Oil & Fuel I hope I'm not the only one who's lost his fuel tank cap

[mikerose]

I was fueling my Kubota BX2350 at night, poor lighting, and after pouring in the diesel (I'd put the fuel tank cap as usual on the right side foot deck) I buttoned up the fuel can, stored it in the shed, and proceeded to climb onto the tractor and drive away, tank uncovered, cap apparently still on the floorboard! Didn't notice until halfway through plowing the next day that the cap was gone. I promptly put a plastic dish that was almost the same size over it to keep snowflakes out of the tank, but had no luck finding the cap. It's somewhere in my yard, in a snowbank, and I won't find it until April at this rate.

Is there any harm running it like it is until the thaw? Or do I have to spring for a $25 cap now?

And it would be very soothing to know I'm not the only person who's done this!! (Thanks).

-Mike R

 

[stuckmotor]

I lost mine, got another, then found the one I'd lost right where I'd looked many times before......and I'll probably do it again.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I don't know that I would let my tractor set without a fuel cap for 3 or more months. What are the options, a rag stuck it the neck is not going to keep water out. If you don't buy a new cap, you will never find the old one. If you go buy a new one and install it, you will find the old one almost immediately. I recently had to replace mine due to failure (tightening too tight I suppose cause the top part to break off.

 

[lakeside]

As long as the temporary cap will keep snow and rain out and allow the fuel tank to breathe, you should be good to go. Just hope you didn't blow the cap into the trees never to be seen again but, absolute worst case, you will just have to (sigh) buy another cap come spring.

 

[Jay4200]

And it would be very soothing to know I'm not the only person who's done this!!

Yup - only you. It does get worse though... I have forgotten to replace the gas cap on my dirtbike, rode off into the woods, and didn't notice until I felt my 'nads getting cold - realized gas was flying out all over *them*. Yikes.

I wouldn't run without a cap - I wouldn't want to chance dirt, bugs, moisture, mice, etc getting in there. If nothing else, wrap aluminum foil over the threaded part and stick a big rubber band around it.

 

[sea2summit]

Did that with my hydro fill cap, stuck a rag in it to finish the day and luckily found the cap the next day. Now I have a d-ring I clip it or the oil cap to when I'm filling.

 

[oldballs]

IIRC, I did a similar thing but ran over the cap with the MMM going......I saw it shoot out of the deck.. Thus a new cap....dang it.

 

[Thomas]

Its one of many right of passage when owning tractor.

 

[xring100]

I've almost lost mine a 1/2 dozen times. I now place it on my seat while filling

 

[mikerose]

There is a happy ending to this story believe it or not! I went out to complete plowing today, after first taking a shovel and kind of turning over some of the piles I knew I made yesterday before my discovery, nothing. Then when I started plowing again, I took the piles I made yesterday and kind of shook them up, dumping gradually, in the hopes of seeing a black disk fall in all the white stuff. Nothing. After a bit I realized that before I went down the end of my long drive I should probably fill the tank again while I was near the can, and WHILE filling the tank, I noticed to my astonishment that not only had put the filler cap behind the seat between it and the cad plated cross member, that it had somehow stayed there through two different 2 hr. plowing sessions!! Unbelievable. Personally I think that idea of putting it on the seat when filling is excellent. :thumbsup: