Tools of the trade

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Northern tool has several large drain pans of varying sizes, one in particular is 25 gallons, but rather pricey at $499.00.

JIM

[hobobimmer]

I bought one of the 14 gallon big rectangles with wheels. But it's cumbersome as heck, so I don't use it. Never have. Still brand new, bought at TruckPro in Knoxville, I think. About $60.

So, what do I use? I use two (three for coolant) of those 15 quart round black oil pans you can buy at Advance Auto (or any other auto parts store). When doing oil change and one is almost full, I slide it out with the next one being slid right in its place. Since they're sitting on a board when I do "the slide," I don't get oil all over the floor or the pit floor.

That's my method. I then pour the used oil through funnel into empty gallon jugs and carry to local recycle center.

For antifreeze change, a guy who works on big trucks took it for me. I think Safety Kleen or similar takes it from him for a fee. None of my local auto parts stores, or city dump, or local recycle center would take antifreeze. Bigger towns than mine (e.g. Knoxville, where Jon Wehrenberg lives) happily take antifreeze from Knox County residents.

Eric Faires
Huntsville, TN