Wash down station containment. what do you do?

[skylarkguy]

So I just brought home a new tractor project. I was planning on starting the project with a good wash down. It has 40 some odd years of leaking petroleum products covering it. I was planning on doing this in my driveway but then I got to thinking. I really don't want this stuff to end up in my pond that is down hill of my driveway. It really isn't appropriate to just wash this onto the ground. So...Thinking about working out a containment set up to catch all the stuff coming off of it.

MY plan was to get a large sheet of plastic or rubber and lay it on the ground, roll the tractor into it then build a simple 2x6 frame to hold up the edges...Kind of a temporary tractor pond. I could then suck up the goo with kitty litter/wood shavings/or absorbent pads of some kind. Of course all this would then end up in the land fill...not exactly a good prospect either but better than surface run off I think. This would also be a way to contain any seeds from potentially invasive species that are stuck in all that goo.

So what do other users do in this regard on their equipment?

Thanks

 

[Gary Fowler]

That sounds like you will contain it ok, but have a lot of oily water to get rid of. I have never had that much goo to contend with and I have a concrete wash down pad that I use for cleaning. The water runs off into my gravel driveway, then its downhill about 200 feet to our pond. Never had any issue with run off water getting anywhere close to the pond.

 

[billybobjimmyjoejack]

I think you have a reasonable idea. On construction sites we would do something similar with hay bales and plastic. this "temporary pond" would be used for cleaning out concrete premix truck shoots after they unloaded. Just let the pond air dry and you can remove the dry sludge and haul it to the landfill. I see that you are in Dallas,OR. I noticed today on the Portland Craigslist the Washington County Habitat for Humanity Restore has rubber roof membrane for sale, $10 for a 10' X 10' piece or 10 pieces or more for $5 each.

 

[johnrex62]

If it is possible, consider a commercial wand wash station (Car Wash). They have catchment tanks to process and reuse water in many cases. At least it is designed to keep all those petroleum products out of the environment.

 

[MarkV]

If it is possible, consider a commercial wand wash station (Car Wash). They have catchment tanks to process and reuse water in many cases. At least it is designed to keep all those petroleum products out of the environment.

+1 Same thing I was thinking. Here they are required to have a filtering system before it goes into the waste water system. Spend $10 and save a lot of fabricating and clean up.

MarkV

 

[CompactTractorFan]

If you put up a boarder of these around the wash area, it would probably work well:

Amazon.com: SPC ENV510 Env 5" Width, 10' Length Oil Only Class, Boom Configuration Sorbent Booms (4 Per Bale): Industrial & Scientific

Kinda of pricy though...

 

[Gordon Gould]

I say put it on a trailer and bring it to a car wash. We have a wand wash station in town with high doors specifically for trucks and equipment. Also lots of truck stops have washing stations.

 

[radioman]

ditto on the car wash -- funny -- before I even read rest of responses, first thing came to my mind is that car washes already have ways to deal with those types of grime/oil/salt crap.