Do you leave implements outside??

BloomingtonMike · Mar 28, 2006

Do you leave you implements outside and unsecured? I am thinking I want to secure mine better than they are. Lot of money wrapped up in them to just leave them exposed to the elements and unsecured. Any thoughts?

john_bud · Mar 28, 2006

Outside? No!

They cost too much to do that to them. Keep them in and they work when you want them too and won't rust up so bad.

jb

inveresk · Mar 28, 2006

I've had no choice. Theft isn't really an issue here on the island but I would have liked to have had the tractor and implements protected during the wet season. The barn isn't up yet and won't be for another 3 or 4 months and I've nowhere to store them under cover. The rfm has been sitting out in the field all winter and the paint seems ok. I'll service it properly before it gets first use this spring. The other two implements I have - bb and chipper - have been protected with tarpaulins when they're not in use. Both have taken a bit of a cosmetic beating because of the work they've done rather than the weather.

I have to remember to frequently hose the car, tractor, etc. clear of fir needles though. They dull the paint really quickly.

valleydweller1 · Mar 29, 2006

At the moment, my box blade stays in the garage with the tractor. The mower deck lives under the roof of a 3-sided outbuilding. Not exactly outside, but not exactly secure either. I would take it inside if it would fit (my garage is awful small).

Farmwithjunk · Mar 29, 2006

A little of this, a little of that. Some stuff stays inside the barns. Some has to stay outdoors. I try to shed everything before winter, but things like a 12' wheel disc, hay wagons, and the manure spreader stay out in Mother Nature. I'd just as soon buy a new one every 25 or 30 years as to tie up fllor space with something that doesn't need to be indoors.

Anyone who has the gall to steal my manure spreader must need it worse than I do. And then there's Fritz, our 85LB German Shepard. Just TRY to steal something please! Fritz loves a good challenge.

KubotaSteve · Mar 29, 2006

I leave everything outside except the tractor, loader and MMM. The tiller, rotary cutter, post hole digger, landscape rake, 48" roller, carryall, etc. The only probelm I have run into is with the PTO's siezing a little if they are used in a while. I just don't have that kind of space inside to store all the implements. I may eventually put a pavillion type cover over them. I did finally get them laying on a gravel area last year. I keep them in my fenced in yard out of sight from the road.

Bowhunter · Mar 29, 2006

The tractor sits in the garage, but the attachments have to stay outside for now. In a few years I hope to have my shop built and hope to have room inside for all of them.

greg_g · Mar 29, 2006

I have no choice either, but theft is not an issue as I park the idle implements well into one of my centrally located pastures within site of the house. I do however, keep the tractor and the conical spreader in a three sided shed.

Something I learned when I lived in Scotland; a farmer I worked with over there saved up all his used oil until it came time to store the implements for the winter. Then he took a large paintbrush and coated all his exposed implements with the used oil. Come spring, they cleaned up all shiny and new looking with a little degreaser and a pressure washer.

//greg//

jjcc246 · Mar 29, 2006

Tractor with loader stay inside. All attachments stay outside. Been that way for 15 years and have had no problem with theft or performance. I find the key is to keep the implement clean after every use and it doesn't rust up as much. A little wd-40 where needed and a grease gun keeps things working great.

N80 · Mar 29, 2006

I aint got no inside to keep anything in . /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Tractor stays under a tarp. Mower sits out in the elements. I too keep a light coating of oil on the mower deck. It works but you have to remember its there or you can bust your can if you step on it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I'm planning on building a very basic pole shed when I get the time and money. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

RobJ · Mar 29, 2006

I have room inside for whatever is on the tractor. The other stays outside. During the winter I can squeeqe in the FM since it's not real deep. Just makes it harder to walk around the garage. I painted the bushhog black to help dry it up outside. Also drilled a couple more holes to allow water todrain out of the areas that hold water (TSC brand). My feeling are keep it painted and keep it out of the shade and it won't be to bad outside. At least down here.

dmccarty · Mar 29, 2006

I don't have an inside either.

My tractor and implements are outside and have been since I bought them in 2000. I have kept the tractor under a tarp but have long since stopped. A few things are rusting but they are inconsequential. 5 cent pieces. The only thing I should have tarped is the back hoe. Once I get some rust taken care of I'll start tarping it when not in use.

I really have not had a problem with keeping the equipment outside. I would prefer to having the stuff inside but I don't have that as an option.

I left the equipment on the property by itself for years until we got our house built. Now we had 54 acres to hide the equipment and I did so. I would move the equipment to different spots depending who needed access to different places. I don't think any non neighbor knew I had the tractor. I kept the tractor chained up to at least slow down a thief or keep any teenagers from getting in trouble. The equipment was never stored near a road it was always buried in the woods. My last spot you could get to with a truck if you had 4x4. Other places it would have been hard to get into with a truck. Possible though.

If they don't know you don't have it, they can't steel it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I NEVER had the tractor out when the house was being built and contractors where on site.

Later,
Dan

kossetx · Mar 29, 2006

I keep mine outside, but I do get them off the ground. I have some short pieces of treated 4X4 school was throwing out or red ceder trunks I put them on to keep them drier and off the ground.

Sully2 · Mar 29, 2006

Everything outside..parked on gravel and always tarped over when not being used. Equipment shed is in the planning stages so that "maybe"??...fall of 2007 it will all be under roof.

Carry "replacement cost" insureance on it all..and dont worry that someone might steal it.

KentT · Mar 29, 2006

( I keep mine outside, but I do get them off the ground. I have some short pieces of treated 4X4 school was throwing out or red ceder trunks I put them on to keep them dryer and off the ground. )
Heavy oak shipping pallets work good for this also... and you can often pick them up for free.... with the added benefit that you can sometimes use FEL forks and readily move pallet. implement and all.

Jagmandave · Mar 29, 2006

Like KentT says, I keep my implements on heavy oak pallets so it's all up off the ground, but I don't have an inside to keep them in either. The tractor gets a tarp, the rest just get to stay out, unfortunately. New house is supposed to get started this year, when it's done, it'll all go inside with no problem, since I'll have a 1000 sq ft spot in the basement dedicated to the equipment.

Tom_H · Mar 29, 2006

There're many good discussions on this in the archives.

I have all mine on homemade dollies in the 3rd bay of the garage. To change implements, cars go outside, tractor backs to edge of concrete. Any implement rolls right to 3ph for quick easy on/off.

EastTexFrank · Mar 29, 2006

Everything is under cover except the PHD (hanging from a tree limb) and my 4' bush hog. I don't have enough room to get it all inside. My wife keeps on dropping hints about putting up a pole barn and getting it all away from the house.

Farmwithjunk · Mar 29, 2006

( My wife keeps on dropping hints about putting up a pole barn and getting it all away from the house. )

Seize the moment man! Build that barn!

Jstpssng · Mar 29, 2006

( I don't have an inside either.
) I had to check a couple of times to make sure I hadn't already answered this... guess I'm not getting that old yet. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
My tractor gets tarped in winter, but sets outside in summer; everything else is exposed to the weather. I drilled drain holes in strategic locations to drain the water out of my Caddigger BH.
Last fall I built a gravel pad, and let the frost set it up through the winter. Some type of building will be there by fall; hopefully with a concrete floor.