Motor oil as wood preservative

I know that there are many, many theories out there on this. Myself? I was always afraid of used motor oil. Maybe my fear was unfounded. This was an interesting read. According to this medical study, new motor oil and used motor oil out of a diesel engine was found to be less carcinogenic than used motor oil out of a gas engine.

I also was at a talk at work some months ago (I work for a company that makes chemical analysis equip); where a person studying carcinogenic compounds from oil drilling found that where the oil comes from is a big determinant in whether the crude oil has "BTEX" (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, Xylene) in it. i.e. Canadian Tar Sands oil is much worse than Texas crude.

We're all going to die from something, so I'm not going to debate whether someone uses old motor oil, it's America...but there is at least one data point that says that some oil is safer to use than others.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2612787

We paint it on wooden trailer beds. I don't see how that could matter on way or the other. It does help them shed water.

Well I wouldn't use it on my furniture....

Rain washes the oil off onto the ground and then contaminates the ground and ground water.

I do my trailer and farm wagons and paint the oil on when the floors are dry and when sun is out and its in the upper 80'or in the 90's. If you do it right there is no run off it soaks in to the wood.

(quoted from post at 22:31:33 09/01/15) Rain washes the oil off onto the ground and then contaminates the ground and ground water.

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I guess I am going to have to catch rain water running off the back of my 28 foot gooseneck which I park on a slope, and see if I can detect an oil sheen on it. I think that it would be quite a trick for the rain to suck the oil out of that old dried up wood. maybe if I applied a half dozen heavy coats.

As information about anything become more available with a few strokes of a keyboard it becomes more and more apparent to me that there are a host of things in this life that are too complicated for some to handle.

I have brushed used motor oil on my trailer decks for my entire life without a thought about polluting anything. My gooseneck is 17 years old, never seen the roof of a shed and wears the original pine deck, the oil also protects the cross members from rust. Yes a small amount drips off and under a microscope it pollutes so am I a careless caretaker of the earth? In my opinion only in the eyes of the small minded. I could have let 3-4 decks rot off of it and replaced them? How much oil is dripped by timber cutting equipment? How much oil and fuel is burned by it? How about the trucks that haul it to the mill? How about the mill itself? or the trucks that haul the wood to the pressure treating company? what about that pressure treating chemical? what about the old dumpster truck that hauls away my old rotten deck or the leaking roll off truck (never seen one that didnt leak!!!) What about my old pickup polluting as I drive to the lumber yard to get more deck wood? What about the trees that are cut to provide the wood? Well??? use some water proofing from the store dummy!! Who says that stuff is safe???? You take a drink of Thompsons and I will take a drink of used oil and we will do a study of who is most affected?? who can apply Thompsons without it splashing and dripping????

Not taking a poke at you personally but I am taking a stand against common stupidity aka political correctness. A few drops of oil on the ground from me painting my trailer deck is polluting a whole lot less than the politically correct alternative, let it rot and replace,, in my opinionated opinion.

Motor oil wouldn't make a very good preservative for wood. Wood is like a cluster of drinking straws for a preservative needs to fill the wood and harden to prevent water from penetrating. Since oil never really hardens the protection would be limited at best. In addition since oil doesn't harden it would attract dirt which would hold moisture to the wood adding to the deterioration. Most wood preservatives contain linseed oil or tung oil. Either or both of these hardening oils make for a better preservative.

(quoted from post at 04:48:39 09/02/15) As information about anything become more available with a few strokes of a keyboard it becomes more and more apparent to me that there are a host of things in this life that are too complicated for some to handle.

I have brushed used motor oil on my trailer decks for my entire life without a thought about polluting anything. My gooseneck is 17 years old, never seen the roof of a shed and wears the original pine deck, the oil also protects the cross members from rust. Yes a small amount drips off and under a microscope it pollutes so am I a careless caretaker of the earth? In my opinion only in the eyes of the small minded. I could have let 3-4 decks rot off of it and replaced them? How much oil is dripped by timber cutting equipment? How much oil and fuel is burned by it? How about the trucks that haul it to the mill? How about the mill itself? or the trucks that haul the wood to the pressure treating company? what about that pressure treating chemical? what about the old dumpster truck that hauls away my old rotten deck or the leaking roll off truck (never seen one that didnt leak!!!) What about my old pickup polluting as I drive to the lumber yard to get more deck wood? What about the trees that are cut to provide the wood? Well??? use some water proofing from the store dummy!! Who says that stuff is safe???? You take a drink of Thompsons and I will take a drink of used oil and we will do a study of who is most affected?? who can apply Thompsons without it splashing and dripping????

Not taking a poke at you personally but I am taking a stand against common stupidity aka political correctness. A few drops of oil on the ground from me painting my trailer deck is polluting a whole lot less than the politically correct alternative, let it rot and replace,, in my opinionated opinion.

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Agree 100%. My trailer was purchased new in 2001. I have coated the wood deck with used motor oil at least once per year. The trailer has never seen the inside of any kind of shed. The wooden deck still looks like it did when I bought it 14 years ago.

technically it will leach out..

might not be enough to see an oily sheen long after application.. but can show up in a water test.

I would differ with you on oil protecting wood. Last year I took a deck off one of my farm wagons that had been on it for 40 years and had been treated with oil almost every year . If you paint the oil on a hot sunny day ( upper 80's or hotter) it will soak in and dirt does not stick to it.

(quoted from post at 08:15:12 09/02/15) technically it will leach out..

might not be enough to see an oily sheen long after application.. but can show up in a water test.

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Yes, oil is something detectable down to parts per billion in water.

There are so many things to balance, if you're an overthinker like myself.

I tend to think in hierarchies based on making use of what's already been provided or damage already done and trying to do the least harm.

-I absolutely hate treated lumber, but the farm that I took over had about 50 treated lumber fenceposts laying around. I figured it was better to use them for fence, since the trees to make them were cut and they will be spaced out very, very far around the property....but when I buy new posts myself, I buy cedar.

-I try to minimize oil leaks on equipment. My father-in-law had an old Oliver 1755 that left a sheen wherever it went. Drove me crazy.

-I try to oil chains and things with new oil (a forum member recommended bar and chain oil, and I like the results) while parked over a scrap piece of cardboard, or plywood...which I then burn when we have a bonfire...I know...smoke...but those chemicals were somewhere in the environment before they were in the crude oil...I'm just trying to disperse them back to levels that we can live with.

-For my wood projects, I use a brand of linseed called Tried and True. It's actually edible. They cook the linseed oil...actually cook it...to polymerize it. What the stores sell as "boiled linseed oil" uses heavy metal drying agents that might be worse than what one would find in old motor oil.

-I looked into using actual PGA (Pure Grain Alcohol) to make shellac for my wood projects...that's technically a great idea...except that PGA is heavily regulated and taxed to be expensive as hell...so that nobody can get a cheap buzz...hence poisonous "denatured alcohol" is the common choice.

-I collect old engine oil and take it to the county solid waste authority.

But then there are people that like old engine oil for everything. Wood preservative, chain lube...even knew one person that used it on ringworm on his calves (would you want to eat the meat from that animal?)

Based on what I read in the link that I posted, it seems that someone putting a very light coat of either new oil or oil from a diesel engine on a wooden deck to try to waterproof it...as long as it soaks in...is probably locking much of that oil into the wood and what little does leech out is leeching out over many, many years as the trailer goes all over the place, probably dispersing it (much of it on roads already covered with tar and other oil products)

I would be curious about the dirt under its parking spot though.

The name of the game, it seems, is to try to use common sense to minimize heavy metal and PAH (poly aromatic hydrocarbon) exposure to ourselves and our food animals...while either recycling the oil or using it in such a way that it gets dispersed back to the environment in those sub parts per billion levels that its already natuarally found in.

I used to buy the cheapest galon of paint I could get ( enamil, not laytex ).. and dip all my chains inthem then let hang / dry.

the paint lasts for years.. decades even. Last I used was red over a dozen ys ago. it's wearing off on ends now.. but them chains don't rust.. especially if you start your new chains out like that.

plus, your chains are easy to id laying ont he ground.. or if loaned out, or pooled with others on a project.

Heavy metals are a big issue as is benzene.

most people don't realize the amount of heavy metals in used motor oil...

According to my chemist friend, the benzene may already be in there, depending on where the oil comes from. It would actually have to be refined out.

I don't know how crude oil is turned to motor oil, so I really can't comment on whether benzene is added, taken out, left to random chance. Don't know.

Either way, you don't want I in your well.

If it leaches out it can't be any worse than what washes off four lane highway in front of house when it rains.

the difference is one is preventable, one isn't.

one can choose not to pour that stuff on the deck, knowing it will leakch.

one has no choice what gets dripped on the road.

so there IS a difference... source...

The oil is no worse than the preservatives that are used to protect wood. Our county closed down two companies that treated wood that was used in pole barn post,fence post, and trailer decking because what ever they used turned out to be bad and leached out. I think the companies moved to some where else in the states.

There simply ARE safer alternatives.

Asphalt paint that cures virtually environmentally inert for one.

I have one wagon that has a floor from wood that came from a WWII ammo plant that the wood was used for blowout bunkers between buildings. That wood was pressured boiled in tar and when you cut the planks the tar is boiled all the way through the wood.

Chris, Are you referring to something like Gardner Black Beauty Fence paint, available from HD?

No doubt that stuff makes it last. Bet if you hurried it it would be lil rock in a hundred years!

Probably. I've not used that brand, but browsing the msds, it looks similar. IE, liquid asphalt emulsion and kaolin. I have seen some fence paints that actually don't contain asphalt as claimed, they don't hold up good.

Heres what I like to see on the msds

Pic

the next time you are at an intersection with a traffic light notice the pavement where the cars stand and wait for the light to turn green. there is usually a pool of oil stain.
drive through several parking lots around town and notice the pool of oil stain in the slots.

(quoted from post at 17:20:20 09/06/15) the next time you are at an intersection with a traffic light notice the pavement where the cars stand and wait for the light to turn green. there is usually a pool of oil stain.
drive through several parking lots around town and notice the pool of oil stain in the slots.

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Especially noticeable at Wally-World.

Also parking lot of Auto Zone and Advance Auto and more noticeable in parking spots next to store.

I don't think I agree with that--creosote oil was used for years preserving lumber and poles--on jobs i have been we have pulled 30 year old timber and when left in the sun they bleed like crazy---we always specified creosote over CCA as it lasted much longer---but many municipality have banned it now-still used for heavy construction projects though

There is a considerable difference between motor oil and coal tar oil. The coal tar oil hardens in the wood fibers where motor oil rinses off enough with rain water to allow water to penetrate.

(quoted from post at 05:14:08 09/09/15) There is a considerable difference between motor oil and coal tar oil. The coal tar oil hardens in the wood fibers where motor oil rinses off enough with rain water to allow water to penetrate.

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Steve, I don't understand how used motor oil will "rinse off" when it is absorbed down into the wood. I have just come back in from pouring water on the deck of the trailer that I put oil on about four weeks ago. I can't see any indication of oil in or on that water as it ran off. I can rub my finger on the wood and it will come away clean unless I press it very hard, and then it is just little particles of dirt consistent with tractors being driven on dirt and then loaded, and me walking on dirt and then chaining the tractors down. I cannot feel or see any oiliness to the surface, or on my finger. I have placed a bucket on the trailer to remind myself to put some under the back of it to catch rain run-off tomorrow night. From what I can see the oil was absorbed in immediately when I brushed it on, and has stayed there through the one heavy shower that we have had since.