storing tractor for years

ugabulldog · Dec 6, 2018

I am moving and not sure when I will use tractor again, have to find land, build, could literally be years, it will be stored inside.....owners manual says to drain and change all fluids, I just did the oil and coolant this yr, tractor has 400 hrs, owners manual says to change hyd at 500, should I do before storage? It says to drain fuel and add 2 gal of "fuel injection pump calibrating fluid" Not even sure what this is. Also to fully raise lift linkage and support lift arms, it has 3 pt and FEL, not sure why to raise? Tractor is a diesel w/ a fuel injection pump. Stabil is only good for 2 yrs I think. I was thinking of just draining fuel, running till dies and leaving empty, would this be bad? Any help is appreciated.

mcfarmall · Dec 6, 2018

There is nothing worse for a machine than letting it sit idle, regardless of how it's prepped for storage.

Sell it now, invest the money and buy a new one when you finally get back around to needing a tractor.

4570Man · Dec 6, 2018

A few won’t hurt a diesel tractor. I wouldn’t run the tractor out of fuel. There’s no telling what will dry out that wasn’t supposed to. Diesel will last years. If it’s stored inside I’d park it and forget about it. If it’s going to be stored outside I second the idea of selling it.

BleedingOrange · Dec 6, 2018

By any chance, do you happen to a friend that you trust that could keep it inside at his place, and start it up and move it around once in a while ?

MossRoad · Dec 6, 2018

ugabulldog said:
I am moving and not sure when I will use tractor again, have to find land, build, could literally be years, it will be stored inside.....owners manual says to drain and change all fluids, I just did the oil and coolant this yr, tractor has 400 hrs, owners manual says to change hyd at 500, should I do before storage? It says to drain fuel and add 2 gal of "fuel injection pump calibrating fluid" Not even sure what this is. Also to fully raise lift linkage and support lift arms, it has 3 pt and FEL, not sure why to raise? Tractor is a diesel w/ a fuel injection pump. Stabil is only good for 2 yrs I think. I was thinking of just draining fuel, running till dies and leaving empty, would this be bad? Any help is appreciated.

Don't change the hydraulic oil now. It doesn't need it. Don't drain the fuel. It doesn't need it. Put in some fuel stabilizer. Try and run it for half an hour or so every 3-4 months if you can. You might also want to put it up on short jackstands. Just enough to keep pressure off the tires so they don't get "set" with a flat side for months at at time. Do everything the manual says for long-term storage would be the best advice, though.

Jstpssng · Dec 6, 2018

I wouldn't hurry to sell it. You will pay a lot more to replace it with a comparable tractor. Your 451 has low hours for the age and you know how it's been treated; yet it's old enough so that it won't depreciate much more. If you decide to sell further down the road you will still get about the same amount of money.
You have a dry place to store it, so it isn't going to deteriorate the way that it would if stored outside. I would do as the manufacturer says, then check on it periodically.

4570Man · Dec 6, 2018

MossRoad said:
Don't change the hydraulic oil now. It doesn't need it. Don't drain the fuel. It doesn't need it. Put in some fuel stabilizer. Try and run it for half an hour or so every 3-4 months if you can. You might also want to put it up on short jackstands. Just enough to keep pressure off the tires so they don't get "set" with a flat side for months at at time. Do everything the manual says for long-term storage would be the best advice, though.

I don’t think you’ll make enough heat in 30 minuets to evaporate the water out of the oil and you won’t burn enough fuel to replenish that so I don’t think you’re doing it any favors with such short use. Than again that’s about all my tractor does. It at least gets several hours use at a time a couple times a year.

dannoGT · Dec 6, 2018

If you drop it off at my place I will keep it in the shed ! Fire it up every couple of days to do a little work around the place! I will keep the fuel tank topped up! And I won't even charge you anything!

MossRoad · Dec 6, 2018

4570Man said:
I don’t think you’ll make enough heat in 30 minuets to evaporate the water out of the oil and you won’t burn enough fuel to replenish that so I don’t think you’re doing it any favors with such short use. Than again that’s about all my tractor does. It at least gets several hours use at a time a couple times a year.

I said "run it", not idle it. Run it for 30 minutes. It should get up to temp in 10 minutes at PTO speed no problem. If it doesn't, there's other issues. It should also use probably half a gallon of fuel, give or take, and it will be plenty of time to agitate the fuel in the tank with the return line, so all that good stabilized fuel will be recirculated through the entire system several times over.

MossRoad · Dec 6, 2018

dannoGT said:
If you drop it off at my place I will keep it in the shed ! Fire it up every couple of days to do a little work around the place! I will keep the fuel tank topped up! And I won't even charge you anything!

That's why I like TBN! So many people willing to lend a hand.