TheShrine
Well-known member
What do you guys do with your used oil? Any recommendations?
Used oil
- Thread starter TheShrine
- Start date
evintho
Well-known member
My local garbage company picks it up at the curb free of charge.
You can always go to Autozone, O'Reillys, Kragen, whatever. They usually accept anything under 5 gallons - no charge.
You can always go to Autozone, O'Reillys, Kragen, whatever. They usually accept anything under 5 gallons - no charge.
Charles (in GA)
Well-known member
Bring it to me so I can burn it in my new "waste"/used oil fueled shop heater!
Seriously, most auto parts places around here take oil, but do check around for someone who can really use it by burning it in their heater.
Charles
Seriously, most auto parts places around here take oil, but do check around for someone who can really use it by burning it in their heater.
Charles
CC-John
New member
I feed it to my old diesel pickup.. That 'ol 7.3 loves used oil & ATF, it also keeps the cost of feeding it reasonable with diesel nearing $4.00 a gallon..
This reminds me of the old neighbor we had when I was a kid. He had a 12" strip of no grass around every edge of his lawn. Sidewalks, house, tree, everything. He kept it dead by thinning used motor oil with gas and spraying it on it.
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
In MI, all oil change facilities are required to accept used oil, even from non-customers. I think the limit is 2 gallons a day.
Most high volume auto parts stores also accept used oil.
Most high volume auto parts stores also accept used oil.
hetkind
Banned
I bring mine to the county waste transfer facility...five gallons at a time.
nehog
Well-known member
Our town has a (free) collection point for used oil/atf. If I had more I'd be getting a waste oil burner, but I don't generate enough to make it cost effective.
GeorgiaHybrid
Well-known member
have you tried burning synthetic oil in yours Charles? A buddy of mine will take used oil except synthetic (claims it stinks too much). No problem to me as Advanced and O'Reillys take it 5 gallons at a time
ShadowRuleZ
Well-known member
Autozone.
What do you guys do with antifreeze?
What do you guys do with antifreeze?
milner351
Well-known member
I brought antifreeze into a parts store and was told to flush it down the toilet!
We have a hazardous waste drop off day a couple times a year - I take the antifreeze there.
Used oil goes into the waste oil furnace.
We have a hazardous waste drop off day a couple times a year - I take the antifreeze there.
Used oil goes into the waste oil furnace.
Charles (in GA)
Well-known member
Synthetic burns clean and hot. When burning in a burn barrel, I would occasionally have the fire get a little slow due to overloading it with stuff at once, so I would sneak up to the side of the barrel and slosh in a quart or so of used oil. Regular oil would smoke, while the synthetic oil would have a much brighter flame and zero smoke. One guy at work who also has used motor oils to help a brush fire along confirms this.
Several people at work have questioned me about whether I can take/burn synthetic oil, I tell them its OK and they look puzzled like they think it won't burn. Probably about half of the oil given to me was/is, according to the persons giving it to me, synthetics.
My heater has an outside chimney that extends several feet above the roof. Not sure how you would be able to smell anything from it anyhow. As far as oil in the storage tank, I don't smell anything from it. Must be a super sensitive person. Tell him to stay away from Harbor Freight and Northern Tool!
Charles
78Bird
Well-known member
PLEASE dont dump this mess, it's HORRIBLE for the environment. And I mean your immidiate environment. This **** can contaminate the ground, streams, wells, and lakes.
There's a reason it kills grass so well. It's HORRIBLY TOXIC.
You like to fish, don't ya?
5lima30
Well-known member
After I get a couple of gallons I take it to either TSC or Auto Parts store where they have a recycling tank.
Falcon67
Well-known member
Race car oil goes in the dump container at the drag strip. I pay somebody to change the others so I don't have to deal with the used oil and filters. But it is great for keeping weeds, wood ants, etc off your wooden perimeter fence. Auto Zone, et al is 25 miles so I'm not keen to haul that stuff all over the place to get rid of it.
John in OH
Well-known member
Hope the OP doesn't mind a slight deviation form his original question ..... Will AutoZone and similar places take the oil filters also?
If not, what do you do with them?
When I was a kid, Dad would just up-end old filters on the fence posts around the house and barns where they would sit for months or more! Those posts lasted a long time!
He would save old oil in containers and use it to start brush pile fires when clearing land, coat plow shares and specific parts of other out-of-season equipment (painted it on with a brush), sometimes used it for "painting" the side on a couple of old sheds, etc. What he couldn't use he just dumped on the ground behind the shop!
..... bear in mind, that was 50 years ago and there wasn't the same awareness of the environment as now.
So, I guess back to the question ... what about oil filters?
If not, what do you do with them?
When I was a kid, Dad would just up-end old filters on the fence posts around the house and barns where they would sit for months or more! Those posts lasted a long time!
He would save old oil in containers and use it to start brush pile fires when clearing land, coat plow shares and specific parts of other out-of-season equipment (painted it on with a brush), sometimes used it for "painting" the side on a couple of old sheds, etc. What he couldn't use he just dumped on the ground behind the shop!
..... bear in mind, that was 50 years ago and there wasn't the same awareness of the environment as now.So, I guess back to the question ... what about oil filters?
What if dead feral cats that are fed by well meaning, but stupid neighbors is the goal?
OK, wrong approach. I know.
wafrederick
Well-known member
Call a waste removal company when the holding tank gets full at work.It is free and the company sends out a check.Even had someone from the EPA come in once and he was impressed after telling him this.There is a myth out there using used engine oil as a deck stain ,does not work.Read this in a magazine article on some myths in home improvements.Problem with the used oil is that it does not have drying agents in it and will ruin the wood
Ign
Well-known member
Related, and recent:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94349
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94349
wafrederick
Well-known member
Most scrap metal places will take the metal oil filters.Just take a center punch and put a hole in them hitting the center punch with a hammer.There is a little oil in them even after you remove them during an oil change
nehog
Well-known member
Drain them in the drain pan, once drained (usually overnight, sometimes longer if I forget 'em...) I toss the filter in the trash. The amount of residual oil is minimal at that stage.
graffix000
Well-known member
I use the local autozone to get rid of my oil. They take up to 5 gallons at a time.
Once my 12 quart Blitz container is full, i just take it down to my local Advance Auto and pour into their drum -- its free. I just stroll right to the drum in the back of the store, dont even need to talk to anybody!
Easier than aiming for local hazardous waste drop off and their short hours...
Easier than aiming for local hazardous waste drop off and their short hours...
neverenoughtools
Well-known member
My local municipal landfill accepts hazardous waste @ no cost
I just drop off the old jugs at Walmart by the tire center. Same with anti-freeze. Not sure if it should be separated or labeled..I don't.
I'll shake a filter upside down over the drain container for a moment..Then it goes in the box the new filter came in - and in the trash.
I'll shake a filter upside down over the drain container for a moment..Then it goes in the box the new filter came in - and in the trash.
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danski0224
Well-known member
I leave the filters over a funnel that leads to the waste oil container for at least a week, usually longer.
Then I put the filter in the regular trash.
Next time I hit the parts store, I'll ask about the filters. They take oil- as long as it isn't in a gasoline container.
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Charles (in GA)
Well-known member
Oil filters. A large part of the oil trapped in a filter never comes out unless you punch a hole in the shell. I have turned them up to drain and weeks later come along and punched a hole in them, and had quite a bit of oil then run out of them. Now, I remove a filter and take a welding chipping hammer with a point on it and put a couple of holes in the filter and let it drain out for weeks until I need the space for the next filter, then throw it.
Some companies manufacture filter crushers that contain the oil squeezed out of the filters. Designed for garage and oil change business use.
Charles
Some companies manufacture filter crushers that contain the oil squeezed out of the filters. Designed for garage and oil change business use.
Charles
danski0224
Well-known member
Thanks for the tip.
Mine are cartridge filters, though. I change the element and the housing is part of the engine.
VW and Mercedes.
Mine are cartridge filters, though. I change the element and the housing is part of the engine.
VW and Mercedes.
Garage5.9
Well-known member
seriously ?
When I had a wood stove in the shop I threw the filters in there also ran all my used oil trough the stove. Once all the paper and oil burns out of them you can pull the metal part out and throw it in with your scrap metal. now that I have a waste oil furnace the filters just go in the trash.
trbomax
Well-known member
Hydraulic oil goes ito the fuel for the PSD and NH. Engine oil goes into a drum for a couple months and then is pumped itno another tank that has a pump/nozzel setup that will inject it into the coal/wood furnace. I had this setup running in ohio for years,just havent got around to it here yet.Holding it in a setteling drum and then pumping it out eliminates a lot of sediment and **** that always seems to get in the waste oil. This stuff causes no end of problems when you are burning it. The new setup I will use here I am going to pump it thru a remote oil filter unit before it goes to the nozzel,I just need more free time! The filters go in the furnace and they do burn out 100%,all thats left are the metal parts and they go in the can with the ashes.
The grooming tractors generate a lot of waste hyd oil,about 60 gal each/yr. I put a gal or so in the PSD each fill up and a quart in the NH. The PSD will get 2 -3 mpg increase doing this. Over the last 10 yrs Ive tested this under a lot of different circumstances and it always works the same. A friend of mine works for a forklift co and does this too,same results.
The grooming tractors generate a lot of waste hyd oil,about 60 gal each/yr. I put a gal or so in the PSD each fill up and a quart in the NH. The PSD will get 2 -3 mpg increase doing this. Over the last 10 yrs Ive tested this under a lot of different circumstances and it always works the same. A friend of mine works for a forklift co and does this too,same results.
ptschram
Well-known member
Wrong! Ethylene Glycol is quickly and completely degraded by the microbial biota in wastewater treatment plants. It is only toxic to higher order animals. It has a surprisingly high level of energy available to the bugs in the treatment tanks.
You may well be surprised to find that your local POTW will accept incidental, homeowner quantities. Huge quantities may cause an upset due to the excessively high feedrate it represents to the bugs.
I drain my used oil into a barrel, then I have a guy that'll come pick it up or pump the barrel out to burn in his shop.
The used oil filters, like above, I throw them into the wood burner. Once they burn out (I'll leave them in for a couple of days) I take them out and toss into the scrap bucket. During the summer, I still throw them into the woodburner. If we get a few days that are really humid, I'll start a fire before I go in for the night. This seems to burn the humidity out of the garage and doesn't let the filters pile up.
The used oil filters, like above, I throw them into the wood burner. Once they burn out (I'll leave them in for a couple of days) I take them out and toss into the scrap bucket. During the summer, I still throw them into the woodburner. If we get a few days that are really humid, I'll start a fire before I go in for the night. This seems to burn the humidity out of the garage and doesn't let the filters pile up.