# Burn waste motor oil in a wood stove?



## rjd25 (Nov 27, 2014)

This seems like it could be useful in SHTF. There will be tons of dead cars laying around to harvest motor oil from if you don't have access to a wood source.


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## SDF880 (Mar 28, 2013)

We have been saving our old/used oil for years just incase we need it for this and other reasons later.


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## rjd25 (Nov 27, 2014)

I never knew it would burn that easily. I saw a guy modify a diesel engine in a car and figured if it would run and internal combustion engine it would certainly run in a furnace so I searched youtube and low and behold.....found this.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Very dangerous and illegal . It has also been done with oil fuel oil burner pumps and thinned down oil. Old stove from Rail Road caboose can be made to work also.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

I have an old auto mechanic chum who heats his shop all winter on the stuff. Bound to work pretty good. Now he has a high dollar store bought model that knows those tricks.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Here is one that is legal and works well and is safe

The Clean Burn Advantage


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## Oddcaliber (Feb 17, 2014)

The military M 1945 tent heater has a kit to make it burn liquid fuels. Should work if modified correctly.


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## 1skrewsloose (Jun 3, 2013)

Kinda gives you away, like burning tires. jmo.


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## rjd25 (Nov 27, 2014)

1skrewsloose said:


> Kinda gives you away, like burning tires. jmo.


from what I have seen it burns clean, looks to be less smoke than even wood fires.


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## Boss Dog (Feb 8, 2013)

Doesn't oil burn hotter than wood. What would this do to your stove?


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## BagLady (Feb 3, 2014)

I can't imagine burning oil in our wood heater. It would stink to high heaven, and I think there would be a mass of oil sludge in the chimney pipes, causing possible fires.
As it is, we have to do clean outs from burning "green" wood, which causes build up from natural sap.
Not to mention, how does one burn liquid in a wood heater?
Even a wood Stove has a grate with an ash clean out. So, I don't get it.


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## 1skrewsloose (Jun 3, 2013)

rjd25 said:


> from what I have seen it burns clean, looks to be less smoke than even wood fires.


I must be getting old! You are right, drove many cars that burned oil back in the day, trail of blue smoke and most likely, not much smell.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

If you look at the wood stove he modified it to work like an old drip oil furnace . Same way the stoves in a rail road caboose work. Fuel oil is allowed to drip in to a bowl in the stove it is lit once warmed up the flow is increased and the oil burns. By adding a blower it just increases the rate of burn . The old stove had a value that would shut off the fuel flow if it was not hot enough. But they still caused a lot of fires. Also Furnaces will crack from the heat using oil and a blower.
Another way it was done was to just slowly drip oil on the a wood fire it also was dangerous. Many of your modern oils require a much higher burn temp also.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

Used motor oil is a known carcinogen.
Life is short enough as is.
Just sayin'.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

rice paddy daddy said:


> Used motor oil is a known carcinogen.
> Life is short enough as is.
> Just sayin'.


RPD,
While I'm a bit north of you and risk one or two ice or snow events a year, winter is a good time to be in the South! We don't have to worry about burning motor oil in our home Thank God!


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## CreteGirl (Mar 23, 2015)

Seems like it would have toxic fumes... I have no idea if it would, but that's just what I would think.


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## azrancher (Dec 14, 2014)

rice paddy daddy said:


> Used motor oil is a known carcinogen.


Life is a known carcinogen, the fumes go up the flue and are dispersed, only use it when the wind is blowing towards the zombies.

*Rancher*


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

I will save mine and run it in my old diesel truck. 

If necessary I can make my living arrangement smaller. Close off the basement and live downstairs. Can even make the basement half the size to heat a smaller area. Beside I will never be able to burn all the wood on my property in my life time. Kind of planned it that way many years ago when I bought my place. Before prepping was cool.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

If burn n true oil burn like Clean burn it meets EA requiremens


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## SDF880 (Mar 28, 2013)

I save all my old oil but not burning it unless we are well into a SHTF situation and I have exhausted all other heat sources
and all I am down to is my old oil.


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## Arklatex (May 24, 2014)

What are some other uses for used motor oil? I have about 15 or 20 quarts of the stuff from oil changes. I was eventually going to take it to Walmart for disposal, but if there is a use for it I may hold on to some or all of it.


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## alterego (Jan 27, 2013)

Part of being an alive prepper after shtf is to be knowledgeable about alternative methods. To adapt and overcome. Many on this site can not see beyond the narrow guidelines provided to them.

It looks dangerous. 
It's illegal.
Known carcinogens. 
What about the smell.

All very funny to me.

Likely one of the naysayer s is smoking a cigarette while posting their poo poo.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

alterego said:


> Part of being an alive prepper after shtf is to be knowledgeable about alternative methods. To adapt and overcome. Many on this site can not see beyond the narrow guidelines provided to them.
> 
> It looks dangerous.
> It's illegal.
> ...


Well, sonny, if that was directed at me I have already survived some sho' nuff SHTF scenarios, dangerously deadly ones; probably gonna die from ingesting Agent Orange; already wear hearing aids due to "severe hearing loss" caused by very loud stuff; and STILL would not burn used motor oil.

I have already "improvised, adapted, and overcame".


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## alterego (Jan 27, 2013)

rice paddy daddy said:


> Well, sonny, if that was directed at me I have already survived some sho' nuff SHTF scenarios, dangerously deadly ones; probably gonna die from ingesting Agent Orange; already wear hearing aids due to "severe hearing loss" caused by very loud stuff; and STILL would not burn used motor oil.
> 
> I have already "improvised, adapted, and overcame".


have you ever driven an old Chevy car with a 350 motor with too many miles on it then you burn motor oil in an encloser vented to the outside due to the heat rise in the vent stack that is under vacuum what do you think is going to happen to you


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## jimb1972 (Nov 12, 2012)

Bacon causes cancer, I am not giving up bacon. I have burned used motor oil in a wood burning stove, it works very well to get the fire going. Of course you can get a 3 foot flame coming out of the chimney and a sound somewhat like a jet engine if too much is poured on the fire.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

jimb1972 said:


> Bacon causes cancer, I am not giving up bacon. I have burned used motor oil in a wood burning stove, it works very well to get the fire going. Of course you can get a 3 foot flame coming out of the chimney and a sound somewhat like a jet engine if too much is poured on the fire.


What are the chances of a flue fire?
I know if a resinous wood such as southern yellow pine is burned in a fireplace the chances of a flue fire burning down your house are pretty good. Unless you clean the crud out on a regular basis.


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## jimb1972 (Nov 12, 2012)

rice paddy daddy said:


> What are the chances of a flue fire?
> I know if a resinous wood such as southern yellow pine is burned in a fireplace the chances of a flue fire burning down your house are pretty good. Unless you clean the crud out on a regular basis.


The chances of a flue fire are probably lower than when burning most woods, but like I said if too much oil is added to the fire it can get very hot. we are probably lucky we did not burn down the garage. The local recycling center takes waste oil and uses it to heat their facility in the winter, it can be done safely but I would be very cautious about how far the fuel is from the heat and have a couple ways to shut it down in an emergency.


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## PatriotFlamethrower (Jan 10, 2015)

Smitty901 said:


> Very dangerous and illegal . It has also been done with oil fuel oil burner pumps and thinned down oil. Old stove from Rail Road caboose can be made to work also.


Illegal? In a SHTF situation, NOTHING is illegal anymore, especially when it comes to survival. Consequences? Possibly. Legality? Who cares!


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

Wat too much wood to consider that.

Use the oil first in things like chainsaw bar oil


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## Oddcaliber (Feb 17, 2014)

On the net there are sites on DIY waste oil heaters. Look safe enough for me.


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## rjd25 (Nov 27, 2014)

guys this thread is getting out of control. I posted this so people would have another tool in their pocket if the S ever hit the F. For those of us who live in the northeast, it gets very cold. It is something that i never considered but it is good to know it is a possibility if I absolutely needed to. If there is a choice of my family freezing to death or burning some used motor oil to stay warm, I will give you one guess what I will do. We all should be on an information hunt every day. That is what I was intending to do here, not tell you to pour motor oil on your wood stove to save some money.


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