Less expensive mole control (Castor Oil)

After I posted to the other thread on mole control, I thought I would do some checking into sources for Castor Oil (mole repellent).

Here's what I found:
This place:
http://www.chemlab.com/
has Castor Oil, USP for $70.00 for 5 gallons. Thats $3.50 per quart.
(Go to Soap Making and then Chemicals)

This place:
http://www.columbusfoods.net/vegetableoils/price_list.html
has Castor Oil, USP for $95.36 for 6.5 gallons. That's $3.67 per quart.

This place:
http://www.deer-busters.com/molrep32ozre.html
has a mole control that sells for $19.95 for a 32 oz or 1 quart container. It's 100% pure Castor Oil.
That works out to around $400 for 5 gallons of Caster Oil!!!!! Holy S**t! I think Mole-Med is priced similar.

So the point is that if you buy Castor Oil from a chemical supply house, your going to save alot of money. I'm sure that they would have MSDS sheets available.

To make the Castor Oil more effective, you can add a surfactant to it, which I think Mole-Med already has in their pre-mix. For you pros, I'm not sure how far you can take this to stay within the bounds of an applicators license, but I thought I'd post the info for any help to stay competitive$$$.

 

I'm not even going to try to do this for a customer but I have been through the agony of fighting them on my own lawn. I have tried everything but the bubble gum.
The Castor oil does work. And you can get it from some of the larger stores like Home Depot. Is packaged in a spray container that attaches to the water hose and is sprayed over the lawn. I believe the container costs around $10 or so and will cover a few thousand sq. ft.or so. The real downside to this method is that you are only chasing them to the next "untreated" area. At least the method seems to work for a few months before they try to come back into your yard.
Cleve....

 

Great information, if you are a chemical formulator. Assuming you are licensed for commercial application to lawns, what is the EPA labelling for your castor oil? Is it labelled for mole treatment on lawns? If not, this is not a legal use of the product. You would be subject to state and federal penalties for using this on a client's property, unless you have taken the time and expense of getting your own label approved by EPA, and also by State of Indiana.

Check http://www.agcom.purdue.edu/AgCom/Pubs/pdflinks/ADM-10.html for info on moles. Mole Med is not a favorite yet on this document but is legal to try as a remedy.

 

those moles are bad around here and the pond draining
muskrats.
the gardeners suppy company has castor oil based mole &
gopher repellent say proved efective for 30-75 days depending on soil type and rainfall in 26 out of 27 test
one quart treats 1o,ooo sq ft $19.95 or 1/2 gal treats
60,000 sq ft for $29.95


[Edited by rdh on 01-21-2001 at 11:36 PM]

 

I want to try the castor oil treatment because of the ease of application. Will any brand or type work. I want to buy in bulk, possibly 55 gal, maybe even 275 gal. tote.

 

You just resurrected a nearly 12 yr old thread, fwiw.

 

Don't waste your time or money. Castor oil is at the top of the EPA's 25b list. It can't harm you or the environment so a lot of companies have marketed it in some form or another for years under this exemption. There is no "easy mole control" even though there are some that will debate this. Trapping and removal eliminates the problem - period. Sure, it still sells on the shelves and DIYs and desperate homeowners still buy it but I've had many of them tell me that it does not work. I've included the link to the 25b list if anyone is interested. But good luck anyway!

http://www.epa.gov/oppbppd1/biopesticides/regtools/25b_list.htm

 

My daughters cat has worked best for me.
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