The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Equipment => Topic started by: symber on June 09, 2019, 11:59:08 am
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Hello,
I had a bit of an accident with my tractor yesterday - a fuel-line split and diesel went all over the engine. Now everything's covered in diesel and oil, washed off the engine/gearbox/everything else by the escaping diesel.
I've mostly remedied the mess, but I really want to wash it all down now, so I can get back in it without coming away covered in diesel. What I really need to avoid, though, is washing any oil off into the ground and causing some sort of pollution disaster.
Has anybody got any recommendations as to what the best course of action is? I've been trying to come up with some sort of polythene sheeting and oil-trap system in my head, but I can't think of a way that would minimise the pollution risk.
Thanks for your help :)
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Best i can come up with is eco washing liquid and 2-bucket/sponge with a tarp under the tractor covered in sawdust to catch any overflow. What you do with the sawdust after is more arguable (you didn't hear me say dry it and burn it)..
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Thanks for your thoughts - run-off into saw-dust is a good idea.
...I could imagine oil-infused saw-dust in moderate quantities would make quite a good starter fuel...not that I'd condone that, of course :)
I'd better start staking out a load of polythene sheet, then...
Thanks :)
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Maybe put a layer of polyethene down to protect the ground, the a load of cat litter, then clean what needs cleaning, with the waste liquid being soaked up by the cat letter. You can then fairly easily collect to the cat litter (since it is on the polytenene) and dispose of it appropriately.
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...I could imagine oil-infused saw-dust in moderate quantities would make quite a good starter fuel...not that I'd condone that, of course :)
The contractors that clear vegetation from power lines etc chainsaw grooves into a fire-starter log and prime it with diesel to get their "green-wood" fires going (I have found). Just saying !!
Actually, I would personally go for the saw-dust and burning option (it's not steel furnace output we're talking about here!). Saw-dust will be a by-product while cat litter will need to be manufactured in it's own right (with associated up-front pollution) before being buried.
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Hi Symber,
happy to be ignorant - but could you not take it to a local car wash? Surely their run off goes through a seperator to stop any environmental contamination..... (everything must be better than buring oiled cat litter....).
What am I missing?
Christian