Winter storage

[Swampcollie]

i have an MX5800 that I bought new last august. It lives on property 65 miles north of me. I wont be doing much with it this winter. It is kept in a doorless old machine shed. Electrical power is a good distance from the shed. I would be up there every couple weeks or so once hunting season ends. During season (duck) i am up there several days a week.
Should I start it and warm it up every time i am up there? Or is that just more cold starts. Any other suggestions appreciated.
I do treat the fuel and keep the tank pretty full.

 

[jcy110]

If it will fit, you might want to get one of those 20 foot shipping containers to keep it in. Many are almost air tight to keep mice and other unwanted critters from chewing on stuff over the winter......the containers are pretty cheap if you live close to the coast. You can do an online search for sea box, sea container.

 

[bucktail]

I wouldn't. If it's practical, charge the battery once a month or so, if not, pull the batteries and call it good.

 

[Swampcollie]

Thanks, guys.
Only coast i am close to is the mo river. Lol

 

[D2Cat]

One cold winter day start will probably take more out of your battery then you will put back into it if you let your tractor idle for half an hour. Make sure the battery has as full charge as possible going into cold weather, that is what will save your battery.

 

[cerlawson]

In addition to above, I'd look for any place mice can get in and make nests, such as exhaust pipe, air in-take, They say moth balls deter mice.

 

[Swampcollie]

Yeah, mice are scary. Had them from the beginning. Seem to have put an end to
It with a combo of moth balls, cab fresh, and leaving the hood open. Learned that in a classic car forum

 

[sheepfarmer]

There should be a section on storage in your operators manual, worth a look to see what else you could implement. Mine recommends putting a little extra air in the tires and then putting up on blocks so all weight off them, and removing the battery. Could take it inside and put on a battery tender. Change oil and circulate through engine. Grease everything and coat piston rods. If your area is like mine bloody squirrels try to store walnuts in every nook and cranny on tractor, so fasten aluminum foil over tail pipe and any other opening a squirrel might try to hide a walnut in. And then in the spring go over it with a fine tooth comb. Tney leave them in corners of the loader frame.

 

[Swampcollie]

Yeah, taking the battery out is probably a good idea. I have a heated house on the property

 

[D2Cat]

Leave the hood up. That will help deter mice.

 

[SDMauler]

If you think mice are bad, you should see what rabbits do. They chewed the plug wires, coil wires, injector wires, and washer fluid tubing off my kid's Taurus a couple years ago. Then they chewed off the O2 sensor wires on my truck! This caused several of them to expire from high speed lead poisoning.

 

[dandeman]

Regarding shipping containers.. not sure how widespread this is..

I know someone who bought several shipping containers that underneath the wood floor, the bottom was not sealed air tight.. They were sitting on the ground and moisture coming out of the ground condensed inside the container wetting every thing in there.. The containers were sitting underneath a large shed so we knew the water wasn't coming from leaks elsewhere in the containers.

They were used to store electrical equipment and it was trashed in short order.

Jacked the containers up and put solid concrete block underneath the corners to hold them off the ground a bit.. That helped some, but moisture/condensation still happened.

So if you buy a shipping container might want to inspect how the bottom floor is constructed.

 

[Tughill Tom]

If you think mice are bad, you should see what rabbits do. They chewed the plug wires, coil wires, injector wires, and washer fluid tubing off my kid's Taurus a couple years ago. Then they chewed off the O2 sensor wires on my truck! This caused several of them to expire from high speed lead poisoning.

And they’re tasty too!

 

[ipz2222]

Went to the garage { attached to house) last Monday morning and had an #oh tchit# moment. The car was fogged, the ceiling was wet and I heard the spraying of water. #$% rat had chewed into the hot water hose for the washing machine. Squeegee the floor down and turn on 2 fans and let run for 3 days and night. Spray bleach along the wall where the water was spraying. Found new hoses at lowes that were in spirel stainless wire. Hopefully no more hoses chewed up.