Do attachments need to be protected from elements?

[slowzuki]

Exactly. All our bushhogs beat themselves to death before the weather or rust gets to them.

We do have a snowblower that is rusting out. Its 35+ years old and is exposed to salt spray off the rear tires every snowstorm while driving the plowing route. Just the sheet metal rusting out. The cutting edge is wore out, the gearbox too, and the pto shaft could stand replacement as its bent. Nothing is weathered though even though it sits out 24/7.

I am still using some of my grandfathers equipment that has never seen a shed.

Would something like a cheap thin deck bush hog make it 75 years? Probably not, but it will be completely worn out in 10 years if it is rusted out or not. Implements built from steel with a fractional thickness (1/4", 3/8", 1/2", etc.) rather than a gauge will last practically for ever.

 

[Branchchipper]

We gradually moved everything in out of the weather. As has been stated above, months of wet weather is really rough on steel, paint, bearings, etc.

It took a concrete-floored area and homemade "carts" for each implement to make it work for us...

With casters underneath, even the heaviest implements can be rolled off into corners and crowded together, then easily retrieved and rolled to the tractor by one person.

Several now are stored under pallet racks, keeping more floor area clear.

I scrounged some very heavy duty casters that were taken off of machinery, and used mostly 2x6 material to build the carts.

They have revolutionized our storage setup, as well as our safety when attaching/detaching implements.