Is there a way to keep rats from nesting in my engine?

[scootr]

Two of the most affectionate cats I've ever had started off as ferals, but took months to tame. Thick welders gloves were the only way I could touch the last one who is now a house cat and probably useless for rodent control at this point.

Maybe I'll stay content to leave these 2 feral. They have everything they need in the barn. We have 6 dogs in the house. Wife says the last thing we need in the house is a cat.

 

[jjeff]

They say, dryer sheets do the trick..??
I saw on one of the car shows, there’s a plug-in device that’s guaranteed to keep them out of your building..& it’s sized to your building..
Sorry but don’t remember the name..

No they don't in my experience with them these are pretty fresh sheets if anything it housebroke the pests to use them instead of other places lol

 

[scootr]

One thing that did work really well was the neighbors male cat coming over and spraying the daylights out my place when I brought the females in . That smell will tear your eyes a week later on a damp morning. One whiff and the rodents go the other way.
Shop for cat urine spray on Amazon

 

[etpm]

I had a mouse problem in my garage. Rats too now and then. I tried traps and poison and etc. I finally started leaving the lights on all the time. In about a year we have had one mouse and it was dead. I think that it was sick or something. We have fluorescent lighting in the garage now but I am switching to all LED lighting. This will probably cost me less than 5 bucks per month which is well worth the price to me. Maybe you could mount a couple 4 foot LED strip lights under your hood and plug them in when the tractor is parked.
Eric

 

[newbury]

Mothballs are said to work. But generally if you keep the engine exposed it's better.
But OP count yourself lucky, many people have had their wiring harness chewed up, that can be a royal pain to replace.

 

[ruffdog]

I would rather smell this mint spray than a bunch of dryer sheets.

Amazon.com

 

[ruffdog]

I do like the smell of the Fresh Cab rodent repellent that this guy talks about. I tried these behind the dash of my TC33D tractor where mice loved to make a nest and they never came back.

 

[jjeff]

Repellents, and some sonic devices are expensive and im not fully sold on effectiveness, for the price
currently have an arsenal of pest blocker foam and steel wool in a partially disassembled interior of a RV, after a mouse crapped on dryer sheets set up to repel those bastards.

 

[big bubba]

as mentioned earlier, rodents don't like large open spaces. so i keep my rig in an open field w/hood open & a few bags of moth balls.
a large breathable sunshade works great in summer to protect from UV & also allows some light through

 

[jmc]

My armchair experiment was to make some kind of nesting box that is more attractive than my pickup. Maybe with a heat tape in it... And some way to quickly trap them inside when you empty it every week.