winter storage

[J_P]

I'm going to park my gas tractors for the winter. I'm wondering what some of you guys do when you park your tractors for the winter. Do you turn off the gas and run the carburetor dry? Do you pull the battery out? Do you drain the gas tank or put in some sort of fuel stabilizer? Anything else I haven't thought of?

 

[jeff 550]

fuel stabilizer, run engine to make sure the stabilized fuel hits the carb.

Ensure the battery is fully charged, might want to pull it out and take inside a warm place.

check radiator fluid to ensure its set for the temp range expected.

change the oil so there"s new oil in the crankcase, old oil can have corrosives in it.

ensure the tires are all up at pressure.

put a blanket over her and tuck her in!

 

[Mike (WA)]

You're actually better off leaving it full of fuel, with fuel treatment added and as noted below, run it long enough to get the treated gas into the carb. Jeff had other good pointers.

 

[kcoers]

I just charge the battery,add some Sta-bil to the tank, run it for 5-10 minutes, shut the fuel off, run the tractor until it quits, and then unhook the cables.

 

[super 55]

Hey those are good ideas. Thanks for the info. How about diesel tractors... any special precautions for those? Also, I have heard it is good to take the weight off the wheel bearings on jack stands or blocking it up.

I use a batter tender for the battery, and I have heard not to store it on a concrete surface.

 

[Don-Wi]

We park them in a snow bank and leave them be. Prefer to leave them full of fuel, but that doesn't always happen. On diesels we try to have winter blend run through them, for only the possibility of starting them in the cold weather if we need them. My 1600 is a gasser and will sit most of the winter, unless my dad can't start the 285 (diesel) to haul manure with. Learned the hard way a few times to unhook the tractor from the spreader, so we have more than one option when it comes time to haul away the pile.

Donovan from Wisconsin

 

[showcrop]

I try to remember to write a note next to the door of the shop what farm I left everything at when I used it last. But that doesn't usually work because by the time I remember to write the note I've already forgotten where I left half the stuff. wish all my land was in the same place.

 

[J. Mash]

After treating my 550 with sta-bil I like to shut the fuel off,let it run for 30 seconds,then shut it down. That way the needle seat in the carb remains open and will not be as likely to stick,but the fuel bowl will still have plenty of gas in it.

 

[1755]

We tried the fuel stable but I forgot to put it in there last few years and syfoned the tank out about 3/4 the way threw winter and put fresh in and divided the gas in the 3 tractors that we use in the winter and had fewer problems