Winter Tractor Tips – How Do You Handle Snow, Storage, and Maintenance?

[Vinnnie]

Hey folks,


Winter’s almost here, and I’m bracing for the usual chaos with snow, ice, and frozen fuel lines. I figured I’d start a thread to swap tips on keeping tractors happy in the cold.


Snow Removal:
I usually grab the front blade for big piles and a rear bucket for smaller stuff, but wet snow is the enemy. Tire chains are lifesavers on ice. Anyone got clever tricks to stop snow from sticking or to save your back from constant pushing?


Storage & Protection:
I’ve tried keeping my tractor in the barn (best option) and under a tarp outside (not as fun when frost covers everything). Battery maintainers are my new best friend. How do you guys protect tractors from frost, critters, or just plain winter misery?


Maintenance:
Cold kills hydraulics and engines if you’re not careful. I check fluids, grease moving parts, and start the tractor a few minutes every few days. Seems silly, but it saves headaches later.


Curious how everyone else survives winter with their tractors. Share your tricks, fails, or even funny stories—I’ll take it all!


Thanks!

I run a 1800 oliver it sets beside the barn so I can plug the heater in before I need it. Loader on the front and 8 foot blade on the back. For rodent control I use cats.

 

[Oaktree]

My oil pan is weird, it has 2 drain plugs and is raised in the center. Ill get a picture later on and post it.

Yeah, mine's the same way. IIRC the driveshaft for the front wheels goes thru the middle.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Was that first post another AI generated compilation of weird advice?

One post wonder newbie!

I only start my tractor(s) if I'm gonna use them ...

I also have the dual drain plug shaped Kubota oil pan that the front driveshaft goes up between ...

 

[grsthegreat]

I had always thought i placed a heat pad on bith sides, but crawling under there and taking pics showed i only installed 1 side. So much for my memory. But that setup has worked great for nearly 15 years.

Its snowing today and i was bored, so im out installing hydraulic powerpack and chains today in heated shop.

 

[dsbike]

So I am curious, What do you consider cold. I live in the east coast of NC. Our winters are pretty mild compared to northrn states. However we do get freezing temps that may last a few days. Mostly our temps range from a low of 28' overnight & mid 40's or 50's during the day. We don't get snow here or at least not enough that we need to remove it , the sun does a pretty good job of that & instead of snow we tend to get an ice storm or 2 each year. I store my tractor in a canvas carport with all 4 sides enclosed. I do add treatments for cold weather to my fuel as a low cost preventative. Any other suggestions for me? Thanks

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Get a generator!

 

[grsthegreat]

So I am curious, What do you consider cold. I live in the east coast of NC. Our winters are pretty mild compared to northrn states. However we do get freezing temps that may last a few days. Mostly our temps range from a low of 28' overnight & mid 40's or 50's during the day. We don't get snow here or at least not enough that we need to remove it , the sun does a pretty good job of that & instead of snow we tend to get an ice storm or 2 each year. I store my tractor in a canvas carport with all 4 sides enclosed. I do add treatments for cold weather to my fuel as a low cost preventative. Any other suggestions for me? Thanks

Well, the high yesterday was 25°f here yesterday. Today its 30 and been snowing all day.

 

[Rockbadchild]

So I am curious, What do you consider cold. I live in the east coast of NC. Our winters are pretty mild compared to northrn states. However we do get freezing temps that may last a few days. Mostly our temps range from a low of 28' overnight & mid 40's or 50's during the day. We don't get snow here or at least not enough that we need to remove it , the sun does a pretty good job of that & instead of snow we tend to get an ice storm or 2 each year. I store my tractor in a canvas carport with all 4 sides enclosed. I do add treatments for cold weather to my fuel as a low cost preventative. Any other suggestions for me? Thanks

At these temperature you don't have do do anything... for my tractor cold start at -4 F without taking the wind factor into account. For myself cold start at -13 to -22 depending on the humidity and wind.

 

[Stonehammer]

I have a 2006 Kubota l48. Park it in the yard somewhere. Tilt the seat up and cover it with a plastic garbage bag. Then if I don't forget and have time I throw a square of old rubber roofing over the seat and steering wheel console. I've never used any heaters or anything. I live in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and it's-2° this morning. The Kubota has never failed to start in the last 20 years. I do let it warm up for a very long time.

 

[ZiggyD]

I might be committing a TBN felony but as a disillusioned Redditor I can’t help but spot the AI adjacent main post.

Note the perfect formatting, the chirpy positivity, weird usage of implements (small and large buckets?), saying they’re essentially using all storage options (who does that?), being off on winter timing, etc.

Most notably is that the guy signed up for an account at 9:20 am on Saturday, posted on 9:35 am and was never seen again. This is usually the second best clue.

Please tar and feather me if I’m wrong (hopefully I am) but also be prepared for the insidiousness of what is happening with AI on the internet and how it can easily penetrate even communities like this.

Adding to clarify to those who might ask why: there could be many reasons. I’m leaning towards a marketing agency tasked with writing an informative how to guide. They’ll have the AI (ChatGPT etc) write the post. When there are sufficient community responses feed them back into the AI model and ask it to write a comprehensive guide using your replies. AI is phenomenal at doing this. They don’t even need to log in again to scrape your replies.