Life cycle of an engine oil around Jack's household.

[Jack17]

I've been always wondering about used oils in general. What do you guys do with it? Do you take it to the recycling center, store it or something else?
This is awkward but this is what I do:
Fresh oil, I always use Mobil1 5w20 Full Synthetic - my Tacoma or wife's Camry gets it. 5k miles in Tacoma or 7k miles in Camry earns them vehicles an oil change.
Now I have a few quarts of used oil that I run thru a big funnel that can hold a gallon. I also shove two cotton balls in the spout of that funnel to make my filter. It's a slow process but who cares? Next morning I've an engine oil that looks quite alright. This "second hand" oil gets distributed on as needed bases in between all of my 4-stroke power equipment. I have a habit of changing oil more often then recommended but my machines seem to like it. Really, I've never had any mechanical issues with any of them. They all seem to run smooth, no over-heating, relatively quiet and no metal "dust" in a crank case.
So, now I do an oil change on my power equipment ending up with an oil that went thru two engine recipients...that becomes...did you guess it? Bar Chain lube for my chainsaw! And this is how my used engine oil just vanishes without a trace.
Now you can laugh. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

 

[Ric]

I've been always wondering about used oils in general. What do you guys do with it? Do you take it to the recycling center, store it or something else?
This is awkward but this is what I do:
Fresh oil, I always use Mobil1 5w20 Full Synthetic - my Tacoma or wife's Camry gets it. 5k miles in Tacoma or 7k miles in Camry earns them vehicles an oil change.
Now I have a few quarts of used oil that I run thru a big funnel that can hold a gallon. I also shove two cotton balls in the spout of that funnel to make my filter. It's a slow process but who cares? Next morning I've an engine oil that looks quite alright. This "second hand" oil gets distributed on as needed bases in between all of my 4-stroke power equipment. I have a habit of changing oil more often then recommended but my machines seem to like it. Really, I've never had any mechanical issues with any of them. They all seem to run smooth, no over-heating, relatively quiet and no metal "dust" in a crank case.
So, now I do an oil change on my power equipment ending up with an oil that went thru two engine recipients...that becomes...did you guess it? Bar Chain lube for my chainsaw! And this is how my used engine oil just vanishes without a trace.
Now you can laugh. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Some might say that what you do with your is a great thing but personally when I change oil in the mowers what gets drained and goes back into the 5 gallon container from which it came, goes to Walmart and gets recycled. As far as the car and truck goes I haven't changed oil in a vehicle in probably 30 years. They go back to the dealership and I let them deal with it.

 

[Jack17]

I have had some bad luck with dealer service in the past. Cars leaking oil while in garage, smoking while driving because dealer forgot to wrench an oil filter a little. Putting wrong oil in to name a few. Worst ever I can think of was with my '96 Bronco XLT back in 2000 I think. Went in to flush out trans fluid. Few months later an oil sleek on the floor! What's going on? Who done it? Ahh...I remember now! Must've been that Ford dealer I went to for trans service a few months ago. Of to the dealer I go...they won't take any responsibility telling me that "I must've hit something...or something else happened" he says to me. Ended up fixing it myself. Drill / tap to a larger size bolt. Lazy mechanic was using an impact wrench on aluminum threads. What else could it be? All but two bolts holding the pan were lose.

 

[Rivets]

All oil in our shop gets recycled. Have two 300 gallon tubs for storage, which get pumped about every 6 months. Many of our landscapers drop their used oils off also. A company comes in and pays us between $.50-.90 per gallon. It's a winning proposition for us.

 

[Lawnboy18]

Once it's used, it gets stored in plastic jugs that are scattered around the garage and outside.

 

[Jack17]

A company comes in and pays us between $.50-.90 per gallon. It's a winning proposition for us.

Sure sounds like it.:thumbsup: In my case I go thru maybe 30 quarts of oil in a year.

 

[Jack17]

Once it's used, it gets stored in plastic jugs that are scattered around the garage and outside.

I really don't know what to say?!:confused2:

 

[bertsmobile1]

I do about 80 gallons of oil / year.
It goes to a "recycler" no charge , who filters it , does a gravity distillation then sells it to shipping companies who burn it in their engines once in international waters.
Any one who has travelled by freighter will remember billious black oily smoke pouring from the stacks.
More modern ship engines with computer controls apparently do a cleaner burn.
My wodden benches get a good oiling every now & then, keeps the termites at bay & stops the wood drying out .
Down here I need to install a 1000 gallon tank in order to get a paid for pump out service.
In order to install a 1000 gallon above ground tank I need to fit over $ 150,000 worth of anti pollution & leak detection gear then get a developement application processed ( another $ 2000 ) and have some monkey in a pretty painted van come out every 6 months and hit me with a $ 150 bill to tell me all my pollution monotoring gear is actually working although he can not actually tell me how any of it works. ( you got to have fun with these mindless morons some times ).
Thus my empty 44's get refilled with my used oil but about 2000 or so 4 or 5 liter containers of used oil get dumped in the long grass down the side road. although I am slowly taming the jungle so more seem to end up over the fence on a dissused block a few door down.
the dumps here are all run commercially so they only take "clean used oil " and a maximum of 200 litres per visit. A little Hitler watches you tip your oil into the correct tank ( Engine oil , gearbox oil , auto trans oil & cooking oil ) and if he sees any water or paint or anything else that he thinks is not the correct oil you cop another fine.

My wodden bences get a good oiling regularly and I used to oil the unpainted weather boards on my old shed on a different site.

 

[Lawnboy18]

I really don't know what to say?!:confused2:

Don't worry, I will bring them to a shop soon for "recycling"

 

[Lawnboy18]

I do about 80 gallons of oil / year.
It goes to a "recycler" no charge , who filters it , does a gravity distillation then sells it to shipping companies who burn it in their engines once in international waters.
Any one who has travelled by freighter will remember billious black oily smoke pouring from the stacks.
More modern ship engines with computer controls apparently do a cleaner burn.
My wodden benches get a good oiling every now & then, keeps the termites at bay & stops the wood drying out .
Down here I need to install a 1000 gallon tank in order to get a paid for pump out service.
In order to install a 1000 gallon above ground tank I need to fit over $ 150,000 worth of anti pollution & leak detection gear then get a developement application processed ( another $ 2000 ) and have some monkey in a pretty painted van come out every 6 months and hit me with a $ 150 bill to tell me all my pollution monotoring gear is actually working although he can not actually tell me how any of it works. ( you got to have fun with these mindless morons some times ).
Thus my empty 44's get refilled with my used oil but about 2000 or so 4 or 5 liter containers of used oil get dumped in the long grass down the side road. although I am slowly taming the jungle so more seem to end up over the fence on a dissused block a few door down.
the dumps here are all run commercially so they only take "clean used oil " and a maximum of 200 litres per visit. A little Hitler watches you tip your oil into the correct tank ( Engine oil , gearbox oil , auto trans oil & cooking oil ) and if he sees any water or paint or anything else that he thinks is not the correct oil you cop another fine.

My wodden bences get a good oiling regularly and I used to oil the unpainted weather boards on my old shed on a different site.

I didn't know the big boats used used oil. Even tho it is not 100% pure is this bad for the engine?