush also.

[guest]

Let it settle real good and carefully pour off all but the last inch or so and mix it with diesel fuel to burn in my truck. Sometimes I just take it to the recycle tank if it get contaminated.

[USN_ED]

I take mine to the Ford Dealer over in the next town and he burns it in his fuel oil furnace. If I don't have time to get over there and have to get rid of it, I take it to a recycler.

[Keweenaw4310]

Let it settle real good and carefully pour off all but the last inch or so and mix it with diesel fuel to burn in my truck. Sometimes I just take it to the recycle tank if it get contaminated.

Wow, I had no idea that was possible. I don't think I personally would feel comfortable trying that but if it works, seems like a good way to recycle it into energy.

Sounds like most of our recycling techniques have to do with energy production in some way or another.

I've also head of guys burning it in their outdoor wood boilers.

I don't think it's as acceptable these days but I know drain oil was used on back dirt roads around here to cut down on dust.

[HydroHarold]

Wow, have I heard some stuff on this thread!

A. Man paints house trailer with oil/kerosene mix. (Makes the tornadoes slip off better.)

B. Adds crankcase oil to home heating fuel. And what stirs that oil into solution in the tank? Or is it supposed to lay there in the bottom and make the oil level appear higher?

C. Contaminated crankcase oil added to diesel fuel tank. How about the acid, water and possible low micron GRIT contained in suspension in that oil? Upper cylinder treatment? Diesel crankcase oil is potentially more contaminated than gas engine oil.

And we're all afraid to mix a couple of ounces of acetone in our fuel? :bannana:

[LEOLAV]

We still have curbside oil pickup once a week. I fill a laundry detergent container (the really big ones) and put them on the bin with our other recycling.

[Keweenaw4310]

I did some web searching on the subject of burning drain oil in diesel engines. There seems to be quite a bit of talk out there on the subject. Many people are doing it. I have no plans to try it.

Does anyone have a good source of information on the subject indicating any pitfalls to the practice or proper ways to do it? If so, it would be worthy of a thread all to itself.

[bontai Joe]

I did some web searching on the subject of burning drain oil in diesel engines. There seems to be quite a bit of talk out there on the subject. Many people are doing it. I have no plans to try it.

Does anyone have a good source of information on the subject indicating any pitfalls to the practice or proper ways to do it? If so, it would be worthy of a thread all to itself.

I'd especially like to know what and how you guys are filtering the crud out for use in a diesel or for heating oil.

[DYT4000]

Mother's waste oil heater

http://www.motherearthnews.com/menarch/archive/issues/053/053-105-01.htm

[steve42]

I do my vehicle oil changes at the hobby shop on the base. They recycle it for me. I can bring my tractor oil in with me and dump it too.

[Fusion1970]

Thanks for reminding me. I have probably 10 gallons that I have been forgetting to take to the auto parts store. That'll have to be part of the shed clean-out come Spring time. Come on Spring!!!

Greg

[thesmartfarmer]

I either drop it off at a recylcle bin or we used it for heat (very rarely)

[simple_john]

what do i do with my used oil? I dunno, i have to ask Jiffy Lube or my tractor dealer ROF

[dirtybernie]

what do i do with my used oil? I dunno, i have to ask Jiffy Lube or my tractor dealer ROF
sj. you should try changing your oil just once. it would make a VERY interesting thread on MTF! ROF ROF :hide:

[parts man]

Since we take apart somewhere in the range of 70+ tractors each year, we end up with a lot of used oil, gear lube, hydraulic oil, stale gas, dirty diesel fuel....... We used to give it to a local shop that used a used oil burner for heat, but he closed up and went to work for the DOT garage. Since he closed we had no place to get rid of the oil, which has piled up over the summer, until a friend who runs a shop about 50 miles away mentioned about a company that came and offered him money for the used oil he has in his shop!! The company is in our town!!!! :fing20: I have seen their trucks go by frequently, and figured they charged to haul the oil away, but he said otherwise. We checked them out and found that they will pay $.01/ liter of used oil as long as you have at least 800 liters. We picked up one of their tanks, and poured over what we had sitting around today and ended up with 450 liters, over half way there!! :fing32:

[guest]

I'd especially like to know what and how you guys are filtering the crud out for use in a diesel or for heating oil.

Joe, if you let the oil set undisturbed for a month or more, most of the contaminants settle to the bottom. If you want to filter it even more, you can run it through a coffee filter or two in a funnel. Takes awhile doing a little bit each day when you pass by, but it works.

A lot of guys are running by pass or spinner filters on there diesels which filter the oil done a LOT more than a standard engine oil filter does so the oil coming out of the engine does not have near the crud in it that you would think.

Yeah, I agree it may not be an ideal thing to burn in your diesel, but with a little care and common sense with respect to judging the oil; you should be OK. Same thing applies with respect to the amount of oil you run in the engine. As a rule, no more than 5% is a safe and reasonable mixture and you should pre-mix the oil with diesel or kerosene in a 5 gallon jug filled with a few gallons of prior to dumping it in to the fuel tank.

There are marine diesel and fleet setups that gradually remove small amounts of oil that gets mixed into the fuel on much larger engines which is periodically replaced with new oil. Helps to extend or keep up the oil additive package and minimize the waste of oil in general.

Also bear in mind that diesel engines have much larger and more efficient fuel filters the filter the fuel down to near 1 micron in some cases. Any contaminants that may get through are normally caught in these filters. If you saw what the pump diesel fuel looks like in many areas.............. you would not feel bad about burning motor oil in your diesel. :trink40:

When I mentioned this practice, I had in mind and prefer to burn my old used tractor transmission/hyd oil which I have left over from the 50 hours service. All 9 gallons of it. :fing20:

[HydroHarold]

I assume that if diesels have FAR better oil filtering systems then you could have left that oil in the crankcase, draining a quart and adding a quart of fresh oil. There has been talk of motor oil "never wearing out" in past history. A much better dollar return rather than wasting the whole 6-7 quarts.

In another random assumption I must believe the flashpoint and residue performance of the diesel fuel is "ENHANCED" by motor oil? Otherwise you are just using a $45,000 diesel rig as a "waste oil burner". :bannana:

My neighbor's kid takes all my waste oil... Says he is saving it to mix with fertilizer for something or other. Kids think of the darndest things!:D

[Jim_WV]

My neighbor's kid takes all my waste oil... Says he is saving it to mix with fertilizer for something or other. Kids think of the darndest things!:D

ROF ROF

[guest]

I assume that if diesels have FAR better oil filtering systems then you could have left that oil in the crankcase, draining a quart and adding a quart of fresh oil. There has been talk of motor oil "never wearing out" in past history. A much better dollar return rather than wasting the whole 6-7 quarts.

In another random assumption I must believe the flashpoint and residue performance of the diesel fuel is "ENHANCED" by motor oil? Otherwise you are just using a $45,000 diesel rig as a "waste oil burner". :bannana:

My neighbor's kid takes all my waste oil... Says he is saving it to mix with fertilizer for something or other. Kids think of the darndest things!:D

Harold, small diesels such as the 5.9 liter ISB in my Dodge hold 12 quarts. The Ford Power Strokes hold about 16 quarts. Larger commercial diesels such as the N14, ISM and others hold more in the lines of 60 quarts.

Their filtering systems are designed to extend oil changes but eventually it must be replaced. Usually the oils TBN drop is the most obvious sign to change but on some of the very long extended change systems such as the ISM, oil samples are taken and if a particular metal or substance gets out of limits, the oil is changed. Otherwise they drive on with it.

http://www.everytime.cummins.com/every/applications/ism_maintenance.jsp

http://www.everytime.cummins.com/every/applications/isl_maintenance.jsp

I don't think the oil adds any special properties to the diesel fuel other than extending the mpg with the oils and fuels you have in use. When you have a fleet of vehicles that use that much oil, or even just regular oil changes for the little guy. Why waste the oil, throwing it out when you can filter it and burn it and get a few more miles of driving out of it?

If you saw what the PCV system sucks into your engine, you would gasp. Buring clean used oil in a diesel is no big deal. The first Diesel engine, created by Rudolph Diesel and showcased at the World’s Fair in the late Nineteenth Century, ran off of peanut oil.