Winter Covering /Tarping of a new tractor

[FarmerCog]

I also live in Northern Ontario (Ramore, ON). I have a Massey 2610 with a Snow Blower that I use all winter. I park it outside under an insulated Tarp on my gravel yard. I haven't had any moisture issues.
If you are planning on storing your tractor outdoors for the winter I would use an insulated tarp and park it off the ground on skids or on very course gravel to prevent moisture build up under the tarp. Good luck.

 

[arkbound]

Hey dave5264,

Shelter Logic 73332 | 73342 RoundTop Shelter 12x20x10 - Garage Storage Direct

Here is an option, it is a round top heavy duty shelter and if you use those anchors that you drive in i think they are called arrowhead type. You drive them in and pull on the cable they then turn and you have to dig them out. I would suggest putting this on the leeward side of a building and you should winter out fairly well. Also the sun eats these things up so I would take the tarp off in the summer. Anyway you probably thought of it already. Good Luck!!

 

[arkbound]

BTW I am thinking of doing it for my boat a 23 ft Formula as a winter home in Oklahoma. Yeah lots of wind there. lol:thumbsup:

 

[IndyIan]

I put my shelter logic down wind of a row of white cedars and it's survived some serious wind. Spend some time anchoring it down beyond what they recommend. Mine might fold up in a big big gust but it won't go anywhere. Also we used to store the atv under very dense white cedars and it stayed quite dry and no UV damage.

 

[PhysAssist]

I put my shelter logic down wind of a row of white cedars and it's survived some serious wind. Spend some time anchoring it down beyond what they recommend. Mine might fold up in a big big gust but it won't go anywhere. Also we used to store the atv under very dense white cedars and it stayed quite dry and no UV damage.

While waiting for our garage/barn to be built, we are using a Shelter-logic temporary structure, 10' H X 10' W X 20' long and it has worked reasonably well with the auger style ground anchors and racheting nylon tie down straps from HF and TSC despite wind storms last winter with gusts in the 90 MPH range.

However, if I had to do it over, I think I'd go to Farm-Tek, or Gemplers and get a round top structure with a one piece cover.as they seem to be sturdier and didn't seem to suffer even the minor damage ours did.

YMMV

 

[IndyIan]

While waiting for our garage/barn to be built, we are using a Shelter-logic temporary structure, 10' H X 10' W X 20' long and it has worked reasonably well with the auger style ground anchors and racheting nylon tie down straps from HF and TSC despite wind storms last winter with gusts in the 90 MPH range.

However, if I had to do it over, I think I'd go to Farm-Tek, or Gemplers and get a round top structure with a one piece cover.as they seem to be sturdier and didn't seem to suffer even the minor damage ours did.

YMMV

Going to a more permanent structure type right off the bat does made more sense if you are going to rely on it for a while. Mine was $500 and its sort of throwing money down the drain but hopefully it lasts until I get approval for a permanent structure from the Misses.

 

[JD 4520]

Dave

If you are willing to spend a few bucks to keep it protected for the winter and you really don't need it for 5 -6 months, why not take it to a storage location. I doubt it would cost you more than $100 a month and you know it would be in perfect condition when you return it home in the spring.

I'm not a fan of storage but this is a great application.

Good luck.

 

[PhysAssist]

Going to a more permanent structure type right off the bat does made more sense if you are going to rely on it for a while. Mine was $500 and its sort of throwing money down the drain but hopefully it lasts until I get approval for a permanent structure from the Misses.

We paid a little over $200 for the kit with shipping from Sportsmans Guide, but it came without any decent anchors, so adding the 15" augers from HF was another $60 [with 20% coupon] along with ratcheting nylon tie-downs, on each upright.

I had some 6"x 5/4" PT decking that I screwed into 2 - 20' runs, then the bottoms of the uprights got screwed to those, and then then whole thing was pinned down by 6 - 18" pieces of rebar pounded in on an inward angle through tightly fit holes in the PT boards.

Then, when everything still tried to lift off in a wind storm, more anchors were ordered and placed [from Farm-Tek IIRC], with more tie-downs from HF and/or TSC to tie-down the ridge pole and each of the roof ends.

Then when the "tarps" [there are separate "tarps" for the each of the ends, sides, and roof- all bungied to the frame poles] started to rip, replacement tarp connectors from HF and TSC were added, along with augers and guylines along both of the long edges of the roof to keep the snow from bellying in and settling in on each roof section.

As you can see, for a long while it seemed to have taken on a life of its own....

Throughout this process, I encouraged my wife [boss] to help out as much as she could, hence our new pole barn being moved up into top priority status over the new kitchen floor and bedroom carpets......

Though to be brutally honest, during the episodes of trying to keep all the pieces torgether and intact in the middle of 90+ MPH gusts and steady 40-50 MPG wind, I needed her help to either tighten or hold onto the things I was trying to repair or replace.

It really didn't help that the ground only ever froze enough to make it hard to put the augers in, but never enough to keep them from pulling out- even with 18'ers hubbed...

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Thomas

 

[arrow]

If I needed a temp shelter for cheap and since the tractor isn't going to move, i'd just sink 2 16' 2x6's in front and back of the tractor around 3 or 4' deep , tie a good ,stout rope across and over the top ends and drape your tarp on the rope like a tent. On the flap ends of the tarp, I'd wrap them around 2x4's as long as your rig and pin the 2x4's to the ground. If you use a high quality tarp, rippage will not be a problem. I do not know about 90 mph winds but one I made in the past survived a 50 mph wind and 3 feet of snow build up. I used a large army canvas tarp but a good multi mil plastic one should work as well.. takes about 2 hours to make depending on how easily the post holes go for the 2x6's. If you can find long enough 4x4's for the posts, that would be preferable but I couldn't. Perhaps you have something from the building refabs. The sides need to be steep enough to shed snow. Farmer Cog above hit it right on the nail. Moisture from the ground is the main culprit. Either create air space around the tractor such as I describe above or insulate the ground and then just cover the tractor. A cement pad to park the tractor on would be good.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Or just park it and forget it till spring. I wouldnt crank it or touch it other than maybe put a battery maintainer on it to keep up the battery. Tractors are designed to be parked outside. Winter snow will not hurt it like the summer sun. Paint will fade in the sun but I have never seen snow have any effect on paint finish. I have seen big Ag tractors parked outside for all their lifes and never had a problem. Start covering them and you are looking for trouble from moisture to rodents.
I do have mine under a shed for sun protection mostly but if I were in your shoes and no shed, I would put it on the south side of a desireable structure with electrical power for the charger and let it set till spring. If it is geared transmission, be sure to block the clutch down to keep the clutch disc/pressure plate from rusting together. This can happen quiet quickly even when the tractor is stored inside and enclosed building. We just had to rock my brother in law's JD 750 around to free the clutch which was stuck after only about a week inside his totally enclosed shop.