He Recycles Waste Oil In Tractor's Front-End Loader

He Recycles Waste Oil In Tractor's Front-End Loader ENERGY Waste Oil 17-6-12 "It saves me the cost of adding hydraulic oil to my front-end loader and seems to have no adverse effects on it," says David Gould, Bangor, Maine, who "recycles" waste oil by using it to replace hydraulic oil that leaks out of the Dearborn front-end loader on his 1953 Ford 850 tractor. Gould's tractor has two hydraulic systems - an internal one to raise the 3-pt. hitch and an external one to operate the loader. The loader frame serves as an oil reservoir. Over the years the frame developed cracks, allowing oil to leak out. He adds about 10 gal. of waste oil to the loader every year. "By using waste oil I never have to buy hydraulic oil," says Gould. "I don't use it in the tractor's internal hydraulic system. I change the oil filter every couple of years. I've been using waste oil for 15 or 20 years with no problems. I originally tried it be-cause of the expense of hydraulic oil. A 5-gal. pail sells for about $20. It would be difficult to weld the cracks shut on the frame. I'd have to purge the entire reservoir with detergents before I could do any welding to avoid an explosion. "People can't believe it when they watch me add waste oil to my loader. They're sure that it'll damage the hydraulic pump, but it never has. Most of the loaders used on old tractors have a vane-type pump that's built very rugged. It doesn't need the sophisticated hydraulic oil required by modern loaders. The loader valve is also built heavy and the hydraulic hoses are made to with-stand any kind of oil. They don't swell or break, even in winter. "However, I don't think waste oil could be used on modern loaders. They have smaller valves that would probably get damaged by the dirt in the waste oil." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, David F. Gould, 2220 Ohio St., Bangor, Maine 04401 (ph 207 947-7822).

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