Outside Storage

[Samwise]

My fairly new 2 year old BX2370 is finally getting kicked out of the garage. Even though I am not next to the ocean and have mild winters (6" snow rarely ~2000 ft in the Sierras) I am concerned about bare hydraulic rods and ball joints etc getting rusty. i know tractors tolerate this. i see many parked outside all year, faded, but work fine. any thoughts on this? grease stuff? Seat cover? entire tractor cover?

 

[ptsg]

If it was me, I would trap the whole thing.

If you want to go a bit further, I believe you guys have some affordable sheds that would work good also.

 

[super55]

Usually the biggest culprit to outside wear is not water but UV light. That's the one thing that will cause paint to fade, seats to crack, hydraulic lines to get brittle.

A breathable tarp will do tons to help keep it looking new. A military style canvas tarp or whats cheaper but not as durable is car/boat covers. Plastic tarps I wouldn't recommend. They have a tendency to trap condensation and not durable. Also if you have a vertical stack you might want to consider putting a rain cap on it.

 

[radios1]

My fairly new 2 year old BX2370 is finally getting kicked out of the garage. Even though I am not next to the ocean and have mild winters (6" snow rarely ~2000 ft in the Sierras) I am concerned about bare hydraulic rods and ball joints etc getting rusty. i know tractors tolerate this. i see many parked outside all year, faded, but work fine. any thoughts on this? grease stuff? Seat cover? entire tractor cover?

that's a real shame, devaluation, electrical problems, and mice and rats eating the plastic and rubber, oh well :shocked:

 

[diesel85]

I recommend building a cheap wooden box or impromptu shed with doors and park it inside.

Can easily be done for a few hundred bucks.

I am going to build a box for my flatbed trailer and kick it out of my barn. It just takes up so much space, but I invested a lot of money on the trailer, and don't want it exposed to the elements.

 

[zoltanthegypsy]

My fairly new 2 year old BX2370 is finally getting kicked out of the garage. Even though I am not next to the ocean and have mild winters (6" snow rarely ~2000 ft in the Sierras) I am concerned about bare hydraulic rods and ball joints etc getting rusty. i know tractors tolerate this. i see many parked outside all year, faded, but work fine. any thoughts on this? grease stuff? Seat cover? entire tractor cover?

Mine live under an open shed roof. Not much direct rain exposure but plenty of dew. No issues in 10 years but for things that can sit unused for any length of time I usually spray the rods with LPS3, then wipe them clean when its time to use them.

Curious to know what others think of this. Just made it up out of paranoia...

Z.

 

[nybirdman]

I build a pole barn finally for my tractor;sat out-side uncovered for ten years(being a cab model helps some),a good wax job and spray all the moveable parts and it will be fine.Biggest problem you may have is mice building nest in it.

 

[TripleR]

I loaned my BX2200 out for a few years and had to rebuild FEL rods, new seat and dash. At a bare minimum, a breathable tarp.

 

[Jstpssng]

They can tolerate being outside but it's better to keep them covered if you can. As others have mentioned, sunlight is worse for them than rain; the tires on my 2015 are already weather cracking. Freeze/thaw cycles are also hard on them here. Mice will get into them whether inside or outside; there's no way around it if they want to get in.
I'm finally building a 16x16 foot 3 sided shed for mine; it isn't as big or fancy as planned but at least the tractor and some of the implements will finally be inside.

 

[oosik]

I don't have a garage but I do have a very large carport. I've always parked my tractors in the carport - out of the sun and weather. It's been great protection for the 38 years I've owned tractors. No sun damage - no rust on any FEL rods. It's a very simple carport - quite large - cost around $1K to build. About 95% of our weather comes out of the SW. The picture is taken looking directly toward the SW. The extended overhang on the back of the roof keeps the sun, rain & snow off the tractor.

I also have a four bay carport just to the right of this big one. Each bay is considerably smaller. I keep the Wallenstein chipper in one bay along with my riding lawn mower. Otherwise - the disk harrow, ROBB, moldboard plow & LPGS all sit on separate pallets out in the orchard.

View attachment 629854

 

[poncho62]

This is where that old truck cap that you don't use comes in handy....if the tractor isn't too big

 

[Jstpssng]

This is where that old truck cap that you don't use comes in handy....if the tractor isn't too big

And there is where pallets go when they get tired of being out in the field.

 

[Citydude]

Very clever.

This is where that old truck cap that you don't use comes in handy....if the tractor isn't too big

 

[Samwise]

Winter is fast approaching. Storm in 2 days. Simply not the time right now for decent permanent solution. I will shop for a tarp. I see Tractor supply has some but doesn't cover the entire tractor. The roll bar and FEL likely will be left exposed. LPS3 on the exposed rods and ball joints?

It does sound like this is doable but not preferred long term. Just like a car UV is a problem. I can move under my large walnut trees in the summer time. As for mice the irony is one of our cars got totally chewed up shortly after the tractor left the garage. first the fuel injection wire (one tow job), then the tranny coolant line (another tow job). these are rats and we have cleaned out the entire garage, have traps, what not, but all of our vehicles are outside right now. Tractor remains uninfested for now.

 

[tradosaurus]

My fairly new 2 year old BX2370 is finally getting kicked out of the garage. Even though I am not next to the ocean and have mild winters (6" snow rarely ~2000 ft in the Sierras) I am concerned about bare hydraulic rods and ball joints etc getting rusty. i know tractors tolerate this. i see many parked outside all year, faded, but work fine. any thoughts on this? grease stuff? Seat cover? entire tractor cover?

I put in a boxed eave; 20 ft (L) x 18 ft (W) x 9 ft (H). Total cost including installation was $2815.00

 

[zoltanthegypsy]

We included an open tractor shed when we built the boat barn. Seemed huge at the time... but of course now we need a shed for the shed. Moral is, when you think it's big enough... think again

Z.

 

[chim]

The Ford 1210 has spent much of its life being shuffled in and out of buildings. For the past few years it's been outside. The paint is going again and the plan is to refurb in the Spring. I've had mixed results with tarps. We get a lot of wind here sometimes and when the trap isn't blowing off, it's flogging the tractor and marking the paint.

The L3200 has spent all of its life in a shed (the small shed lurking in the shadows on the right side). That shed is marginally large enough for it, and NOT big enough for the L4240. The 3200 will be sold and the poor Ford will move inside when that happens. The 4240 has been stored in my BIL's barn since we got it last December.

The 14 x 24 shed in the picture is the new home for the 4240. It is now almost complete and the tractor might be able to move in by Thanksgiving! It took a lot more work and a little more money than I thought it would. Has a metal roof w/ a couple translucent panels and an 8' door that's 9' wide. Probably have around $3K+ tied up in it.

 

[fried1765]

The Ford 1210 has spent much of its life being shuffled in and out of buildings. For the past few years it's been outside. The paint is going again and the plan is to refurb in the Spring. I've had mixed results with tarps. We get a lot of wind here sometimes and when the trap isn't blowing off, it's flogging the tractor and marking the paint.

The L3200 has spent all of its life in a shed (the small shed lurking in the shadows on the right side). That shed is marginally large enough for it, and NOT big enough for the L4240. The 3200 will be sold and the poor Ford will move inside when that happens. The 4240 has been stored in my BIL's barn since we got it last December.

The 14 x 24 shed in the picture is the new home for the 4240. It is now almost complete and the tractor might be able to move in by Thanksgiving! It took a lot more work and a little more money than I thought it would. Has a metal roof w/ a couple translucent panels and an 8' door that's 9' wide. Probably have around $3K+ tied up in it.

My 250 hour 2006 Kubota L48 TLB spent 13 years outside in Maine.
I just bought it in June, and henceforth it will not spend another night outside.
I am in the process of slowly bringing it back to (almost new) life.

I am painting bits and pieces as I get the motivation (I am in FL now, and it is not).
Wheels, bucket, fenders, console, and some other parts are done.
Seat has been replaced. all hose chafe guards have been sprayed with black exterior fabric paint (works great).
Hoe will be sprayed next, and hopefully I will able to buff out the hood and loader.
Should look almost new when I am done.

My L48 TLB is not for real work.
It is for play work,..... so I want it to be purdy!
It pains me to know that in 2006, the original owner bought a then $45K+ new machine (many extras), hardly ever used it, but could not bother to store it under cover.

 

[4570Man]

My 250 hour 2006 Kubota L48 TLB spent 13 years outside in Maine.
I just bought it in June, and henceforth it will not spend another night outside.
I am in the process of slowly bringing it back to (almost new) life.

I am painting bits and pieces as I get the motivation (I am in FL now, and it is not).
Wheels, bucket, fenders, console, and some other parts are done.
Seat has been replaced. all hose chafe guards have been sprayed with black exterior fabric paint (works great).
Hoe will be sprayed next, and hopefully I will able to buff out the hood and loader.
Should look almost new when I am done.

My L48 TLB is not for real work.
It is for play work,..... so I want it to be purdy!
It pains me to know that in 2006, the original owner bought a then $45K+ new machine (many extras), hardly ever used it, but could not bother to store it under cover.

Whoever bought my M59 new in 2014 was also a play work user but luckily they kept it inside. I’m not sure how they managed to put 450 hours on it. The buckets were almost brand new. The bucket has lost more paint in the 20 hours I’ve had it than the previous 450.

 

[Fallon]

This is where that old truck cap that you don't use comes in handy....if the tractor isn't too big

I'm not a fan of tarps as they tend to whip the tar (or paint) out of things. Any lean too or hard shelter to keep the elements off is superior. As others noted it's more sun than rain that's the problem. Any hard shelter even jury rigged with only a couple walls is better than a tarp. Well, as long as its sturdy enough to not fall over. Keeps the sun off & let's air circulate to avoid moisture buildup. Bonus points for creative recycling like ponch.