Where do you park/store your tractor?

[kozal01]

Mine lives in this. I think because it has no sides to trap moisture I have not had any rust issues.

 

[WinterDeere]

It's funny my 19 yr old JD riding mower had rusted at about the 2 year mark and now the base is completely rusted. The plastic hood is the only green on it. Turns out the box store version (eg Lowes) is not the same as the ones in the JD store.

There was indeed a period where the box store mowers from JD and many other brands were not the same as what you would get from a dealer, despite sharing the same model number. The box stores created this problem, by their buyers naming the price they would pay, and leaving the manufacturers having to find a way to try to meet it, or lose all sales through that chain. Walmart does the same to their vendors, common practice.

I know from speaking with the dealer about this, that JD ended this practice at least several years ago, mostly due to dealer push-back, as the dealers were the poor bastards faced with making warranty repairs to these inferior products.

But having said that, I always thought the differences between the dealer versions and big box versions were more about smaller things, like replacing ball bearings with sleeve bearings and bronze sleeve bearings with plastic sleeve bearings, etc. I never heard that they had fundamentally different body or frame components, but have to admit I never asked that.

 

[kozal01]

There was indeed a period where the box store mowers from JD and many other brands were not the same as what you would get from a dealer, despite sharing the same model number. The box stores created this problem, by their buyers naming the price they would pay, and leaving the manufacturers having to find a way to try to meet it, or lose all sales through that chain. Walmart does the same to their vendors, common practice.

I know from speaking with the dealer about this, that JD ended this practice at least several years ago, mostly due to dealer push-back, as the dealers were the poor bastards faced with making warranty repairs to these inferior products.

But having said that, I always thought the differences between the dealer versions and big box versions were more about smaller things, like replacing ball bearings with sleeve bearings and bronze sleeve bearings with plastic sleeve bearings, etc. I never heard that they had fundamentally different body or frame components, but have to admit I never asked that.

My X father in law had the same model JD I did years ago, both 2005 models but mine came from Lowe’s and his was from a dealer and they were identical. We both had the same issues with them too ironically.

 

[ljjhouser]

Shed with gravel floor - no rust. Rolling door.

 

[lennypoulin]

When not in use, I park my tractor in a carport with a gravel floor. It's a Kubota B2320 that I bought new in 2014. I am starting to notice quite a bit of rust on the tractor and am wondering if this is normal for being storing on a dirt floor, or has Kubota paint quality gone downhill.

Would love to hear how you all store your tractors and your issues & solutions to rusting or preventing rust.

My 1986 John Deere 855 and my 1994 John Deere 870 live outdoors in the open weather. I'm in central-west Massachusetts. They don't seem to mind. Rusting isn't a problem. The paint and the seat covering don't particularly like it. To put those John Deere tractors into perspective, my 2010 Ford Escape's frame completely rotted out and was junked by 2023, and lived in the garage when not in use.

 

[WinterDeere]

My 1986 John Deere 855 and my 1994 John Deere 870 live outdoors in the open weather. I'm in central-west Massachusetts. They don't seem to mind. Rusting isn't a problem.

That’s a real surprise. I owned an 855, which spent the early part of its life outdoors. It was badly rusted, until an owner between the first and me sandblasted and repainted it. The fender supports were all but gone, with terrible pitting everywhere else. The blast and repaint, and subsequent indoor storage arrested the rust’s progress, but obviously didn’t undo damage already done.

Like yours, my headlight bar was totally UV damaged, to the point of really limiting its function. Tires were also badly cracked from sun damage.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

To put those John Deere tractors into perspective, my 2010 Ford Escape's frame completely rotted out and was junked by 2023, and lived in the garage when not in use.

Yeah, but ... How many miles did the JD's run on the salty roads?

 

[Crank Shaft]

Why run chains on pavement? Are you using an inverted/pull snowblower?

Running behind a plow or a push-type snowblower, I get better traction with my turf tires on pavement without chains, than with. It's hard to beat rubber on concrete or asphalt! Steel on concrete just sounds slippery.

Thanks WinterDeere, I will try to explain. I plow most of the time. At times we get over two feet of snow in one storm. The snow can be light, medium or really heavy. Chains are essential to getting the job done in a reasonable period of time. Also at times we get icing first and then snow on top. Without chains you could not move the tractor uphill on its own, let alone plow uphill. I also have to plow a gravel road and gravel parking lot.

So with my first tractor I learned that chains work best for my area. I find plowing to be much faster than blowing snow. I put the plow on front and the blower on the back. Blower is used for the first pass on really deep snow, or to move the snowbanks back when they start to encroach too much.

Here's a youtube link to a video of my wife plowing the driveway when I had a casts for broken bones.

Here's a video of me using the blower in another storm.

 

[WinterDeere]

Nice rig! I used to run the same setup, plow on front with blower on the rear, but sold the snowblower a few years ago, since it gets so little use and was eating up valuable storage space. We can get 3 feet in a single storm, but only once or twice per 10 years, we more typically average only a foot or two of snow per year, as a few 4” to 12” storms. Easy enough to push with the plow, most of the time.

Yeah, we get that ice before snow thing here, sometimes too! But in our case, the ice under snow usually tends to be rough enough to get by without the chains, albeit maybe with a little less speed. We also get ice storms where the driveway is like a skating rink, but in those cases without snow on top.

 

[Crank Shaft]

Tractors do rust over time as paint quality is not on par for cars & trucks,but they rust too,You realize that your tractor is 11 years old and stored outside during that time?

Hey Devildog1, yeah I do realize all of that but what I cannot figure is my B6200 which I bought used and kept for 26 years under similar conditions did not rust as badly as my 11 year old B2320.

Not sure why. Climate change? Bad paint? More salt being used on roads these days? Not that I drive on roads much, but I do turn around on the city road at the end of my driveway and sometimes help plow my neighbour's driveway.