Do any of y'all seal, wax or ceramic coat your tractor??

[Fields_mj]

I for one will lose a lot of sleep knowing you are disturbed. LOL

Oh, believe me, I've been disturbed for a LONG time... Sweet dreams

 

[Fields_mj]

Not to be redundant, but I replied to your opinion about whether I SHOULD wash and wax my own equipment above.

Now we might address that you're pretty sure I have lots of time on my hands, and don't really need a tractor...

I'd imagine that pulling 15' batwing cutters across my client's ranches to control their brush, or pulling an offset disk and ridged harrow to create and maintain hay fields for myself and clients might get a bit tiresome if I didn't have tractors to do that for me. Moving and stacking 100 or so 1600 pound round bales might be a bit more than I can lift as well. Especially when I move 2 at a time. Or pulling invasive trees by the thousands out by the roots and pile them for burning might be a but more than I can do by hand. Sure glad I bought that tracked skid steer to do the heavy lifting.

Guess I was brought up to not only take care of my equipment, but my animals before I take care of myself. Being a 4th generation rancher kinda instills that into you.

But let me suggest that I may know a bit better than you about what I spend my spare time on, and whether or not I may or may not need a tractor?

You are entitled to your opinion, and I'm sure you still think I "don't really need a tractor"... But let me disturb you one more time by telling you that I wash and wax my skid steer once a year too.

Have a great evening!

Obviously I struck a nerve. Don't really care. I get that there are customers who don't like ugly equipment, so you need to keep it looking good. That said, I don't care what the equipment looks like. Its just an asset. I care about how much money it generates. With reasonable care and maintenance, it pays for itself long before it starts looking old. For those who have nothing better to do with their time, good for them I guess. I have too much work to do and too many people to spend time with to care.

 

[Fields_mj]

Knocked the dirt off with the pressure washer as best I could before the pressure washed burned up. Rubbed hood and fenders a bit to get them clean. Otherwise, seems silly to put too much into it just to go get it dirty again. It's not like I get to drive it around town all clean and shiny for a few days. Now I got my Jeep detailed last weekend and getting into a shiny car that smells of strawberries has been pretty nice all week. Maybe that's what I'm missing on the tractor, just needs a strawberry air freshener

Now see, if you would have waxed that pressure washer every 3 months, it would still be working just fine for you...

 

[Racenut]

Now see, if you would have waxed that pressure washer every 3 months, it would still be working just fine for you...

That must be what I missed... will try that on the next one.

 

[JeepHead]

A thought occurred to me today when I was applying a DIY "Ceramic coat" to my car this morning, now I'm curious if any of y'all do any kind of paint protection on your tractors?

For those with older tractors and you don't see a need, I fully understand & no need to reply; But for those with newer tractors that feel there is an advantage to protect paint, make it easier to wash off the dirt and grime every few weeks, what have you done and does it make routine cleaning any easier?

In my case, I did a full detail on one of our cars using many steps and got to thinking that maybe I should try to do something to the paint on my Kioti that's coming up on 2 yrs old ... Couldn't care less about shine and such, but does it help with wash downs? If my tractor is super dirty, I'll hit it with a car foam cannon and then just pressure wash it, always gets most of the dirt and grime off.

In my car's case, 2nd owner with over 52K miles, drive it weekly and not a "garage queen" paint job by any means, so it was a full wash, iron decontamination, clay bar, then get out the buffer to do swirl remover and apply a polish, then prep the surface with Isopropyl alcohol and apply 2 coats of Meguiars M888 "beyond ceramic" coating, way more than I'd do for the tractor, lol

While I'd never go to that level of paint correction on my tractor, I do wonder if a good wash / decon / ceramic coat would be worthwhile to keep the paint looking decent on a 2 yr old tractor and making washes easier / faster for years to come? Keep paint from fading just a little while longer? Or, will applying something like a "ceramic coat" just get beat to hell and wear off too quickly (considering grease, oil, etc) to make a difference in the long run?

Pics below of the car detail, and I certainly wouldn't need such a finish on the tractor, but if a ceramic coat helps preserve the paint, I might consider spending some time applying it to the tractor as I have lots of product left over....


Constructive thoughts / comments? (and yes, I'm well aware it's a tractor, it is & will continue to be beat up), but simply curious if others have applied any type of protection and seen a noticeable long-wearing difference when washing off the day's or week's grime, prevent fading, etc??

Thanks all & best regards,
Greg

Did you just date yourself? I don't think anyone under the age of 70 buys a Vet anymore.

I wash my tractor occasionally and will give it a wax to give the paint some UV protection, but it's a tractor and lives it's life DIRTY.

 

[rockinbbar]

Obviously I struck a nerve. Don't really care. I get that there are customers who don't like ugly equipment, so you need to keep it looking good. That said, I don't care what the equipment looks like. Its just an asset. I care about how much money it generates. With reasonable care and maintenance, it pays for itself long before it starts looking old. For those who have nothing better to do with their time, good for them I guess. I have too much work to do and too many people to spend time with to care.

You did, I admit.

It strikes a nerve every time someone judges what I do with my time, or judges that I "don't need a tractor" because I take time to take care of that asset.

Of course if you want to spend about $150k and buy me a 120hp cab tractor and a heavy duty 15' batwing cutter to use on all my jobs, I'll not wash it as often as you wish...

 

[AirOpsMgr]

Did you just date yourself? I don't think anyone under the age of 70 buys a Vet anymore.

I wash my tractor occasionally and will give it a wax to give the paint some UV protection, but it's a tractor and lives it's life DIRTY.

Meh, mid 40's, most of the guys I know with Vettes aren't 70, but you're not wrong, i was definitely a small segment at the last Corvette show, lol.

I bought used at the height of COVID stupid cheap (for a Z06) when dealerships were dead. Would also like a 63 Split window, but may have to settle for a 65 Shelby Cobra replica.

 

[jyoutz]

Meh, mid 40's, most of the guys I know with Vettes aren't 70, but you're not wrong, i was definitely a small segment at the last Corvette show, lol.

I bought used at the height of COVID stupid cheap (for a Z06) when dealerships were dead. Would also like a 63 Split window, but may have to settle for a 65 Shelby Cobra replica.

A few years ago I was on a work trip and stayed in a hotel in Kanab, Utah. In the morning as I was leaving the hotel I saw the parking lot completely full of corvettes from older classics, to new models. All perfectly washed and polished. The lobby was full of the car club group and I don’t think I saw one person under age 60. The group was touring Grand Canyon and some of the southern Utah national parks. Cars were sure nice.

 

[goeduck]

Pressure wash them about once a year. Always keep all tractors under cover when not in use, which is about as good as it gets here. Lubrication and critical repairs come first. Dirt and poop are a protective layer, no?

 

[New property]

A thought occurred to me today when I was applying a DIY "Ceramic coat" to my car this morning, now I'm curious if any of y'all do any kind of paint protection on your tractors?

For those with older tractors and you don't see a need, I fully understand & no need to reply; But for those with newer tractors that feel there is an advantage to protect paint, make it easier to wash off the dirt and grime every few weeks, what have you done and does it make routine cleaning any easier?

In my case, I did a full detail on one of our cars using many steps and got to thinking that maybe I should try to do something to the paint on my Kioti that's coming up on 2 yrs old ... Couldn't care less about shine and such, but does it help with wash downs? If my tractor is super dirty, I'll hit it with a car foam cannon and then just pressure wash it, always gets most of the dirt and grime off.

In my car's case, 2nd owner with over 52K miles, drive it weekly and not a "garage queen" paint job by any means, so it was a full wash, iron decontamination, clay bar, then get out the buffer to do swirl remover and apply a polish, then prep the surface with Isopropyl alcohol and apply 2 coats of Meguiars M888 "beyond ceramic" coating, way more than I'd do for the tractor, lol

While I'd never go to that level of paint correction on my tractor, I do wonder if a good wash / decon / ceramic coat would be worthwhile to keep the paint looking decent on a 2 yr old tractor and making washes easier / faster for years to come? Keep paint from fading just a little while longer? Or, will applying something like a "ceramic coat" just get beat to hell and wear off too quickly (considering grease, oil, etc) to make a difference in the long run?

Pics below of the car detail, and I certainly wouldn't need such a finish on the tractor, but if a ceramic coat helps preserve the paint, I might consider spending some time applying it to the tractor as I have lots of product left over....

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Constructive thoughts / comments? (and yes, I'm well aware it's a tractor, it is & will continue to be beat up), but simply curious if others have applied any type of protection and seen a noticeable long-wearing difference when washing off the day's or week's grime, prevent fading, etc??

Thanks all & best regards,
Greg

I use Tec 582 spray . Quick and durable 42.00 a gallon.