Golf Course Hydraulic Oil Leaks

Many types of machinery now use hydraulic drives, especially to for the operation of cylinder mowers – ride-on greens mowers and fairway mowers. Unfortunately, the extend of pipe work can lead to hydraulic oil leaking onto turf area causing severe burning of the grass sward.

Oil may drip from worn seals or fittings, but often a leak will be forced out under pressure causing a continuous line of turf burn.

Regular servicing, maintenance, along with pre-start checks and post-use clean off are essential practices which reduce the chance of these oil leaks onto turf surfaces happening in the first place. Often the demands of the work and limited staffing levels can lead to short-cuts, with some preventative tasks being missed out or delayed.

When a hydraulic oil leak is first noticed the contaminated turf should initially have the oil soaked up by an absorbent material, the area hand forked, and thoroughly wetted to try and aid grass recovery. The use of a wetting agent is often considered, and this would help to try and flush through any contaminant, however, one issue would be that where is the oil (a hazardous material) being flushed to? If it is to lower in the soil profile below the depth of roots so that it might eventually degrade, then this might be acceptable, but not so if it was to be washed out into a watercourse, causing pollution.

The use of a biochar material (e.g. ‘Enriched Biochar Soil Improver’) might be considered to help in rectifying the contaminated soil but without potentially causing pollution to a watercourse.

A light top-dressing of about 1 kg/m², along with a material containing seaweed extract, might also be considered after forking, as might the application of a biostimulant.

If the area hasn’t been noticed for a few days, then it is very likely that the crown of the grass will have been killed off and some form of patch repair may be needed; either using a tool such as a ‘Turf Doctor’ where it is a small area or a turf cutter where it is a large strip and where returfing is needed. The contaminated soil would also need to be replaced with fresh soil and the removed material treated as hazardous waste for off-site removal.