Battery maintainer

[Brian70ss]

Hi, Guys getting ready to put my tractor away for the winter. I have no use for it in the winter for I have a blade on the truck. I am going to hook it up to a battery maintainer. what are your thoughts on this and should I unhook the battery or can I leave the cables hooked up. also what are your suggestions on things to do for getting it ready for storage. I am going to put weight on the clutch pedal and I have stabil in the gas. The fluids where just changed. It is a 49 8n front mount original 6 volt positive ground. Thanks Brian

 

[JMOR]

Reduce possibilities of fires if disconnect battery cable (rodents, etc.).
Maintainer not needed 100% of time...a day or two a month is fine.
Personally, I never leave any engine sitting more than a few weeks without running it. Saves a lot of grief later. Best to run up to temp to evaporate moisture.

 

[Tom N MS]

I would disconnect the battery..For some reason had one battery float charger ruin(boil dry) a battery for me a few weeks ago. Don"t know what caused it but as a result I will use no more Wildfire maintainers. Don"t want to burn down the house or barn.Be sure to check your anti-freeze freeze point..Add if needed and run enough to circulate the good stuff through the block before shutting it down. Sounds like you have it ready to put to bed for the winter.

 

[Bruce (VA)]

As JMOR said, life is better if you can run it to operating temp once a month. But, if that won't work, remove the battery & keep it indoors w/ a float charger on it every 2 or 3 weeks. Fill up the gas tank w/ fresh gas & Sta-Bil. Remove the plugs, put a tablespoon of oil in the cylinders & turn the engine over a few times to lubricate the cylinder walls. Block the clutch. Check tire pressure & add air if needed. Put it on blocks or jack stands to keep the tires off of the ground. Plug the exhaust pipe to keep the mice out. If mice are a major problem, soak some cotton balls in peppermint oil & put them under the hood & around the radiator. Some folks say mothballs work just as well. Change the oil & lube it. Make sure the hydraulic fluid doesn't have water in it. Check the anti-freeze; use 50/50 anti-freeze & distilled water. Don’t drain the block & radiator; all that gets you is corrosion & rust build-up in the water jacket. If the tractor is not kept in a shed or garage, I don't think putting a tarp over it gets you much. A car cover, which supposedly does not retain moisture, would be a better idea.
50 Tips

 

[Steve (BC)]

Brian - what I do with all my engines that are stored for the winter is:
give them a good washing to get the dirt off (this provides opportunity to check things over for damage or things such as a loose fasteners), change the fluids including oil & air filters, fill the fuel tank (may consider using gas stabilizer or draining the fuel system entirely), drain the carb (if stabilizer is not used), pull the battery (check electrolite level & fill and charge if necessary) + periodically check the charge level thruout the non-use months, check the coolant level + confirm that the freeze protection level is situable for your area, cover the tractor with a breathable tarp such as canvas, put a couple drops of engine oil in the cylinder (or storage oil) & turn engine over several times to coat the cylinder walls, grease all fittings, consider blocking the axles up to take the weight of the tires, store tractor in the dry shed preferrable away from rodents. Seems like alot of work but if you go thru your tractors systems prior to storage it is one less thing to check out in the spring.
Hope this helps,

Steve

 

[gahorN]

Yep, I like what Steve does.
I do NOT like to start engines and run them every so often, however. Either preserve them properly for the off season and leave them alone.... or keep them in running condition by occasional REAL WORK! But don't "start them" and run them "Occasionally". All that does is serve to ruin any preservation efforts, while subjecting them to the hazards of polluting the oil and hard-wear of unnecessary dry starts. (Not to mention the 3 engines ruined by personal friends who subsribed to the occasional-starting philosophy when their pushrod engines stuck valves and bent pushrods. )

When DE-preserving the engine at the new season.... REMOVE the spark plugs and turn the engines over slowly by HAND for at least 4 revolutions to determine all is free. Then put the plug in and start 'er up!

 

[Anonymous-0]

So if those guys had simply let sit throughout winter until spring and then started, they would not have suffered bent pushrods....I like the way you think?

 

[Ken(Ark)]

(quoted from post at 13:58:18 10/18/09) So if those guys had simply let sit throughout winter until spring and then started, they would not have suffered bent pushrods....I like the way you think?

I hate it when my N gets bent pushrods

 

[Ultradog MN]

[i:654c4848f0]I do NOT like to start engines and run them every so often[/i:654c4848f0]

Just curious... Why not?

 

[gahorN]

My point was that they each had occasionally started and run their engines ....each event which added more water to their oil successively ...and each event sending that sludge thru their engines....until rust/corrosion/sludge had stuck their valves and bent their pushrods.

I mentioned they were pushrod engines in order to differentiate them from our flathead engines...but the principle is the same....occasional startups and runs...without really getting them hot by working them for a protracted period merely subjects them to potential damage...that it's better to preserve them and leave them preserved. If those engines had not been subjected to the occasional start/run cycles ...they would not have suffered the rust/corrosion which resulted in stuck-valves

The biggest error I made in making the post, I suppose, was in assuming that everyone could extract the valid information within the story/examples.... rather than need to be spoon-fed the answers.

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 00:11:50 10/19/09) My point was that they each had occasionally started and run their engines ....each event which added more water to their oil successively ...and each event sending that sludge thru their engines....until rust/corrosion/sludge had stuck their valves and bent their pushrods.

I mentioned they were pushrod engines in order to differentiate them from our flathead engines...but the principle is the same....occasional startups and runs...without really getting them hot by working them for a protracted period merely subjects them to potential damage...that it's better to preserve them and leave them preserved. If those engines had not been subjected to the occasional start/run cycles ...they would not have suffered the rust/corrosion which resulted in stuck-valves

The biggest error I made in making the post, I suppose, was in assuming that everyone could extract the valid information within the story/examples.... rather than need to be spoon-fed the answers.

Just my take, but I expect that everyone got the general point you were making, but were taking exception to the "I do NOT like to start engines and run them every so often".
As I noted in the first response in this thread, "Best to run up to temp to evaporate moisture."
And you emphasized the point with it not being good to "occasional startups and runs...without really getting them hot " statement.
So, I believe everyone really understands. And the push rods thing was probably just 'poking in the ribs'. Have a good night.

 

[Ken(Ark)]

I suppose, was in assuming that everyone could extract the valid information within the story/examples....

I read most of your post but I didnt get to the pushrod part before the next post caught my eye . My comment was based solely on the info in Tinne's post , which induced some rib poking for his post .


Back to your buddies motors , was there more to the pushrod story ? Were the motors old , stored outside , reved up on start up ?
I go out once a month +/- and start a dozen motors and let them run 10 -15 minutes but I could see where just starting them for 30 seconds would do more damage than help .

Anyway don't get worked up over cyber stuff , people that know you also know you make logical posts .

 

[Gaspump]

It is a good thing to start old pushrod engines with hydraulic lifters from time to time to keep the lifters pumped up. If they happen to be leaky and do leak down you could have a bunch of bent pushrods or worese on startup. If you use a battery maintainer use a real one and not a $6 Wally World or Chinese Junque Store unit.