Of Mice and Cabs

[sixdogs]

For mouse clean up in cabs, I did a thread a while back on how to get the mouse smell out of a farm truck and after some experiment, the most commonly available item that worked was Lysol in a jug and put it in your spray bottle. If the Lysol gets on the mouse whiz, it will kill the smell but may take a couple applications. There are likely better products to use, as DieselBound noted, but I wanted something quickly from a Walmart or similar.

Here's that thread
https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/287486-how-remove-mouse-smell-cab.html

 

[oosik]

Here it's mice AND chipmunks. I have my M6040 parked in an open carport stall. Leave the hood open - no problems.

My tractor is open station.

 

[marketman62]

Found this thread by accident and felt I could offer some observations. We have the same problem with mice and other critters getting into our RV trailers in Wy and Tx. Moth balls are what a LOT of the old timers use to keep them out. Since getting a blood cancer I noticed that it always took me a few days after cleaning out all the mothballs to "feel right". Especially in the high country of Wy. Found out a couple of years ago from my cancer doc that the chemicals used for moth balls off gas and can cause lowered red blood cells, affect white cells, can affect lungs and other issues. We stopped using them. Had another old timer suggest Irish Spring soap. She cuts up the bars into 6 pieces and uses them just like she used moth balls. Since we started doing the same we have seen no mice, etc in our trailers. Smells better too.

I'd be interested in more specifics of the peppermint oil use. How much used? how often does it need to be redone? etc...

Thanks,
Vic

 

[sixdogs]

Not sure about peppermint oil but the commercial mice repellant products for cabs list balsam oil as their main, and I think only ingredient. It appears to to just be balsam oil on cotton or on sawdust. It's very effective and my wife says you can buy balsam oil on the internet. Seems that peppermint oil would work the same way way and is more readily available, perhaps in grocery stores.

 

[DieselBound]

marketman52, thanks for the Irish Spring tip! I'll look to utilize it in the cab.

I couldn't really find any entry points into the cab. Of course there has to be one/some, but I can't get the angle to see it/them. Will look to stuff some steel wool at the tops of the rear pillars (fronts aren't open into the inside roof area). Access from inside the cab would require too much work to get to.

I sprayed a bunch of the ZORBX on top of the headliner and then sprinkled Arm & Hammer carpet odour eliminator. Let it sit over night and then vacuumed up. Pretty much as good as I can do. I suspect that it's still going to be a while before the smell will dissipate enough such that I can no longer detect it.

My cabin fan issue was resolved by replacing the connector nearest the blower motor. Not damaged by mice (no signs of rodent damage to any wiring), but a factory defect: one of the wires had a hard kink in it and I'm suspecting it might be a break point; it's either that or just a bad connector; I noted some signs of over-heating within the connector suggesting a marginal connection was taking place.

 

[kantuckid]

Mice, chipmunks and squirrels are a constant battle for us and this spring we had a vole invasion. They eat the roots on newly planted grass such as a mole. Other than cats traps and poisons there is no sure fix, it's like the military, gotta have it... Moth balls are a waste of time IMO. My Kioti had a nice fuzzy rat or mouse nest up near the fuel filler platform on top of fuel tank today.
Chipmunks are our main rodent enemy, they eat our veggies, fruits and flower bulbs. Cute bastards they are. Seems to be a cycle of who's ahead as we cycle through snakes then more rodents and lizards, if you think yer gonna win yer wrong.

 

[TomV17]

Peppermint oil worked for me. I tore down an old horse barn on my property last year that had a bunch of mice living it. Naturally they needed a new home so a few found their way into my truck. I put small burlap sacks, filled with cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil in my trucks and haven't had a single mouse since. I got everything off amazon

 

[JimR]

Hire some professionals:

My cat would get them all in no time. He even brings them over and drops them at your feet. Another easy solution is a bucket of water half filled with a layer of sunflower seeds in it. Put a board running up the side of the bucket as a ramp. The mice will move right in immediately.

 

[DieselBound]

Jim, yeah, bucket traps work great. I have one under my house.

So far my tractor has been mouse-free. I periodically spray some stuff (mentioned above, I think) in the cab. The real test will be when winter comes around again. I think that I've sufficiently mitigated issues of incursion into the cab top (that's the biggest pain).