Thread: Sump oil as wood preserver?

Thinned with kerosene it used to be a common treatment for wooden fences etc. Like everything else it was probably carcinogenic as well as being laced with lead from the petrol.
Cheers,
Jim

It's OK, but it'll probably leach. Then there's oxidation...

It works ok on outdoor things like fences etc. but I wouldnt use it on tool handles or an outdoor setting or anything which will be regularly come in contact with. I will post some b4 and after pics of my front fence which I treated to the good ol sump oil trick. it is good if you are using a timber susceptible to ant or termite attack as it repels them generally. It can also somewhat slow any rot existing in posts etc.

will stop borers gettin to teh sapwood. dosent make a big difernce.

had to paint 100 posts with sump oil creosote mix for a bloke about 4 years ago. got jack of teh pant brush after 10 posts. put it in teh knapsack and sprayed it on.

felt crook the next day.

pitty they took creosote of teh market used to work a treat.

Originally Posted by weisyboy

will stop borers gettin to teh sapwood. dosent make a big difernce.

had to paint 100 posts with sump oil creosote mix for a bloke about 4 years ago. got jack of teh pant brush after 10 posts. put it in teh knapsack and sprayed it on.

felt crook the next day.

pitty they took creosote of teh market used to work a treat.

You want some creo Carl? I have a few contacts around mount gambier where they still make the creo posts, I could probably get ya some.

We spray/paint sump oil on the rails in our cattle yards to preserve the timber, works a treat, although can be a little dirty to climb about on a for a month or two.

Originally Posted by ozhunter

We spray/paint sump oil on the rails in our cattle yards to preserve the timber, works a treat, although can be a little dirty to climb about on a for a month or two.

Do it in summer and apply a couple of light coats it will be totally dry in a couple of days.

A mate of mine used sump oil and creosote to treat pine posts , he used a couple of 44 gal drums welded together and soaked the pine posts over night in a solution of sump oil and creosote , not sure what the ratio was , just gotta make sure the timber is well seasoned , so it soaks up the liquid like a sponge , his posts have lasted over 25 years so far . Cheers MM

Originally Posted by Travis Edwards

Do it in summer and apply a couple of light coats it will be totally dry in a couple of days.

Well that's what I thought when I built my sunken pergola back in the 1970's and I lined the walls of the sunken part with sleepers painted with several coats of sump oil.

The whole idea of the the sunken pergola was that people could sit on the sleepers on the sides of the pergola.

Maybe I put too much on because the sump oil took a long time to dry out, the stuff just seemed to keep oozing back out. Even several years later people sitting on the sleepers would get oily marks on their bums.

The sleepers lasted for ~10 years and were eaten out from behind by termites leaving a 1" shell where the sump oil had been. So if you are going to use it, like MM says is make sure the wood in contact with the ground is well covered.

Me too.

It's been 4 or 5 years since since one set of yards was done and you still get a little black of them.

Works though, on tard rails at least

i used diesel sump oil on my fences and posts the difference from petrol and diesel sump oil is the diesel stays black where i think the petrol fades to a dark brown

There is some question to whether termites are effected by sump oil, but the fact is that even if they are, sump oil will not soar right through the timber, so termites will eventually get in.
Boron will help to protect the timber from decay and borer attack, with some termite resistant qualities as well, which should do the trick.
I would still get some Termidor into the post hole. You'll get at least 8 years-probably 12 or more.

Dont bother putting kero in with the sump oil, just slop the oil onto fence post as is and it will make them look a mile better. It will keep any termites and creepy crawleys out of your posts.

A guy near me painted his new paling fence with sump oil about 8 years ago. It faces west, and on a sunny day you can still smell it whan you walk past up to 10 or more metres away. I dont think it ever really dries out properly.
Not what I would want near the house. In a paddock or a farm shed, fine.