28 Jul 2008 by Mike
Hello guys,
We have been renovating our second square today, and we have had an accident. One of the hydraulic hose connections has come loose and as a result, every run I took with the top dresser has peed a line of hydraulic oil the length of our square, as well as dripping all over the place. I noticed the oil after 6 or 7 runs, so its made quite a mess.
I know its a bit late now as the work was carried out at about 10am, but is there anything I can do to minimize the damage? Failing this, what processes should I look to undertake to get this re-instated asap?
Cheers.
i had fuel leak on my square, i have scarified and reseeded and also use green paint from golf courses
28 Jul 2008 by Sumomosr Last edited 28 Jul 2008
Dig it out using a turf-cutter or simulate that with your spade.
Replace turf with something compatible. Experts here will advise what is suitable.
Dispose of contaminated turf responsibly.
GOGGA
Mike
Never, ever, dig out lines along a cricket track. Footholes perhaps (though not recommended), but not the track itself.
The grass will die, but unless the spill was major, the soil will soon recover. When the grass has died, scratch the surface and reseed. It will be ugly for the rest of the season, but at least it will be fine for next.
A club near me (not Martyn's) took the dig it out and returf approach - and the error of their ways is still visible three years later!
The ciderman rolls
28 Jul 2008 by Mike
Thanks guys.
Jon, I would consider the spillage fairly major. I'm working with a 40" mounted topdresser so I have 3 lines the whole length of 2 wickets. From experience, I know that this is going to burn the turf badly, and with it happening during renovations, I wasn't sure of how to deal with it.
As things stand, we have had the spillage and then proceeded to cover it with loam. With this in mind, would we be best just waiting until the grass has died off and renovate the affected tracks again?
Over seed the affected tracks again once the loam has melted down/bedded in. Approx 4 to 6 weeks, will still be plenty of warmth in the ground. Skould be OK.
Get some wetting agent on it or even washing up liquid and water heavily to flush as much of the oil out as possible. At the same time brush with a stiff brush to literaly scrub the sward. Then dress and reseed after a couple of days. It is the heat of the oil that initialy kills the grass but it always looks like more oil has spilt than really has.
Chris
You will never see a statue in honour of a committee.
Mike I had a big spill on the outfield about 6 weeks ago and used a wetting agent for about 5 days on the trot to try and flush it through, it's coming back now. Mine was caused by 2 hoses going at the same time on the roller, luckily it wasn't on the square, once repaired I had machine re-filled with bio degradeable oil, it's more expensive but it's got to be worth it.
Andy. It also needs changing out more frequently. The risk is often outweighed by the cost for many smaller clubs.
Something to be aware of when buying hydraulically driven rollers ex-plant hire companies or construction/tarmac is that their maintenance of hoses is often on an ad hoc basis. No PM just replace when broken. Look for cracks and perishing. Replace hoses before they burst.
GOGGA
As usual you are spot on Sumo, I have only taken over this year at the club but I have already said that we need to service regularly to prevent it happening again. As for the risk and cost, it only needs to happen once and you could loose 1 or more wickets for a considerable time and a small club with a small square would find this even more difficult to cope with. Your post hits the nail on the head regarding lack of maintanance, even for small clubs PM is cheaper than trying to cope with a disaster.
29 Jul 2008 by vid
Hi Mike, I cant remember the name but there is a product for this very situation so quickly give your most knowledgeable rep a ring - the sooner its applied the better
29 Jul 2008 by Mike
I agree with Andy and Sumo. When I started with my employer there was no maintenance whatsoever. All work on machinery was a reaction rather than prevention. This has been an area which I have worked very diligently to improve - obviously not enough though!! We are about 80% there, with a bit of luck, I should have a system in place next year whereby all machinery will be maintained as it should be.
Re the actual spillage, a decision has been made today as to what to do with it - Nothing! I won't go into any further details, but thankyou all for the sound advice.
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GOGGA
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GOGGA
Is there a difference between oils then?
My own experience over the years is of diesel, petrol and ancient sump oil. All three spill/leak types have recovered within weeks - especially when oversown with fresh seed.
Was the Irish oil something unusual?
The ciderman rolls
Fuel and sump oils usually leak in a low pressure situation and so are of low volume and low temperature.
The low volume is significant.
Hydraulic oils are under extreme pressure and are running at high temperatures.
The high pressure means that when a leak develops/occurs hot oil is effectively 'pumped' out of the system at high pressure and in higher volumes saturating the soil to a greater extent.
The pressures in a hydraulic system are extreme and inherently dangerous. Never place bare hands near hydraulic hoses looking for leaks. Always use a piece of card as an indicator board to observe oil leaks. The hydraulic oil can be sprayed in a fine mist at such high pressures as to penetrate the skin and lead to blood poisoning.
Notice that hydraulic hoses on mowers are often sheathed in a fabric or corrugated plastic covering to try and contain any leaks from spraying and causing them to 'appear' as a 'dribble' .
Rollers rarely benefit from such protection.
GOGGA
30 Jul 2008 by biffo
Give David Bates of Earth-Tec Ltd a call on 07736 066031.
He has a great deal of experience & success dealing with oil & chemical spillages on fine turf.
Hi, GroundCover here
I can't give advice about a remedy for the grass problem but insurance might be able to help with costs especially if you are a contractor to a club and this sort of thing happens because you could have a claim on your liability insurance. Watch out for insurers arguing insufficient PM though !
31 Jul 2008 by Mike
Hello Groundcover, thanks for the suggestion but the issue is now sorted, or just left to grow back without any input. Any follow up insurance claims or such things aren't necessary at this time.
Thanks anyway.
Mike A,
Glad to hear it's sorted. Insurance is never going to be a replacement for expertise on grounds and turf care etc but at least between us all we can try to make them pay up when there is a claim.
6 Aug 2008 by Mike
Something strange is going on with this oil spill.
I have had a good look at the square today, and I have noticed something of an anomoly. The damage from the spillage is now starting to show on the square, perhaps not as bad as I had expected but the grass is discoloured and starting to die off. The strange thing is though, where we have re-levelled and seeded the ends there is no sign of damage whatsoever. It looks as if the oil has stopped leaking when we have got to the ends and then started to leak again once past the repaired end.
This leads me to the question, does oil have a lesser impact on grass seed than on established grass?
6 Aug 2008 by Gordon the Gopher
Hi,
I'm coming to this late as usual.
Vid - the product you mention is i think called deactivator - i think its charcoal/humic acid based.
In my experience either oil or bio oils will burn the leaf if sprayed in relatively low volumes. It more to do with temperature than the oil itself.
Oils of course will stay longer in the soil and if in high volume will contaminate the soil.
Low volume leaf burn will grow out. I think this is why Mike A has now recovery from the seeded areas.
If flushing/breaking up with wetting agent make sure it's a penetrant - who wants to retain oils?
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