Hydraulic fluid on the lawn and driveway.

[Prestige-Lawncare]

Called a buddy of mine this morning, and he was in the middle of a problem he hadn't faced as of yet in his first year of "full timing".

He was using a new mower as a demo this morning ... I believe he told me it was a Hustler mower. Though he has, and is looking to buy another eXmark ... he went to school (years ago) with the dealer.

Anyway ... he was telling me that it blew a hydraulic line, and he had a trail on the driveway and across the lawn. At the time I called him, he was saturating the area with water, and had already called the dealer to come out to the job site.

Have any of you ever had an experience such as this ... and what did you do ... and what was the outcome.

He has a eXmark WB, and a 60" Convertible now. He is selling the Convertible, and I think he is going to go ahead and buy the 60" eXmark.

Hustler Mowers --> ( http://www.hustlerturfequipment.com (http://www.hustlerturfequipment.com/ContHomePage/ContHomePage.html) )
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[Prestige-Lawncare]

You know .... After I posted this ... I thought ... Man, I didn't complete the entire post, and didn't post what I was really posting about!

Have any of you ever had this happen to you ... and what did you do to clean up the mess? Also ... what effect did the Hydraulic fluid have on the turf?

The home owner was there, and he was concerned about the fact that he was just getting ready to apply his fall feeding. I told my buddy that if I were the home owner, I would wait at least a week, and let the grass go through another weekly growing cycle. He should be able to tell within 7 days if the turf had gone through any major shock.

What would you have done?

[BZB_Helpers]

It will most likely kill the grass. I know that straight ATF will kill it from personal experience. But since your friend diluted the spilled hydro fluid with water i have no idea, the outcome could be worse or better.

[dave k]

I do know that golf courses use a hudro fluid in most of their reel mowers that won't harm the turf, off hand I don't remember the name but you can go to JD Golf or Toro and see it on their sites I'm sure. I had a sod hauler drip alot of fluid on my front lawn (Emerald Zoysia) and had no ill effects, but it wasn't as bad as you had. On the drive and walks any good degreaser would work or even gasoline, push came to shove use a weak acid to clean the area.
Dave K

[ChadsLawn]

If the grass dies. the dealer should pay to replace it or fix it, clean the drive and sidewalk.

[Echelon]

i worked on a country club that used a chemical "soap". i had a toro triplex blow a line and it was dumping out the whole trim cut on the approach to a par 3, **** happens. we scrubbed it with this biodegradable product and rinsed it with a lot of water. it still left a dead strip around the fairway.

i was thinking the heat of the oil alone may have been enough to do it.

[westwind]

remove grass and replace with new soil and seed. water does not dilute oil.

[YardPro]

i just read this post and wanted to chip in...

THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO US!!!!!!

we bought a 52 super z this year and the first time we were using it, a line came off and we lost all the hydro fluid all over the lawn... not just any lawn.... a fairway quality bermuda lawn. This happened on friday of july 4th weekend...... the mower had just been delivered and it replaced the demo we had been using.

[gammon landscaping]

water does not delute oil but oil is lighter than water and if you saturated the area it would float on the water and spread out better as maybe just a film on the turf area

i had a simaler thing happen i was puting down spout lines around a house with a trencher on my skid steer. i was trenching around the house and blew a hydrulic hose to the trencher and it through that red fluid all over the brick on the house. i got some degreaser and soaked it down and rinsed with water left some light stain. thankfully the home owner said that he was selling the house and didn't care......i was floored i didn't know what he was going to make me do

[MOW PRO LAWN SERVICE]

Concrete or black top if it's concrete got a local hotsy store local they sell a chem called hdb that sould pull the stain keep us posted.

[Prestige-Lawncare]

Concrete or black top if it's concrete got a local hotsy store local they sell a chem called hdb that sould pull the stain keep us posted.

I've only talked to him once since this happened ... and he said that the dealer was taking care of it. The drive was asphalt .. so they did a seal coat job on it. I'm not sure about the lawn ... but when I do talk to him again, I will be sure and ask.
:weightlifter: