Anyone leave their tractor out in the weather?

[Qapla]

I would love to keep ours inside ... but this leads me to a question ...

If leaving a machine outside and letting the sun beat down on it for 8-10 hrs a day is hard on the paint, hoses, seat, etc. - is there any more/less sun beating down on it while USING it those 8-10 hrs a day thus causing less wear on all those parts ... or do you only use it in the shade? :laughing:

 

[FunnelWeb]

Back in the 70's my dad had an old red diesel Massey Ferguson 35 that we left out in the elements. The starter motor didn't work so he used to park it on a hill so that he could roll start it when he needed to use it.

I don't think my dad cared much what the elements did to that tractor. It wasn't a pristine example of a Fergy 35.

The old Fergy was eventually replaced by a brand new Fiat 500 2WD. That tractor was always kept in the shed.

 

[whitedogone]

Our tractor lives outside. It has not suffered any major problems from this life. The other thread had some interesting comments ... but on I will comment on ...

It may be true that a roof would be nice and one can be built in short order ... however, it is not as simple as a "Saturday worth of time". Around here any flat (or slanted/peaked/or anything that could be defined by the County as a roofor deck) that is more then 32" off the ground requires a permit!

To get the permit, you must submit an engineering plan complete with load rates and wind sheer calculations. These formulas are nearly impossible to do yourself - you need to be an engineer or an architect.

So, perhaps your friend/neighbor has already built one ... just borrow his plans and submit them ... Not So Fast ... they put a stop to that too because each plan must have an ORIGINAL signature on it. The engineer/architect will charge you the same for that signature as he will to draw a new plan.

If you get caught with the roof up and no permit you can just pay the fine and it will be OK ... NOT ... they can fine you, make you pay for the permit you should have had and make you tear it down. Then make you submit the paperwork for a new permit complete with the fee for the permit ... then they can "hold the permit" before issuing it or refuse to issue if they feel like it.So ... our tractor lives outside and works just fine.

Provided you supplied all the required documents and meet zoning requirements, it is unlawful for a building department to do that. The easiest and most cost effective way to build something in your area would be to use a supplier that can sell you a pre engineered building package. Here's one.

Metal Buildings | 30-Day Delivery ? Price Your Steel Building

 

[weatherman]

We built our home with a sizeable three-car garage. We also have a fair-sized, covered back deck with room to store a vehicle underneath. In the summer months our Kubota L3130 resides under the deck while our three cars park in the garage. When the snow begins flying, our only non-4WD car ('98 Mazda Protege) swaps places with the tractor, and the tractor (with its snow thrower at the ready) resides in the garage for the winter, ready to spring into action to clear our 600' driveway.

John

 

[ultrarunner]

Our tractor lives outside. It has not suffered any major problems from this life. The other thread had some interesting comments ... but on I will comment on ...

It may be true that a roof would be nice and one can be built in short order ... however, it is not as simple as a "Saturday worth of time". Around here any flat (or slanted/peaked/or anything that could be defined by the County as a roofor deck) that is more then 32" off the ground requires a permit!

To get the permit, you must submit an engineering plan complete with load rates and wind sheer calculations. These formulas are nearly impossible to do yourself - you need to be an engineer or an architect.

So, perhaps your friend/neighbor has already built one ... just borrow his plans and submit them ... Not So Fast ... they put a stop to that too because each plan must have an ORIGINAL signature on it. The engineer/architect will charge you the same for that signature as he will to draw a new plan.

If you get caught with the roof up and no permit you can just pay the fine and it will be OK ... NOT ... they can fine you, make you pay for the permit you should have had and make you tear it down. Then make you submit the paperwork for a new permit complete with the fee for the permit ... then they can "hold the permit" before issuing it or refuse to issue if they feel like it.

So ... our tractor lives outside and works just fine.

Or... you could buy and old enclosed trailer and have a garage on wheels... I had my BX23 in a trailer the first year... it was a great way to lock it up and keep it out of the weather... no permit required.

 

[tree farmer]

I think I can count on one hand the times either of my tractors or dozer has been outside overnight in the last 20 years. We live on the coast, and on a quiet night you can hear metal rusting.:laughing:. However, I have a neighbor who has two relatively new tractors that are parked out in front of his nearly empty machine shed.:confused2:...Dan.

 

[Sawdustsmb]

Go buy or repaint 2 identical tractors or any other piece of equipment- leave one outside for 5 years then decide which you would buy!!!! My dad always kept equipment inside except baler which was covered every night. All wagons were put away the day after haying was done - one I remember being built 50+ years ago and we still use it.
Bob

 

[Maxify55]

Our farm has a 20 stall equine barn that makes money.
The equipment is there to maintain the barn and its
inhabitants that pay the bills.

The equipment goes outside in 2 steel sheds (18X21X8).

Nothing extravagant. They're open at both ends, as weather
tends to come sideways down here in Florida.

In fact, I bought two of them. For $600 apiece, they're cheap.
Compared to the damage sun and rain do over time.

Admitted obsession with Preventative Maintenance will do that,
I guess.

The family car sits out in the weather. Can't say that I can
explain my rationale.

 

[Mark Page]

I used t-111 for my three outbuildings, and I'm less than thrilled. I've got several places where the outer ply is coming loose, even though I've kept it stained. It does that especially on the 8" strips I ripped for fascias, but also in a few places in the siding panels. Maybe a more robust coating than the semi-transparent stain I used would have helped. As a minimum I'd recommending using something else for the fascias.

Terry

Behr makes a solid stain that I've good luck with. It's more like paint but it doesn't chip or peal. I've used grey on the T1-11 and the pine trim.

 

[MistyBlue]

Box trailers from semis make awesome garages/storage. And they're pretty cheap. They're used often in my area, usually for hay storage if you add vents. But they make good garages too.
We don't have to pay taxes on those. In my town any building larger than 10x10 requires a solid foundation. In order to qualify for real estate taxes a building/structure has to have a solid foundation. Our taxes are pretty high here in town so we avoid adding to them if possible.
You can also paint them to match other buildings and/or landscape around them so they look nice.

My barn has T-111 siding and we used a mildewcide solid stain on that and our fence posts. That was 8 years ago and it's held up fantastic so far. Only dings in the siding are from the dingbat horses. That mildewcide stuff works great BUT it's like trying to paint with Elmer's Glue...so thick my arm about fell off when painting it.