Mouse damaged wiring on my LB1914

[caver]

I had been away from my tractor for a long time due to working just about every weekend for two months. I drove down yesterday and found this huge pile of dried pony biscuits on top of the gas tank area. I had been having problems with a rat building nests on top of the engine compartment. I started leaving the engine side covers off along with the top cover. Micky Rat had also made other piles of biscuits down near the differential lock pedal. I start cleaning off all the pony biscuits and see Micky making a run for cover. I'm asking myself, "where is that little sob hiding"? I move the tractor outside and notice my fuel and temperature gauges are not working. Removal of the instrument cover revealed a nest with many wires damaged or completely gone. Mickey had gnawed some wires right up to the rubber grommet bulb assemblies. Mickey had also done the same thing with the fuel sender assembly. I had inches of copper gnawed away. I've never seen that before, just insulation.

There is a nice little piece of real estate for critters to build a home behind the instrument cluster.

I just looked at the Kioti schematic in my manual and it is poorly done. I also need to call the dealer to see if this affects warranty if I do my own repairs. I'm hoping I can get the two lamp assemblies and I'm almost scared to find out what the fuel probe costs. Mickey did seem to leave the stuff covered by the split loom tubing alone.

I'll post a couple pictures in the wee hours of the morning when I home.

I've killed a few rats using poison and even bought a better rat trap. For awhile I couldn't figure out why my mouse traps were being tripped until I found a dead rat in the rafters of the old cabin.
I had a great weekend until Sunday afternoon, I was bummed.

Brad

 

[KeithT]

I have had all kinds of problems with mice building nests in the airboxes of atvs and in my lawn tractor. The best thing to prevent the nesting is to put a dryer sheet in the area where they are nesting, it will keep them out.

This of course does not help you fix your problem (good luck), but it is a good reminder to the rest of us to try and pre-empt this problem. I will not be using my tractor for a couple of months, I will stash a couple of dryer sheets in it.

 

[caver]

First picture and believe me the biscuits were piled up by Mr. Rat.


Wiring damage, looks worse in person.

 

[thcri]

I have seen rats do a mess on a lot of things but never seen one attack a Coyote!!!


All fun aside because what you have is not fun for anyone. Can you buy complete harnesses from Kiota that would allow you to be more of a plug and play fix?


murph

 

[lhfarm]

I've had good luck with baggies filled with mothballs. I had damaged battery cables, chewed wiring behind the insturment panel and inside the FEL joystick. I had to splice one wire, but was able to tape others. I have baggies everywhere and will change them out this fall. The dryer sheets are probably a better smelling solution, but I'm going to stay with what works.

 

[TractorLegend]

Maybe that chunk of harness can be had as a sub assembly thru the dealer? That would be the easiest and best assuming thats the only bad spot. Any splicing should be done by soldering and use of heat shrink tubing slid over wires prior to joining them- just using butt splices is asking for trouble later on that can be hard to pinpoint.
We see in the shop Ford underhood wiring is a favorite of mice, I swear they use a peanut butter based insulation!!

You can't kill a rat with kindness- a Decon box open on top adhered somewhere nearby REGULARLY can prevent this.

Theres a trap that also can be rigged out of a 5 gallon bucket, some wire and a tin can with both ends cut out.
about an inch down from top of bucket you drill two holes across the bucket from each other where you thread some wire thru one hole toward inside of bucket, thread wire thru open can ends as to form a roller and thread the wire thru the other drilled hole knotting both ends. Fill bucket about 4 inches with water and apply some peanut butter to to can roller. Use a stick as a ramp from ground up toward bucket edge. Leave overnight and enjoy!
Mice will jump onto precarious roller can to get at peanut butter and fall into water. They don't swim very well.

 

[caver]

I just got off the phone with the dealer and he said it won't be a warranty issue if I do my own repairs. Parts department will get back to me as they were swamped with customers when I called. Several harnesses are damaged. I first thought it might be easier just to replace the harnesses.
Repairs won't be a problem, I forgot to mention I'm an electrician by trade.

If any Kioti dealers are reading and you have easy access to a parts diagram
could you tell me if there is a connector on the fuel probe or is it hard wired to the fuel probe. It looked like a plastic device but I kick myself for not looking at it in more detail. The tractor is a 2.5 hour drive away from me at this time so I can't just go out and look at it.

Is there an exploded view online or do I have to buy Kioti's repair manual?

Co-worker who turned me on to Kioti said the electric rat traps work quite well for him.
Guy I bought the property from said take a traditional rat trap and put 6 penny nails poking up on the business end.
The new fangled Ketch-All was found tripped......
Looks like I will try a bucket trap next.

I appreciate all the feedback.

 

[thcri]

You can't kill a rat with kindness- a Decon box open on top adhered somewhere nearby REGULARLY can prevent this.

Theres a trap that also can be rigged out of a 5 gallon bucket, some wire and a tin can with both ends cut out.
about an inch down from top of bucket you drill two holes across the bucket from each other where you thread some wire thru one hole toward inside of bucket, thread wire thru open can ends as to form a roller and thread the wire thru the other drilled hole knotting both ends. Fill bucket about 4 inches with water and apply some peanut butter to to can roller. Use a stick as a ramp from ground up toward bucket edge. Leave overnight and enjoy!
Mice will jump onto precarious roller can to get at peanut butter and fall into water. They don't swim very well.

The bucket idea works great. I had a set up similar to that one time and would catch multiples of them.

Deacon, I don't understand it. I put that out and the mice will carry it around, put it in dishes, drawers and all over the place and I don't see one dead mouse anyplace.

murph

 

[ikymojoe]

When I moved into my new farm, the wood shed was unmaintained and had become a home for rats and mice (and my workshop area). The previous owner had just random piled the wood in a big pile. I had to organize it into three neat stacks to remove a rodent home.

For small mammals such as rats and mice, I take a two prong approach at my farm. First, I use a Tomcat Bait station.

Tomcat® Rodent Bait Station - Rodent Traps

I use the Tomcat because I do not want to poision my dog with an open box of D-Con. I also have to put the Tomcat Bait Station in a secure area because my dog will put it out and try to get to the bait (caught him in time). You will need to cycle rodent poisions regularly.

The reason is that some rodent will build up an immunity to a regularly use posion. Jeffers offers three different kinds and I just buy a different kind when I run out of one (cycling though all three). The good thing about this poision is that it is a primary killer, not a secondary killer. Thus the reason someone may never seen a dead rat is that your dogs or cats are eating the posioned rats. So, your dog or cat (secondary) is cleaning up the primary killed rat and the posion does not affect your dog or cat. This MIGHT be true with D-Con but I do not know.

My second approach is barn kitty. Barn kitty kills. Barn kitty kill anything that moves. I get on my tractor very slowy.....

 

[TractorLegend]

My second approach is barn kitty. Barn kitty kills. Barn kitty kill anything that moves. I get on my tractor very slowy.....

It seems in our locale "we" as a society have idolized the cat, bringing it indoors and treating it better than humans we meet. So well fed theres no need to hunt.