What are your tractor winterizing tips/lessons learned.

[edrobyn]

This will be my first winter with a tractor in many years and my first ever with a diesel. I live in Tennessee so our winters are not quite as harsh as our northern neighbors but it can get pretty cold here in January. My tractor is located on another piece of property about 20 miles from my house so I won't be using my tractor very little or perhaps at all for about 3 months. The tractor stays covered in a small shed which is enclosed on three sides. There is no electricity in this shed for a block heater. What would you recommend I do to store/protect my tractor during the months of non use?

 

[toxicjeeper]

Most importantly for myself is getting the inline coolant heater in and having a means of plugging it in..but it gets real cold here and you mentioned not needed to start it for a few months...so secondly make sure your diesel tank is full( less likley to get water in the fuel via condesation)..I would also look at some kind of rodent deterrent if it is going to be sitting for that long...

 

[grsthegreat]

Personally if it were mine, and being left sitting for 3 months, id pull the battery and place it on a trickle charger at home in the garage. Id keep the diesel topped off and thats about all i would do. you have it under cover and thats the best thing to do.

 

[edrobyn]

Would you recommend an additive to the fuel maybe like Sta-bil?

 

[Gordon Gould]

Personally if it were mine, and being left sitting for 3 months, id pull the battery and place it on a trickle charger at home in the garage. Id keep the diesel topped off and thats about all i would do. you have it under cover and thats the best thing to do.

What he said. :thumbsup:

If you do go out and run it make sure you give it enough of a workout to get it well warmed up and any condensation dryed out.

 

[Soundguy]

yep.. 3months of cold and no power or use?

take battery out and top off at home.. bring back when you need it. fuel fuel tank with something like power service white bottle in it... make sure you run it some like that to get the power service into the pump and injectors / lines.

make sure she is serviced and have no water in any of the 'oil' sumps... and make sure your coolant is up to snuff for the expected cold you are gonna get.. same with water ballasted tires.. make sure they are ready for the freeze...e tc.

for a starting aid on diesels.. I'd stay away from ether and use wd-40 instead...

if needed..

soundguy

 

[jonyyuma]

Most of it has been mentioned above. This year I added" install bag of mothballs under the dash and add small sack of fabric softener sheets under the hood". After a Pack-rat Totally ruined the wiring Harness on my Chevy hunting truck, I shutter to have it happen to the Kubota? I am planning a Mouse bucket too, as I cannot keep up with the De-con.

 

[bigbull338]

as my tractor is used year round i dont do any winterizing more than normal things.

 

[JDgreen227]

as my tractor is used year round i dont do any winterizing more than normal things.

Something I learned the first winter I removed and stored my 7-Iron mower deck, CLEAN THE UNDERSIDE BEFORE YOU STORE IT, not in the springtime. I was too lazy to powerwash the underside the first fall I stored the deck, by the time spring came around the grass had hardened to the consistency of concrete, even with a power washer and a turbo nozzle it took forever to clean it. Doing the job in the fall takes a third of the time!!! TAKE HEED !!!!

 

[bigbull338]

yes if your storing a mower deck its smart to wash out from under it an on top of it.mine is a fullsize farm tractor.

 

[Rustywreck]

One piece of advice I can give as an expert procrastinator is to do whatever winterizing you need a month before you need to.

Winter here sometimes comes all at once with a dump of snow followed by a week of cold. Cold and snow make everything more difficult and hurried, which means more things go wrong, which makes for greater frustration. I go through this every year - don't follow my example.

Also, scout all the areas which will need to be plowed or snow blown to make sure there are no objects which will be covered by the snow only to be found by the snow blower. Shear bolts can be great things, but they can be a real pain when it is cold and blowing snow.

Speaking of shear bolts, if you have a snow blower make sure you have a supply and know where they are.

 

[JDgreen227]

yes if your storing a mower deck its smart to wash out from under it an on top of it.mine is a fullsize farm tractor.

I just pulled the deck off my JD and cleaned it well before storing, now I am power washing the underside (the tractor) of grass and other debris, when that is done I will clean the upper side and engine compartment. My tractor goes about 100 hours a year and I really only give it a complete cleaning after removing the deck and before installing the FEL and RB for winter time snow removal.

 

[edrobyn]

These are all good suggestions and I will do.

The talk of the lawn mower deck reminds me I totally forgot about my bushhog. I guess I need to give it a good cleaning underneath before putting it up for the winter.

 

[RobertN]

Read the book The manual for my old Kubota, and my current tractor, have info on storage and winterizing.

Having a shed is tops on my list, even in the summer. My Dad got a Ford 9N about 6 years ago, with like new rear tires. now, they are all weather checked from sitting outside.

for some tractors, the manuals recomend latching the clutch in the disengaged position.

Put it away clean.

 

[edrobyn]

I agree. I hate to have any equipment sitting in the weather. It's like watching money burn. There is a farm down the road where a gentlemen who lived by himself passed away a few years ago and the estate is being contested. Meanwhile, all of his equipment, car, house etc. is rotting away.

 

[Jerry/MT]

This will be my first winter with a tractor in many years and my first ever with a diesel. I live in Tennessee so our winters are not quite as harsh as our northern neighbors but it can get pretty cold here in January. My tractor is located on another piece of property about 20 miles from my house so I won't be using my tractor very little or perhaps at all for about 3 months. The tractor stays covered in a small shed which is enclosed on three sides. There is no electricity in this shed for a block heater. What would you recommend I do to store/protect my tractor during the months of non use?

Check your owner's manual for info on storing your tractor. They usuaully have a pretty thorough list of thing to do before you store it.

 

[JoeL4330]

if you choose to leave the battery in, there are solar charger/desulphators you can use to keep it topped up ...batteryminder comes to mind

power service in the white bottle for the fuel and, as mentioned, keep all the tanks, jugs, jerrycans, whatever full so there is no condensation

maybe a project will be to bring electricity to your shed.

my guess is you won't have problems if you take the few simple precautions the posters have suggested. Don't overlook the comment about locking the clutch pedal down (disengaged) if your tractor, like mine, provides for that ...keeps the plates from rusting together.

 

[edrobyn]

I was reading another thread about those solar battery chargers. I didn't know there was such a thing. Pretty cool.

 

[MikeA57]

What is this Power Service in the white bottle that people speak of? I saw this referenced in another thread and didn't understand then and I still don't.

Are you guys pouring a little moonshine in your fuel tanks to keep moisture away?

Mike

Edit: Never mind - I found it. I Googled "Power Service fluid" before I posted and nothing related came back. After I posted that I changed the search term to just "Power Service" and found the whole line of products. Never heard of them before....

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