Rotary Cutter Keeping Outdoors

deserteagle71 · Oct 6, 2022

Main thing is to make sure the sun doesn't get to shine on the wheel/tire. It will disintegrate the rubber pretty quickly. That's what happened to mine.

SmallChange · Oct 6, 2022

My problem is that we run a bit of a cat rescue, with the back half of the property fenced in and a flap door in the back of the house for them. I love the little guys! But they do spray, and cat urine is amazingly corrosive. I thought my last tractor looked fit to lose its wheels, the way they were rusted (and the nuts and studs too).

My new tractor lives in a closed off bay in the barn, with the floor paved. No such problem. I do, unfortunately, have one 3PT platform lift that is still stuck outside, until I figure some way of fixing that issue. But I hardly ever use it.

DB_Alimere · Oct 7, 2022

PearlWhiteGT said:
Ever since I've owned my little New Holland T1510 with 5ft Brush Hog I've kept it in my garage at home. My garage is starting to get pretty full and have been debating if I should just leave the cutter out at the ranch where I use it at and just bring the tractor back home. If I leave the cuter out there it will be under a covered area but no concrete. It would be on top of dirt. My idea was to elevate it off the ground with cement blocks.

What issues could I run into with leaving stored outdoors? I'm pretty sure I'd have issues with wasps/hornets making nest under it. I'm 50/50 about what I want to do. It could free up some garage space but I don't want any issues with it when I need to use it. Any advice would be much appreciated.

I have a T1510 which I can store in the barn or garage, but the big attachments (tiller, bush hog, blade) stay outdoors on heavy pallets. I grease them up in the fall, and make sure that snow and leaves don't accumulate, but I've been doing this for 12 years without problems.

oldpilot · Oct 7, 2022

I leave the drive shaft / slip clutch on a bench in the garage; the rest of the brush hog sits in the woods on 8x8 chunks of wood. But I like that idea of putting a plastic bucket over the gearbox. I'll do it this afternoon! (Thanks, Cory B!)

marhar · Oct 7, 2022

PearlWhiteGT said:
Ever since I've owned my little New Holland T1510 with 5ft Brush Hog I've kept it in my garage at home. My garage is starting to get pretty full and have been debating if I should just leave the cutter out at the ranch where I use it at and just bring the tractor back home. If I leave the cuter out there it will be under a covered area but no concrete. It would be on top of dirt. My idea was to elevate it off the ground with cement blocks.

What issues could I run into with leaving stored outdoors? I'm pretty sure I'd have issues with wasps/hornets making nest under it. I'm 50/50 about what I want to do. It could free up some garage space but I don't want any issues with it when I need to use it. Any advice would be much appreciated.

I am like you I keep my implement inside. Mine are in a barn that is open on both sides. It does protect the equipment from getting wet (most of the time). Your plan of cement blocks and a cover is better than nothing. If you get a metal pole barn and place gravel on the floor you will have a greater level of production.

As a side not when I first bought a bush hog I had a few bolts that were not tight and came loose. An old timer told me to park it outside and let it rust so bolts would not shake loose.

Nimrodtoo · Oct 7, 2022

I unfortunately do not have a building for my tractors or implements at deer camp. I have a lean to for one tractor next to a shed, cover the other with a tarp when idle, and an awning with pallets underneath for the tiller, broadcast seeder, and Plotmaster. I cover them all with heavy tarps. Not ideal, but I think anything with a gearbox or spinning drive needs to be out of the weather as much as possible. These are all 'open air'. At home I have a 'garage in a box' where I keep all the lawn equipment and occasionally a car. I've always put down a sheet of plastic on the floor space inside to prevent moisture being sucked up from the ground. Hoping someday to have a pole barn with a concrete floor!

Buzzard7 · Oct 7, 2022

Chewwy said:
I have never seen a tractor or implements under cover at a dealership unless it is actually being worked on.

They don't stay at the dealership very long.

droy · Oct 7, 2022

In 1999 I purchased a used low hour NH 1715 with a stuck clutch that had slept outside most of its life. The tractor came with a parcel of land that the previous owner had purchased, & he was only interested in the land. New Holland dealer that replaced the clutch noted that (1) clutch had not been blocked, (2) cotter pin in clutch housing drain opening had rusted, sealing the drain. Rainwater entered through the gear shift boot (?) nearly filling the clutch housing area.
Kept the tractor outside with blocked clutch & a tarp covering the seat / gearshift area until I built a shed. No further clutch problem.
Years later, shortly before trading it off, I used a compound / wax on the very sun faded paint & was VERY surprised to see how much of the luster returned. I know it made a big difference in trade in value!

DutchUncle · Oct 7, 2022

I keep my implements under cover when I can. Flail mower and tiller stay in a storage building, everything else is under a lean to that is up against the barn. My tractor stays in the garage, keeps the mice and other wildlife out of the electricals, and air cleaner. One thing I've done for my rotary cutter is to take a 5 gallon pail and put it over the gearbox, I cut out a section so it fits over the PTO shaft, and a brick on top makes sure it doesn't blow off.

blee03 · Oct 7, 2022

Give it a good shot of fluid film and call it a day

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Tony H · Oct 7, 2022

PearlWhiteGT said:
Ever since I've owned my little New Holland T1510 with 5ft Brush Hog I've kept it in my garage at home. My garage is starting to get pretty full and have been debating if I should just leave the cutter out at the ranch where I use it at and just bring the tractor back home. If I leave the cuter out there it will be under a covered area but no concrete. It would be on top of dirt. My idea was to elevate it off the ground with cement blocks.

What issues could I run into with leaving stored outdoors? I'm pretty sure I'd have issues with wasps/hornets making nest under it. I'm 50/50 about what I want to do. It could free up some garage space but I don't want any issues with it when I need to use it. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Off the ground will help air circulation. But I would lay some plastic on the ground under it. Where I live now is night and day from where I lived. Here, the ground never seems to stop giving up moisture. Plain dirt with gravel over it and the heavy plastic painting cloth always had moisture under it. And that is with the cloth being under a roof.

Tony H · Oct 7, 2022

Chewwy said:
I have never seen a tractor or implements under cover at a dealership unless it is actually being worked on.

And that always disturbed me as I was my stuff twice a year. I guess they figure uracil for the short time they have it.

ParkWhite · Oct 8, 2022

I really like these new fangled battery leaf blowers. I use mine to blow clippings off the mower and tractor before I leave the field. Piled up clippings will rot out a mower in just a few seasons.

Henniker · Oct 10, 2022

marhar said:
I am like you I keep my implement inside. Mine are in a barn that is open on both sides. It does protect the equipment from getting wet (most of the time). Your plan of cement blocks and a cover is better than nothing. If you get a metal pole barn and place gravel on the floor you will have a greater level of production.

As a side not when I first bought a bush hog I had a few bolts that were not tight and came loose. An old timer told me to park it outside and let it rust so bolts would not shake loose.

I would think that some locktight and/or lockwashers would work better than letting it rust, especially if it ever needed repair.

DutchUncle · Oct 10, 2022

PearlWhiteGT said:
Ever since I've owned my little New Holland T1510 with 5ft Brush Hog I've kept it in my garage at home. My garage is starting to get pretty full and have been debating if I should just leave the cutter out at the ranch where I use it at and just bring the tractor back home. If I leave the cuter out there it will be under a covered area but no concrete. It would be on top of dirt. My idea was to elevate it off the ground with cement blocks.

What issues could I run into with leaving stored outdoors? I'm pretty sure I'd have issues with wasps/hornets making nest under it. I'm 50/50 about what I want to do. It could free up some garage space but I don't want any issues with it when I need to use it. Any advice would be much appreciated.

It won't hurt a thing to keep it outside, mine is under cover, because it's available to me. If I didn't have that available to me, I would just put it up on blocks, and throw a water proof tarp over it.