Storing implements outside

[bxowner]

I'm in the market for a brush hog and it seems that everyone leaves them in the tall grass until needed... I understand that.

My question is if it's OK to store the loader outside and disconnected from the tractor. I don't have enough room in my lean-to to store both the Kubota and the loader, when separated. Since I'll be mowing with it in the summer, I don't want the weight of the loader on all the time.

I see them disconnected and left outside at farms all the time. But, those tractors are typically kept until they die - I'm more fickle... I need the tractor to stay as nice as possible (within reason) so I can get resale value out of it. I'm not tied to it "forever."

So, my primary concern is the cylinders being exposed to weather and damaging the seals if they start to pit. I know I could wrap it in a tarp, but frankly, I don't want to go through the hassle unless it's bad for it to be outside. What do you guys do?

 

[TripleR]

I don't "store" anything outside. I just got another tractor and am waiting for the people to come erect a shelter.

 

[Boondox]

Hey Vermonter!

I use Fluid Film on my cylinders when not in use. It has done a great job protecting the finish and seals over the years. And it's cheap. Oh, better yet, it's a TBN sponsor!

Pete

 

[arrabil]

I need the tractor to stay as nice as possible (within reason) so I can get resale value out of it. I'm not tied to it "forever."

I wouldn't worry about cylinder pitting but it doesn't sound like you should be keeping your tractor outside. Mine has lived outside for 10 years and I think its perfect. Though I'm sure you wouldn't.

 

[jesseb3@att.net]

I agree with Arrabil - you shouldn't leave your tractor and/or loader outside if you're picky. Paint will fade at a minimum, rust will develop on scratched paint, etc.

Mine's lived outside most of its 4-5 years... yeah, she's showing her age quicker than she could, but she still looks purdy to me.

I can't really tell if the paint has faded on mine, but I leave the whole tractor out there, so it's fading evenly. Cylinders look brand new though.

 

[Tom_H]

I'm in the market for a brush hog and it seems that everyone leaves them in the tall grass until needed...

So I don't count as somebody??? Just kidding, but seriously, I store all my stuff inside, including the brush hog. It is in a stack of implements that's 5 high. No kidding this time. Just ask John Thomas. There's a pic around here somewhere.

 

[Code54]

I leave some of my eqpt outside but I place it on landscape timbers so it is not sitting in dirt and put a large brown trap (brown so it blends in better) over each item. Really the tarp is no big deal, it only takes a minute to remove, after you do it a few times it is not a problem

 

[radioman]

usually if I leave anything outside that has cylinders, i retract them if possible and cover the remaining with vaseline. Anything that could rust gets a shot of wd40 or rub of vaseline.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Almost all my implements live outside. My middle buster and harrow at my dad's are in his arena and everything else is outside. My Tractors and lawn mower live inside in heated garages and sheds. Since I too dont like my expensive implements out in the weather, this summer Im gonna save up for a small steel structure to park them all under. But for now, they will have to live outside. For your loader, wrap it in a tarp to keep the paint from fading. That sun has faded the paint real bad on some of my implements. So i just repainted them.:thumbsup:

 

[Gizmo2]

Landscape rake sits out side. Everything else is undercover. But... all the tractors and implements at most dealers sit outside all the time.

 

[Tractor Factor]

Hey bxowner, if you've got the room, I can recommend this 12 X 20 (they've also some smaller ones, 10 X 10 etc.) storage shed by Shelter Logic very highly:

ShelterLogic 12Ft.W Peak Style Garage-in-a-Box 20ft.L x 12ft.W x 8ft.H, Model# 62790 | House Style | Northern Tool + Equipment

I've had mine up for 1 1/2 years now (been through two winters), and it's as good as the day I put it up. Tractor Supply had them on sale last week for $229, but they're regularly $350. The covering is not at all like a plastic tarp, it's an altogether different and superior material. Has held up to high winds and heavy snows.

Here's a couple of threads I posted when I put it up:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/133631-heres-what-you-can-do.html

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/132793-my-first-project-bx25.html

Initially I thought I'd keep it up for a couple years. Now I'm thinking why not 5 years, so I just put a plywood floor in...very cool.



With the money I'm saving I just bought another tractor.

 

[oldballs]

Although I'd like to have a covered storage area, the nice thing about being outside is that one can maneuver in the open. I set my attachments on skids and with the pallet forks can move stuff around as I see fit. The Loader and tractors I cover with a tarp. My Case 448 still looks good after 33 years. It is a nuisance to cover/uncover however...snow...rain etc.

 

[Grateful11]

We don't leave anything outside, not the pull type combine, haybine, rake,
2 hay balers, grinder mixer, corn picker, 15' or the 12' disc, grain cart,
silage cutter, 2 bush hogs, 2 silage blowers, seed spreader, grain drill,
corn planter, 2 garden tractors, equipment trailer, cattle trailer, utility trailer,
or 6 tractors. Probably why some of the stuff is 50 years old and still works
fine. I've never understood why farmers spend hundred's of thousands of
dollars on farm equipment and leave them out in the elements. My late FIL
was a stickler for not letting stuff stay out not even for a night and we're going
to keep that tradition going. We were just talking this evening about adding
on to the 30'x50' tractor shed sometime down the road, it's getting a bit tight.

 

[dcyrilc]

We don't leave anything outside, not the pull type combine, haybine, rake,
2 hay balers, grinder mixer, corn picker, 15' or the 12' disc, grain cart,
silage cutter, 2 bush hogs, 2 silage blowers, seed spreader, grain drill,
corn planter, 2 garden tractors, equipment trailer, cattle trailer, utility trailer,
or 6 tractors. Probably why some of the stuff is 50 years old and still works
fine. I've never understood why farmers spend hundred's of thousands of
dollars on farm equipment and leave them out in the elements. My late FIL
was a stickler for not letting stuff stay out not even for a night and we're going
to keep that tradition going. We were just talking this evening about adding
on to the 30'x50' tractor shed sometime down the road, it's getting a bit tight.

My word...I need your storage building.:laughing:

 

[powerpace]

I bet when you bought any piece of equipment from a dealer it was outside and not on a showroom floor.

 

[bxowner]

I guess I didn't phrase my question too well.. I'm aware that tractors and implements at dealers are stored outside. I'm aware the sun will fade plastic and paint over time. I'm not looking for a perfect tractor after 10 years of ownership - just one that works as it should. That's what I meant. My 1948 Farmall Cub that was bought new by my grandfather was kept indoors its whole life and, not surprisingly, it doesn't have perfect paint, but everything on it works as it ought to.

What I'm wondering is if it's BAD for the implement to be out in the weather after years. I think I did put something in there about pitting on the cylinders and that's really where my concern lies. On a B-series, I can't retract the loader cylinders all the way because in order for the loader stands to hold it in place, they have to be extended.

I do appreciate the vaseline/ spray lube suggestion. I guess that's what I'll do to keep it from deteriorating functionally. The last thing I want to do is have a piece of equipment left outside to cause, say pitting in the cylinders and then have a leaky seal that can't really be fixed (once fixed, the pitting will just wear out the new seal).

 

[davatk]

Hey bxowner, if you've got the room, I can recommend this 12 X 20 (they've also some smaller ones, 10 X 10 etc.) storage shed by Shelter Logic very highly:

ShelterLogic 12Ft.W Peak Style Garage-in-a-Box 20ft.L x 12ft.W x 8ft.H, Model# 62790 | House Style | Northern Tool + Equipment

I've had mine up for 1 1/2 years now (been through two winters), and it's as good as the day I put it up. Tractor Supply had them on sale last week for $229, but they're regularly $350. The covering is not at all like a plastic tarp, it's an altogether different and superior material. Has held up to high winds and heavy snows.

Here's a couple of threads I posted when I put it up:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/133631-heres-what-you-can-do.html

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/132793-my-first-project-bx25.html

Initially I thought I'd keep it up for a couple years. Now I'm thinking why not 5 years, so I just put a plywood floor in...very cool.

View attachment 162761View attachment 162762View attachment 162763

With the money I'm saving I just bought another tractor.

This is the first time I've seen one of these. I'd be curious to know how much wind/snow you have in your neck of the woods. It gets very, very windy at my place, so I'm wondering if it would hold up. I regularly have to go put shingles back on my house roof, and just recently replaced some soffit that blew off. I'd guess 40-60 MPH winds are the norm during some of the winter months. How does this thing anchor to the ground ? Also, we had about 2 storms that dropped around 2 feet of snow each this year- along with a lot of wind. Do you thing that would collapse the building ?

Also curious about your floor (plywood). How did you install that so that it it stable ?

Thanks for the great pics ! Looks great and very functional for you !

 

[Tractor Factor]

This is the first time I've seen one of these. I'd be curious to know how much wind/snow you have in your neck of the woods. It gets very, very windy at my place, so I'm wondering if it would hold up. I regularly have to go put shingles back on my house roof, and just recently replaced some soffit that blew off. I'd guess 40-60 MPH winds are the norm during some of the winter months. How does this thing anchor to the ground ? Also, we had about 2 storms that dropped around 2 feet of snow each this year- along with a lot of wind. Do you thing that would collapse the building ?

Also curious about your floor (plywood). How did you install that so that it it stable ?

Thanks for the great pics ! Looks great and very functional for you !

I think our average snowfall is somewhere in the 9 foot range, not quite what it is along the nearby Lake Ontario shoreline, or Syracuse area, but substantial. That being said, a few mornings when it threatened to snow all day, I'd go out and slide the snow off from inside with the business end of a push broom, so I never really let more than 3 or 4 inches of snow accumulate. Not sure how comfortable I'd feel if I was down in Florida the week the blizzard of the decade hit and no one to do that for me.

We get our share of high winds, 40-60 mph is fairly common, esp in winter. It's held up great, no problems at all. I do have some trees nearby that help to break the wind a bit. I'm not sure if I'd site it on a wind-swept hilltop or the middle of an open field. They supply the thing with auger type anchors, but I couldn't use them, so I improvised. I detailed my construction in those posts, if you're interested.

The plywood floor is screwed to floating 2x sleepers laid flat on the crushed stone base I put down. I had some of the lumber laying around, and had to add $200 for the rest...did it all in a day. It's as solid as a concrete floor! I added some extra 2x in spots to support the stabilizers and loaded if I want to lift the tractor up.

Got heat and lights and radio, too...a real man cave.:thumbsup: Worked out there on single digit winter days in comfort.

Anyway, the first tractor will be paid off in 2 1/2 years, and I plan to put up a pole barn at that time...unless I buy another tractor.

 

[lakeside]

Most of this has probably already been said, but if you can't store an implement under cover, then some basic precautions should help keep your equipment safe from corrosion and damage. I have a B26 and remove the backhoe for the winter to install a 3 PT snow blower.

Try this:

Exercise all the cylinders;

Lower the implement onto treated 4" X 4" to keep the implement off the ground and to allow for air flow. This will reduce the risk from the ingress of water and reduce corrosion. Place blocks under the implement so if there's any leakdown over the storage period the implement doesn't sag down. This is especially important if, come spring or whatever, the implement is now too low to easily reinstall;

Remove, clean, regrease and re-install PTO joints etc;

Inspect and replace as necessary linch pins, cotter pins etc;

Inspect hoses, belts and shear bolts. Order replacements/spares as required;

Re-install all pins etc (it's a pain trying to find all the bits and bobs in the spring, just ask me!!);

If you can't, or don't want to re-install pins, clean them and coat with a thin film of oil. Place them in a clear plastic Ziplok bag labelled with where they go;

Clean the zerks and grease the implement with good quality grease. Good grease is only a little more expensive than the "dollar store" variety;

If squirrels or mice are a problem in your area, consider putting repellant in or on the machine so you don't end up with chewed hoses or belts (be careful though if you or your neighbours have pets)

Grease exposed cylinder pistons or bare metal. I use regular automotive grease;

Cover the implement with a tarp. Tie the tarp down but leave enough space for adequate air flow.

Hope this helps,

 

[Grateful11]

My word...I need your storage building.:laughing:

Which one? The 15' disc in the old family chicken house and appears it could
fall in at any time but it'll probably be here for a long time. :laughing:

OT: It's sad that my late FIL paid out good money to have some of these sheds
repaired over the years and you should see the shoddy work some of these
goons did. I don't know how some people sleep at night. We got recommendations
before building a 24'x48'x16' high hay shed last year and found a guy of Amish
descent with 12 kids and do these guys ever know how work and do it right
and don't charge an arm and a leg.