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The Sand Man is an oil spill sand cleanup machine that sifts oil-soaked clumps and tar balls out of beach sand — debris most traditional cleaning tools just push around. The walk-behind sifter screens contaminated material into a hopper while returning clean sand, making it practical for shoreline spots a towed machine can’t reach. Here’s how it handles oil-fouled sand.
The SAND MAN 850 uses fine-meshed vibrating screens to remove the tiniest tar balls and dried oil from the sand, ensuring it doesn’t seep deeper. The SAND MAN can remove oil from up to 4″ deep. Once removed, the hopper and its contents can easily be removed and deposited in a nearby receptacle.
As viewed below, the SAND MAN 850 was an instrumental tool in helping clean the beaches of the Gulf Coast following the Deep Horizon oil spill in 2010.
Learn more about the technical specifications of the SAND MAN, or view our larger, tractor-towed sand sifting machine that is ideal for oil spill cleanup, the Sanitizer.
Yes. The Sand Man 850 uses fine-meshed vibrating screens to sift tar balls and dried oil residue from sand — addressing contamination that most traditional beach cleaning tools cannot handle effectively.
The Sand Man can extract oil and tar ball contamination from up to 4 inches deep, preventing it from seeping further into the beach substrate during cleanup — an important factor in limiting long-term contamination spread.
Yes. The Sand Man 850 was an instrumental tool for cleaning beaches along the Gulf Coast following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 — one of the largest marine oil spills in US history.
The Sand Man’s hopper is removable and can be lifted out and deposited directly into a nearby waste receptacle. This containment approach is critical in oil spill cleanup where contaminated material must be kept separated from clean sand and properly disposed of under environmental regulations.
Yes. For large beach areas, Barber also offers the tractor-towed Sanitizer, which provides much wider cleaning coverage. The Sand Man is ideal for small beaches and congested areas; the Sanitizer is suited for large-scale coastal oil cleanup operations.