'It costs me peanuts': How this 95-year-old outsmarted fuel bills
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Many Australians are feeling the pinch when it comes to rising fuel and electricity costs—but some have found clever ways to take control.
One South Australian farmer has quietly engineered a system that’s turning heads in his community.
What began as a personal project has grown into something that challenges the way we think about energy, resourcefulness and resilience.
In a modest tin shed on a farm in Glenroy, South Australia, a 95-year-old farmer quietly worked on a system that could offer real answers to rising energy costs.
While most people his age had long retired, Ian McLeod was still tinkering with machines—driven by the same inventive streak he’d had since childhood.
The ute parked in his shed cost only a couple of dollars a week to run. The power bill for his farmhouse was nearly non-existent. And yet, his approach wasn’t flashy or expensive—it all ran on waste vegetable oil.
‘Most of the farms around here have brand new utes, so when I bought a SsangYong for $1,800 online, people thought I was mad,’ Mr McLeod laughed.
His plan wasn’t born out of trend or pressure to go green. Instead, it was inspired by a little-known fact about diesel’s origins.
‘But when Rudolph Diesel first made the diesel engine, he used vegetable oil. I thought to myself, “I could do that,” so I set about finding a ute with a pre-combustion diesel engine and converting it.’
Modern diesel engines rely on high-grade fuel—but Mr McLeod deliberately chose one that would do the opposite.
He continued: ‘I went for an engine that would run on low-grade fuel.’
Sitting next to the ute were contraptions of his own making—old machines reimagined for new purposes. Among them was a homemade centrifuge, crafted from the inner bowl of an old electric separator. It purified roughly 15 litres of oil per hour.
‘It costs me peanuts because the engine driving the separator is running on the same oil anyway,’ he said.
The fuel came from restaurants happy to offload used oil.
He added: ‘Nine times out of 10, when I go to a restaurant, they say, “Just take the oil”. They don’t want it. All I have to do is clean it.’
The same purified oil powered his home and farm—reliably, even in cold weather.
‘My main engine for generating power for the house runs on neat vegetable oil and starts from stone-cold on a freezing, cold morning. I’m gradually getting it better all the time,’ he said.
While his energy set-up may be ingenious, it was far from the only mechanical project under his belt. From his early days on the land, Mr McLeod had made a habit of rebuilding broken machinery to serve his needs.
‘We harvested our first crop of sunflowers with a $25 header that I rebuilt,’ he recalled.
Throughout his life, he turned scrap into solutions—building windrowers, modifying tractors, even making his own grain dryer and weigh scales.
‘I built a windrower, joined two old, wrecked tractors together; made a grain dryer for our maize crop, built weigh scales…I always looked for opportunities to mechanise and become more efficient.’
One of his inventions even drew corporate interest.
‘I bought a stationary irrigator, which I converted to become self-propelled—one of the first in the country,’ he said.
‘Then a company from Corowa got wind of it, hopped in a plane, hired a car, came out to the farm and crawled all over it, took photos and said, “Thanks very much Mac”, and I have never heard from them since,’ he laughed.
‘They turned my idea into a business, and made a fortune!’
His talent for problem-solving wasn’t just about saving money—it had been a lifeline since childhood.
‘I was a happy little kid, but I used my left hand to write, and the teacher in charge had a mind to change that and belted me,’ he said.
‘It’s a sad story; I stuttered then for 40 years and wet the bed until I was about 11 because I was just a bundle of nerves.’
Making steam engines and fixing farm machinery became a way to cope.
‘So making these little steam engines and fixing things around the farm used to help me; it gave me back a bit of confidence.’
By the age of eight, he had already built his first steam engine using parts from his mother’s kitchen.
‘It was just a little mechanical thing, but I learnt I could do things.’
His wife, Shirley, 92, had stood by him through it all—from the family farm in Bulla to Dorodong in Western Victoria and eventually to Glenroy.
‘Some of our happiest years were when we first started on our own at Dorodong with a shed, two young children and second-hand tractors that Ian rebuilt,’ she said.
They had faced their share of setbacks—including the Great Depression, which devastated Mr McLeod’s family.
‘We got away to a pretty rough start on the family farm when the Depression ripped the rug out from under my father and his brother,’ he said.
When things grew difficult, Shirley once considered returning to her family in Northern Queensland.
‘I arranged with her early on—I told her she was free to leave with one condition: I’m coming too,’ Mr McLeod said.
Even their irrigation system at Glenroy had its own story of grit and hustle.
He added: ‘I hired a post-hole digger and, with the help of some local fellows, put five irrigation bores down in one day by hand. I had to put multiple bores down because I didn’t have enough money to buy the piping to connect them.’
Now in their 90s, the McLeods still lived on the same land, keeping to themselves and the routines they built together.
‘We just live quietly out here in our little nest. We’re not part of the social set,’ Mrs McLeod said.
Mr McLeod echoed that sentiment—but added that he still found excitement in life’s challenges.
‘When things go wrong, that’s an opportunity to find a way around it. When things go smoothly, I get bored.’
In a previous story, we looked at how one farmer was fined nearly $400 simply for trying to help during a drought—sparking outrage among many older Australians who’ve spent their lives working the land.
For seniors who’ve battled harsh conditions and red tape, stories like these hit close to home.
If resilience and resourcefulness matter to you, that one’s worth a look too.
Read more: Farmer fined $398 for helping in drought—now he's fighting back
One South Australian farmer has quietly engineered a system that’s turning heads in his community.
What began as a personal project has grown into something that challenges the way we think about energy, resourcefulness and resilience.
In a modest tin shed on a farm in Glenroy, South Australia, a 95-year-old farmer quietly worked on a system that could offer real answers to rising energy costs.
While most people his age had long retired, Ian McLeod was still tinkering with machines—driven by the same inventive streak he’d had since childhood.
The ute parked in his shed cost only a couple of dollars a week to run. The power bill for his farmhouse was nearly non-existent. And yet, his approach wasn’t flashy or expensive—it all ran on waste vegetable oil.
Farmer, 95, slashes bills with veggie oil. Image source: Facebook/ABC South East SA
‘Most of the farms around here have brand new utes, so when I bought a SsangYong for $1,800 online, people thought I was mad,’ Mr McLeod laughed.
His plan wasn’t born out of trend or pressure to go green. Instead, it was inspired by a little-known fact about diesel’s origins.
‘But when Rudolph Diesel first made the diesel engine, he used vegetable oil. I thought to myself, “I could do that,” so I set about finding a ute with a pre-combustion diesel engine and converting it.’
Modern diesel engines rely on high-grade fuel—but Mr McLeod deliberately chose one that would do the opposite.
He continued: ‘I went for an engine that would run on low-grade fuel.’
Sitting next to the ute were contraptions of his own making—old machines reimagined for new purposes. Among them was a homemade centrifuge, crafted from the inner bowl of an old electric separator. It purified roughly 15 litres of oil per hour.
‘It costs me peanuts because the engine driving the separator is running on the same oil anyway,’ he said.
The fuel came from restaurants happy to offload used oil.
He added: ‘Nine times out of 10, when I go to a restaurant, they say, “Just take the oil”. They don’t want it. All I have to do is clean it.’
The same purified oil powered his home and farm—reliably, even in cold weather.
‘My main engine for generating power for the house runs on neat vegetable oil and starts from stone-cold on a freezing, cold morning. I’m gradually getting it better all the time,’ he said.
While his energy set-up may be ingenious, it was far from the only mechanical project under his belt. From his early days on the land, Mr McLeod had made a habit of rebuilding broken machinery to serve his needs.
‘We harvested our first crop of sunflowers with a $25 header that I rebuilt,’ he recalled.
Throughout his life, he turned scrap into solutions—building windrowers, modifying tractors, even making his own grain dryer and weigh scales.
‘I built a windrower, joined two old, wrecked tractors together; made a grain dryer for our maize crop, built weigh scales…I always looked for opportunities to mechanise and become more efficient.’
One of his inventions even drew corporate interest.
‘I bought a stationary irrigator, which I converted to become self-propelled—one of the first in the country,’ he said.
‘Then a company from Corowa got wind of it, hopped in a plane, hired a car, came out to the farm and crawled all over it, took photos and said, “Thanks very much Mac”, and I have never heard from them since,’ he laughed.
‘They turned my idea into a business, and made a fortune!’
His talent for problem-solving wasn’t just about saving money—it had been a lifeline since childhood.
‘I was a happy little kid, but I used my left hand to write, and the teacher in charge had a mind to change that and belted me,’ he said.
‘It’s a sad story; I stuttered then for 40 years and wet the bed until I was about 11 because I was just a bundle of nerves.’
Making steam engines and fixing farm machinery became a way to cope.
‘So making these little steam engines and fixing things around the farm used to help me; it gave me back a bit of confidence.’
By the age of eight, he had already built his first steam engine using parts from his mother’s kitchen.
‘It was just a little mechanical thing, but I learnt I could do things.’
His wife, Shirley, 92, had stood by him through it all—from the family farm in Bulla to Dorodong in Western Victoria and eventually to Glenroy.
‘Some of our happiest years were when we first started on our own at Dorodong with a shed, two young children and second-hand tractors that Ian rebuilt,’ she said.
They had faced their share of setbacks—including the Great Depression, which devastated Mr McLeod’s family.
‘We got away to a pretty rough start on the family farm when the Depression ripped the rug out from under my father and his brother,’ he said.
When things grew difficult, Shirley once considered returning to her family in Northern Queensland.
‘I arranged with her early on—I told her she was free to leave with one condition: I’m coming too,’ Mr McLeod said.
Even their irrigation system at Glenroy had its own story of grit and hustle.
He added: ‘I hired a post-hole digger and, with the help of some local fellows, put five irrigation bores down in one day by hand. I had to put multiple bores down because I didn’t have enough money to buy the piping to connect them.’
Now in their 90s, the McLeods still lived on the same land, keeping to themselves and the routines they built together.
‘We just live quietly out here in our little nest. We’re not part of the social set,’ Mrs McLeod said.
Mr McLeod echoed that sentiment—but added that he still found excitement in life’s challenges.
‘When things go wrong, that’s an opportunity to find a way around it. When things go smoothly, I get bored.’
In a previous story, we looked at how one farmer was fined nearly $400 simply for trying to help during a drought—sparking outrage among many older Australians who’ve spent their lives working the land.
For seniors who’ve battled harsh conditions and red tape, stories like these hit close to home.
If resilience and resourcefulness matter to you, that one’s worth a look too.
Read more: Farmer fined $398 for helping in drought—now he's fighting back
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