Yep, oil continues to dry up around here in Houston. I used to be swimming in the stuff. Before long, I'm not going to have enough to run my own car.

This weekend I lost one source that had very high-quality oil, but in low quantities. The owner's dad got educated and now he takes the oil. The other was a good quality source, that made tons of oil. I've gathered for them for over a year. Not so much as a courtesy call from the manager -- just arrived to find my barrel disposed of and a Griffin Industries dumpster in its place. Even if I didn't get a chance to bid to keep the source, did they have to just throw away my equipment?!? Probably the commercial renderer and not the restaurant. I was playing with a plasma cutter in my garage today, thinking what I could do to their dumpster in about ninety seconds with that tool...

My patience for the whole endeavor is growing thin -- not sure how much longer it will be, but a really nice two-tank 1998 Mercedes may be on eBay in the next couple of weeks or months.

Cheers, John

I'm sorry, John. Seems to me the plasma cutter could do a lot of damage to the renderer's "equipment" Might do more good than the dumpster!

quote:

Originally posted by dukegrad98:
Yep, oil continues to dry up around here in Houston.

Not too surprising that amateur oil is becoming scarce around Houston.

GreenHunter producing more than 50 percent of nameplate capacity
By Anna Austin

Web exclusive posted August 28, 2008 at 4:50 p.m. CST

While overall, biodiesel plants in the United States are producing at about 20 percent of their capacity, Grapevine, Texas-based GreenHunter Biofuels LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GreenHunter Energy Inc., announced Aug. 25 that it has achieved over 50 percent of its 105 MMgy nameplate production capacity. The GreenHunter biodiesel facility is currently the largest biodiesel facility in the United States .

http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=2702

What you're seeing is just the start as this spreads across the US.

I have experienced this too . I am down about 25- 30 gal per month which is barely acceptable for me . The available amount of "free" WVO for my now part-time WVO Ford F250 IDI is certainly not enough for a daily driver with mpg it gets.

For for some of us, it may now make more sense for forgo the non-commercial fuel route (because of the time and money involved ) and to drive a high mpg (35 mpg+) fossil vehicle (VW TDI , Prius , Civic ,Yaris, Corolla, Fit, Smart Car etc).

As this trend continues , it becomes more important to consider fuel efficiency just like the mainstream fuel users do - see websites like this - http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/, http://ecomodder.com/forum/

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rkpatt,

I am finding in Tampa that folks, small-time, are collecting and storing oil for resale. One of them has little idea what he is doing but has several hundred gallons stored right now. I think more pressure will come from profiteers looking to cash in on oil. I am less worried about renderers, I do mostly mom and pops who dislike Griffin, and am worried more about the small timers.

Eddie

wouldnt you know it!! Green Hunter is in Texas, where there is a lot of big oil companies, and big oil money.

quote:

Originally posted by dukegrad98: just arrived to find my barrel disposed of and a Griffin Industries dumpster in its place. Even if I didn't get a chance to bid to keep the source, did they have to just throw away my equipment?!? Probably the commercial renderer and not the restaurant. I was playing with a plasma cutter in my garage today, thinking what I could do to their dumpster in about ninety seconds with that tool...

There is a do-gooder mentality on these forums that it is wrong to retaliate and " stoop to their level" but I can only see this attitude making this problem a lot worse not better.

If I were a commercial collector, right now my belief would be that I can muscle in on the private guys because they are soft and never do anything if you walk over them.

While I am not promoting retaliation, I am commenting on the logical mindset it creates.
If one is not going to do something to the renderer's interests as they have done to theirs, then the solution would seem to be to do it the civil and professional way and discuss the matter with the renderer's and work out some sort of agreement.
Has ANYONE here been able to do that?
If so I'm sure that many would like to hear how that went so they could give it a go if they face the same situation.

Failing any civil arrangements being able to be reached, what else are people going to do about this problem?
If the answer is nothing, then there is no use complaining about it. Just bend over touch your toes and think of england as they screw you over.

OTOH, while many would not do anything it seems, to me while it is an unpleasant business, exacting some similar actions on the renderer's and their equipment as they do to others may just achieve something. If the renderer's get the message that damaging and stealing peoples property will result in a similar thing happening to them, then after a bit they may come to see that they need to be more professional and less bullying in what they themselves do.

If they were led to see that their actions have consequences, then they would have a vested interest in conducting themselves more with a lot more decency.

I know the majority of people will continue to do nothing and send the message to the renderer's that they can get away with walking all over people and the end conclusion is that DIY veg for most will become an impossibility. If people are happy with that, then things are well on their way.

Those that want to continue doing Veg in the future may see that something that the renderer's will understand and make them change their ways may need to be done if this is to stop becoming a more frequent occourance.

I suggest trying to negotiate with these people but if that fails, other action that is more direct may prove to be more fruitful in dealing with the problem.

quote:

Originally posted by dukegrad98:
Yep, oil continues to dry up around here in Houston. I used to be swimming in the stuff. Before long, I'm not going to have enough to run my own car.

This weekend I lost one source that had very high-quality oil, but in low quantities. The owner's dad got educated and now he takes the oil. The other was a good quality source, that made tons of oil. I've gathered for them for over a year. Not so much as a courtesy call from the manager -- just arrived to find my barrel disposed of and a Griffin Industries dumpster in its place. Even if I didn't get a chance to bid to keep the source, did they have to just throw away my equipment?!? Probably the commercial renderer and not the restaurant. I was playing with a plasma cutter in my garage today, thinking what I could do to their dumpster in about ninety seconds with that tool...

My patience for the whole endeavor is growing thin -- not sure how much longer it will be, but a really nice two-tank 1998 Mercedes may be on eBay in the next couple of weeks or months.

Cheers, John

Forget the plasma cutter ... just sharpen up a digging bar and jam it along the side of there container.. At this point you will not get your account back. The commercial renderer will have to go out and bring new container while cleaning up and welding the damaged one. That will cost renderer way more money and time than it was worth for them on scraping your drums.