winter storage

[Josh in Maine]

I have 3 tractors that I don"t have storage space for in the barn (I"ve got 6 in the barn). I live on the coast of Maine, winters can be nasty. Anyway, I"ve got a 47" BN, a 52" Super C & another 47" B that will stay outside. I"ve got fresh oil & gear lube in all of them & fresh antifreeze, all tires are aired up, all of them have rain caps on the exhaust & I "think" I"ve got them all buttoned up so water can"t find it"s way into motor/trans/ rear ends...I even put heat shrink sleeving over shift levers to keep water out. Gas tanks are full & fuel stabilizer added...I don"t want to tarp them because one (the BN) will be used all winter for chores & my wife wants to decorate the other 2 for Christmas with presents & lights & wreaths & they will be in our towns Christmas Parade 2 wks before Christmas. Is there anything else I should do to help my tractors get through the winter? these are not fancy, painted up tractors, these are already a little rusty, so, I"m not worried about cosmetics, just mechanics.

 

[Hugh MacKay]

Josh: Sounds good except I wouldn't rely on rain caps on exhaust for extended periods. I've seen them standing straight up in wind and rain, actually deflecting more water down the stack than if there were nothing on there. Long term, I always use a bucket and tie it or without rain cap a soup can that fits snugly over the pipe.

I especially like your idea on that gear shift lever. It seems if you shed the water running down the shift lever, you'll get very little water in the transmission.

 

[Janicholson]

A bouncy Ball big enough to fit too big to get in is great. It will seal well. If it is not to run all winter, I spray one second of LPS brand inhibitor into the sparkplug holes. JimN

 

[agpilot]

Hi Josh: Your Winter sounds about like Minnesota Winters.. I didn't read anything about a little covering over the On-Off switches and-or gauges to keep'em dry. Sounds like you'll have fun running in a Christmas parade. Good luck. agpilot

 

[agpilot]

...forgot to mention genny or alt can get wind driven sleet packed into it byway of the vents. Amazing how 30mph sleet can get packed into just about anything so maybe park in an out of the wind place. agpilot

 

[Allan in NE]

Make sure the anti-freeze is up to snuff and park 'em. A little thing like winter don't hurt 'em a bit.

Allan

 

[Bob M]

Same as Hugh I don’t trust raincaps to keep rain/snow out for long term storage. I invert a 5 gallon plastic bucket over the stack then wire or bungee the bail to the hood keep the bucket in place. Or I’ll remove the muffler then slip the bottom half of a plastic pop bottle over the exhaust nipple to keep water out.

Also to provide some protection to the seat and help keep water off the top of the transmission deck/shift lever I’ll tie a piece of heavy plastic film over the seat and shift lever. (Leave it open at the bottom so air still circulates…)

Finally if the tractor will not be started for several months I like to remove the battery and store it in the basement where it will be dry somewhat warm.

 

[Bob Kerr]

Sounds like you have most of the bases covered! If you turn off the gas and let the carb run dry it can help keep gum from forming and I came up with a slick trick for the exhaust. I took my rain caps off and cut the top off an alum pop can. It slides right down over the exhaust pipe and fits snug. You don"t have to pull it off when starting either. Just fire it up and the can will shoot straight up. I like to spray down my manifolds with a light spray oil to help keep the winter rust at bay. It will burn off harmlessly when you fire it up next time. It may also be a good idea to take the batterys out and put them in a warm corner of the garage or basement. Might help them last a bit longer. I also like to brush snow off stuff so condensation is less likely to form when the days get above freezing. Things like sheet metal, gas tanks, and trans covers. That snow can keep the metal cold longer and things can get saturated in warmer air. I plan on tarping mine this winter, and I put an old sheet on the paint so it won"t get rubbed by the tarp in the wind. I tarp over rear tires so air can circulate under it. Hope these things help.

 

[Wayne from MN]

Batteries should be:
1. clean & dry
2. clean terminals
3. charged fully
4. stored in a COLD, dry place
5. recharge once or twice over winter
Basic chemistry: to speed up a reaction, heat it up. Batteries are a chemical reaction waiting to happen and do self-discharge while sitting around. Sooo...the colder you keep the battery, the slower the chemical reaction (self-discharge) will happen.
PS: a fully charged battery will not freeze even here in "Minnesnowta", Ya, you betcha!!

 

[Hugh MacKay]

Bob: I use soup cans, but don't look up when your waiting for it to come dowm. These little Farmall gassers don't hurt to bad, but I once looked up waiting for can from my 560 diesel, and a bigger can of course, plus the diesel blows it further up creating a longer wait. The rim of that soup can hit right on the bridge of my nose, and it brought blood. My advice have a heavy hat, and keep your head down.

 

[Anonymous-0]

As I read thru this post about plastic pop containers on the exhaust I was wondering about this modern world until I saw Hugh's suggestion of a soup can. As I recall back in the 50s, you weren't a real Iowa farmer until you used an authentic Campbell's tomato soup can. Then starting 'em up it was fun to try to catch the can coming back down. Those "new and modern" flipper things on the exhaust were never used...no one even owned or saw one...until diesels were introduced. Us old "gas guys" always chuckled about that racket those flippers made on diesels when they were idling. "Gas guys" refers to our tractors, not what you are thinking.
LA in WI

 

[Bob M]

Wayne - Good point about cold storage slowing self-discharge!

However my reason for storing batteries where the temp stays freezing is this: If a battery were to self-discharge while in storage then it freezes and splits it's case, you've got a corrosive mess to clean up once it thaws. (This has happened to me on a couple occasions...)

It's is not an issue for a healty, fully-charged battery in deep cold storage. However for that 7 year old relic you're gonna try to squeeze one more season out of...

 

[Hugh MacKay]

Lowell: Reminds me, one time a stoggy old guy came to our place with a carload of women to visit my grandmother. His exhaust pipe was pointed slightly upward, so we young lads stuffed a potato tight fit in his exhaust pipe. As the ladies were getting in the car to leave he started the engine. He noticed it didn't sound right, about the time it had all the presure the potato would hold he gave the Ford a shot on the accelerator. Lady at back left door still had her door open when the potato popped. Actually quite a bang. When the potato hit a concrete wall about 15' away, the ladies were convinced his car blew up and decided to exit. Not near as fast a the group of young lads behind the hay wagon.

 

[Hugh MacKay]

Allan: Not completely correct, the weather on the east coast puts it's own unique touch on anything made of steel. I lived about 40 miles inland from the ocean, and I did custom work for a company within a mile of the ocean. Those bar handles on cabs guys grab climbing in and paint wears off, at home they would turn rusty in about 2 weeks, down by the oceans salt spray it happened in 2 days. I've seen letter series tractor down there even inland 40 miles, 15 years and the paint is gone from sitting outside.

Winters are very hard on them as it probably freezes and thaws 50 times per winter. snow turning to slush, back to ice can create buildups both under and on top of the hood. I've seen manifolds and valve covers damaged by ice expansion. It's quite different when you have 45" of annual precipitation coupled with salt air.

 

[Bob M]

Hugh - I had a somewhat similar experience as yours, only the "victim" was a farm dog.

I was starting a JD 8960 (Cummins 855 diesel) which had an empty gallon paint can dropped over the stack.

When the engine lit it blew the can some distance upward and sideways. Unfortunately the dog was standing exactly where the can fell out of the sky and hit her square on the back. The impact caused the poor dog no harm, but it scared h*ll out of her.

For the rest of the dog's life the instant she heard tractor starting to crank she'd take off at a dead run while looking back over her shoulder. ...Bob

 

[Athol Carr]

The best fit for a rain cap is the small plastic yeast jar, Fits nicely on an A, B or C and is so light that it will not damage person or paint when it comes down. Tin cans are heavier, hurt or chip paint. They also rust out.

 

[tractorsam]

I don't know what the rodent population is like in your part of the world but I've found that mice etc. are attracted to these old tractors around here. They seem to really like nesting in the clutch housings and behind the instrument panels (on a C). If you are missing any of the covers down there it might be worth making something up. tractorsam

 

[Hugh MacKay]

Bob: At the time it happened to me, I had been used to gassers no larger than a 300. Those diesels sure drive the can a long way up, thus it takes awhile to come back down. I hadn't seen it hit therefor I looked up to see where the can went. Bingo, right on the old snout. Marg. told me if I hadn't had such a big nose it wouldn't have hurt so bad.

I can just imagine how the dog felt, but dogs can also be quite possive of their tractors. Back in the early days when 560 was my biggest tractor, we were harvesting corn silage. I had two young lads that worked for me all summer that would come a do silage (tower silo) after school. I finished my morning barn chores about 9 am and the high school night janitor came and ran the harvester until school let out. We went to dinner, came back and I drove him to within 100' of tractor and harvester. I went back to full wagon at the silo. I could see the tractor and harvester, thought it strange Brenton hadn't started chopping. Got to the field, here was Brenton standing on top of the harvester and my old german sheperd lieing under rear end of 560. No matter what he tried the old dog came after him. This was his first day and I guess he and dog were not yet acquainted. When I came along, his next attempt was going to be try and walk the pto shaft, knowing full well the dog could reach his ankles. Anyhow, I got them acquainted and the dog made every trip up and down that field with the tractor, everyday Brenton was there.

 

[Hugh MacKay]

Sam: Mice are no different, at least Canadian mice as far west as SW Ontario love the torque tubes of those little Farmalls.

 

[El Toro]

Hi Hugh, Here's what I removed from the fan shroud on my garden tractor. I don't know if they were mice or chipmunks. I had to use a wire to snake all that out. I found a few skeltons too. Hal

 

[Hugh MacKay]

Hal: Whether it's mice or chipmunks, looks like the American critters have the same tastes as their Canadian cousins. Looks exactly same as what came out of my Super a torque tube. Ever the same colors. Did you leave an old sofa cushion in your shop by chance.

 

[El Toro]

They were probably pieces of an old flannel shirt that I made into rags for wiping my hands. I now keep any rags in a container that's mouse proof.
Hal

 

[Bob Kerr]

Hi Hugh, One day I started the H from cold and that coke can shot 20 ft in the air like a rocket. Lucky it is paper thin aluminum and the wind carried it off! I got a kick out of it and showed someone later after the engine was warmed up and it only went a foot up. I tried it a couple more times and when warm it wouldn"t fly. Not sure why that was. I usually use soup cans also but didn"t have one with me at the time and it was a rainy weekend at a show. the F-12 won"t throw it off but sure does a dance on the pipe On my old 10-20 I had to use a wadded up piece of tin foil to keep the mice out of it.

 

[LenNH]

Before I put away my little diesel for this coming winter--it's my first diesel, and I had only heard horror stories about gelling fuel and the like--I asked parts managers at two tractor dealers, and both suggested putting a conditioner in the fuel. This prevents diesel fuel from gelling and clogging up the system.
Gasoline won't gel, but it can get pretty stale after a few months. Air space might contribute to this (my guess). My suggestion is to fill up the tanks as far as possible on the tractors you're not going to run, to keep the moisture in the air from condensing and adding to the rust inside the tank.
Aside: I've had a couple of small motors that I shut off with fuel in the carbs, didn't use them for a year, and found that the old fuel had made a mess of the jets in the tiny carbs. I would shut the engines off with the fuel valve on a gas motor (but NOT on a diesel--you don't want air in the system, or you'll have to bleed everything before you start again). This way, there won't be any unburned fuel to dilute the oil, and especially to wash oil off the cylinder walls. I don't know if it's a good idea to keep fuel in the carburetor just to keep the gaskets from drying out. ANYBODY out there know?
I "discovered" gun oil a couple of years ago. It's light, comes in a spray can with a straw, and is great for putting a little oil in each cylinder by removing the plugs. Could help a little with the rust that is probably inevitable if an engine sits for months.
The cylinders with open valves are probably going to get a little moisture from the air. If it's not a lot of trouble, it wouldn't be a bad idea to turn the motor with the crank (up on compression would close both valves, and you could do this round-robin with the other cylinders as it occured to you). Some people here have suggested a can to cover the exhaust pipe, and maybe that could have the same effect.
After all this, I'll have to say that when I was growing up, we just parked 'em and forgot about 'em until spring. If there was any rust or other damage, nobody knew it.

 

[Nat 2]

In a way I admire you guys... I just can't bring myself to leave a perfectly good tractor outside in the weather for an extended period of time. Overnight is one thing, weeks on end... Naw. The truck stays out. The dog stays out... You know what I mean

I would at the very least pop the muffler off and wrap up the engine and transmission with a good quality tarp, canvas if you can afford it, even if it's only a few weeks.