Snowshoe Acres
A good 3 year old buck
I have not seen anyone address the question of where to store a tractor. Dealers keep the brand new ones outside. Where do you store yours and why?
Where do you store your tractor?
- Thread starter Snowshoe Acres
- Start date
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
In the barn. One reason is security. When we first purchased the land we had horrible trespass and poaching problems. They even broke into our barn and stole an ATV. Constant vigilance, reporting, and prosecution dealt with that over time. It took about 5 years. But...better safe than sorry. Second. Things do degrade outside over time. I've got no problem with leaving a box blade, plow, or something like that outside in the weather, but even a bushog or something that has a PTO and gearbox, I prefer to keep in the barn. I built dollies so I can move equipment around easily for storage and hookup. I had a farm truck parked outside that was not used much in the winter months. Some kind of rodent got in and chewed through hoses and stuff. I ended up spraying the engine compartment with pepper spray after I had it repaired. The problem has not reoccurred, but it could. I also have smart chargers I use to plug into the batteries of equipment when it is not in regular use like the dead of winter. Lead Acid batteries lose charge when sitting and having them at a low charge for a long period reduces battery life significantly. I only use sealed batteries (maintenance free) as I had issues with the fluid going dry when on a charger with unsealed batteries.
Thanks,
Jack
MRBB
5 year old buck +
indoors is always best, as the weather can be hard on things, dealers DON"T keep them indoors as there trying to sell them and they need them to be outside where you can see them easy!
if you do NOT have a building to keep them in, parking them on something that doesn;t hold moisture is a better idea than just parking any where
as in on Pavement, or concrete pad
if not, make a good gravel pad, with a slope under it to drain water out from under gravel as fast as possible, like building a pad or a shed!
water is the enemy, it will transfer moisture into things like bearings and or any mental part, making rust and faster wear and tear on your machine
SUN is a pro and con, parking in shade, again has moisture issue's but being in the sub , can break down and dry out things too
which again is why being in doors is best!
I would NOT suggest a cover, like a tarp or?? as that just again traps moisture under it, and allows for a dry home for critters like mice and such, which can be a whole new problem, chewing wires and or thru seats, belts, filling air boxes or even exhaust with things
this can be a issue IN DOORS as well
if you have an enclosed cab, I HIGHLY suggest adding a LOT of moth balls, same as under any hood, (in doors or out here)
and LOTS of mouse bait in building
some times an easier meal, saves other things from getting damages!
at some remote camps I helped, they used car ports, on gravel pads, and would semi enclose the car ports with metal roofing on the sides, to keep rain and snow off things, but all have had mice issue's, but they sit for many months at a time
most either pull batteries and or add solar maintainers if no power there to plug into a plug in trickle charger/maintainer!
which brings up that side of things, I HIGHLY recommend anyone that owns a tractor to KEEP the battery /batteries, on battery maintainers!
and if used in winter time, either a engine block heater, or at least a magnetic oil pan heater! plus the battery maintainer
will save you a lot of aggravation over the yrs!
if you do NOT have a building to keep them in, parking them on something that doesn;t hold moisture is a better idea than just parking any where
as in on Pavement, or concrete pad
if not, make a good gravel pad, with a slope under it to drain water out from under gravel as fast as possible, like building a pad or a shed!
water is the enemy, it will transfer moisture into things like bearings and or any mental part, making rust and faster wear and tear on your machine
SUN is a pro and con, parking in shade, again has moisture issue's but being in the sub , can break down and dry out things too
which again is why being in doors is best!
I would NOT suggest a cover, like a tarp or?? as that just again traps moisture under it, and allows for a dry home for critters like mice and such, which can be a whole new problem, chewing wires and or thru seats, belts, filling air boxes or even exhaust with things
this can be a issue IN DOORS as well
if you have an enclosed cab, I HIGHLY suggest adding a LOT of moth balls, same as under any hood, (in doors or out here)
and LOTS of mouse bait in building
some times an easier meal, saves other things from getting damages!
at some remote camps I helped, they used car ports, on gravel pads, and would semi enclose the car ports with metal roofing on the sides, to keep rain and snow off things, but all have had mice issue's, but they sit for many months at a time
most either pull batteries and or add solar maintainers if no power there to plug into a plug in trickle charger/maintainer!
which brings up that side of things, I HIGHLY recommend anyone that owns a tractor to KEEP the battery /batteries, on battery maintainers!
and if used in winter time, either a engine block heater, or at least a magnetic oil pan heater! plus the battery maintainer
will save you a lot of aggravation over the yrs!
Rit
5 year old buck +
Mine stays in a 36x30 detached garage along with all of the implements. I’d prefer it in the barn but we have too many animals.
Anyone have all their implements on any kind of rolling cart or anything? Mine are stacked all over the place and it’s a pain sometimes to get the one I want.
Anyone have all their implements on any kind of rolling cart or anything? Mine are stacked all over the place and it’s a pain sometimes to get the one I want.
rocksnstumps
5 year old buck +
I keep my box blade, bucket, and other 6 ft wide implements on the cheap dollies from harbor freight. They have a sale on those things like every 3 to 4 months. In fact right now they are 10.99 ea. You can balance stuff in middle and make one work on concrete but I typically use two.
j-bird
Moderator
Mine very rarely spends the night outside..... I have a couple of options....some are more weather proof than others....different barns and garages. Mine is also a bit smaller than some, but even with a fixed roll bar I made sure it would fit inside a standard height garage door. A concrete floor is a god-send when dealing with implements....especially smaller ones like I have. I can push them around, put them on pallets or even little dollies like was mentioned. Concrete is better than gravel, gravel is better than dirt....dirt just holds moisture and can contribute to rusting. Even just some 4x4 will help keep mowers and the like up off the ground.....and keep them covered (especially moving parts). Also be aware that they can make nice homes for snakes, bugs, mice, rabbits, skunks and the like if you leave them outside..... You could remove a tarp and get a bit of a surprise form time to time!
ghilliehunter
5 year old buck +
Keep my equipment in a pole barn with gravel floor. Concrete would be great, but probably won't ever spend the money.
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
TreeDaddy
5 year old buck +
Iowa_Dave
5 year old buck +
I haven't seen this mentioned yet...but I keep mine in a shipping container. It's pretty stout for security and keeps everything out of the sun and dry too. I have only had mice trouble once, when I left door open a couple got in there that I then had to trap out of there. Otherwise, it is protected from mice too. I did add some passive ventilation too, so it doesn't build up too much heat.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
We put a cement floor in the barn and I love it. I use the same dollies rocksnstumps identified but I tie them together to make dollies that fit each piece of equipment. This thread has a couple pictures of a few of them: http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/pole-shed.7052/
Thanks,
Jack
Thanks,
Jack
MRBB
5 year old buck +
you can also add them dolly's to pallets for larger things
incase anyone never thought about it!, you can also piece together two pallets this way , again for larger things
as some times , or for me, its a lot easier working alone to place something on a larger thing like a pallet, than just lining things up on a small set of dollies!
Plis some things for my skid steer , like bachhoe attachments and such, I need to have a few pallets in a stack, to keep things tall enough, to be off the ground and free rolling!
so dollies alone won;t do this for me
and pallets are always free for me to get, I like the plastic one;s best, they never rot out then! to hold any moisture
incase anyone never thought about it!, you can also piece together two pallets this way , again for larger things
as some times , or for me, its a lot easier working alone to place something on a larger thing like a pallet, than just lining things up on a small set of dollies!
Plis some things for my skid steer , like bachhoe attachments and such, I need to have a few pallets in a stack, to keep things tall enough, to be off the ground and free rolling!
so dollies alone won;t do this for me
and pallets are always free for me to get, I like the plastic one;s best, they never rot out then! to hold any moisture
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
When I use rat poison in the barn, I put it behind the 6x6 posts where a dog can't get at it. Another method that worked well for me is a 5 gal bucket with 2 inches or so of Winter Rye in the bottom. I simply put something next to something that mice can climb. The jump into the bucket to get the cereal but can't climb or jump out. The bucket is too smooth to climb and the jump is too far off a non-stable base like the WR.
Thanks,
Jack
MRBB
5 year old buck +
we do something like this too, but we use used vegetable oil or likes, as this way when things jump in they don;t just drown, they also will NOT get all funky in smelling up if we don't get there for weeks or months at a time at hunting camps
when safe , we have also used used Radiator coolant too.
and when ever I place mice bait out, I always stick it in places , larger things cannot get to them, or try to
a little while back, I was having some crawl into a skid steer cab, during a summer time project, so I had the enclosed cab door off while working on things,
well cab kept getting filled with corn and likes, so, I stuck a few of them green/blueish wax baits and a few sticky pads, , figuring I woudl catch the mouse that was doing it!
well, a few days passed since I was there and when I got there I found quite the mess, apparently a raccoon went into cab , I gather after the stuck mice>
then it got stuck in the glue traps on its feet, went NUTS trying to get them off, they ATE the rest of the wax mouse bait,
then got sick, and throw up all that stuff, which I guess melted being in its body , inside of cab looked like a bomb went off with wax bait spit every where under seat roof of cab, walls, windows, EVERY WHERE< and it then clawed up the seat up to pieces!
then, some how I guess got away ?
WHAT a MESS it was to clean that wax off, as water alone even with a power washer wouldn't;t remove it??
now I am not that lazy, if I take door off, I put it back on before leaving , a lot of time spent cleaning and having to buy a new seat! lesson learned, LOL
so yes, when using bait, be safe where you put it!
Northbound
5 year old buck +
4 tractors, skid steer and Backhoe along with atvs sit outside at my properties. Attachments sit on pallets, i usually park on north side of buildings to keep rubber out of sun. My pride and joy tractor has been in the elements for 21 years now (8 years prior to my ownership) never had a issue that could be related to weather other than faded paint. If one spends the night in the shop it's because it's broken or keeping warm to plow snow in winter.
Yes it'd be cool to have indoor storage but it gets filled up with other stuff to fast
Yes it'd be cool to have indoor storage but it gets filled up with other stuff to fast
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