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Duff

Shades of things to come?

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Duff

Hi, guys,

Went out this afternoon to fire up the trusty 312-8 and mow the lawn for what I hope may be one of the last times this season. Kicked the engine over and she started - as usual - in about two seconds. Love this machine. :USA:

Lo and behold - almost as soon as she started I started seeing little bits of leaves and grass blowing out from the cylinder cooling fins. Didn't think much about it at first since I recently mowed (hayed) an acre field with grass level with the top of the hood. But then I revved her up and globs of grass, moss, leaves and some fiberglass insulation spewed out, followed immediately by a very large and very scared field mouse! :wtf:

The machine had only been sitting for about a week, albeit outdoors under a tarp, and we haven't even had our first frost yet. But something had told the little varmint it was about time to start building his winter home! My grandpa used to tell me that when the critters start holing up early we'd better pay attention, 'cuz winter ain't far behind and it'll be a hard one.

Anyway, I checked as best I could with a flashlight and it appears the blower fins (pretty impressive airflow on an M12 I've learned!) had blown everything out so I went to mowing without further issues.

Anybody else had problems with critters starting to nest early in/around their machines?

Duff :banghead:

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BairleaFarm

I think we are due anyways. Id personally like a couple feet.

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wallfish

Yeah, just happened to me 2 days ago. You might want to take the covers off to check and make sure all of the debris is out of there. I found quite a bit in mine but I shut it off when I noticed it flying. This is very common but a lot of people don't pay it any attention until it's too late, after their motor over heats.

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T-Mo

Duff,

I haven't check yet, so you got me sort of worried about my machines. I did see the neighbor's cat, who thinks he lives with us, with a mouse in his mouth. Maybe he's gotten the little varmints under control already.

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Duff

Yeah, just happened to me 2 days ago. You might want to take the covers off to check and make sure all of the debris is out of there. I found quite a bit in mine but I shut it off when I noticed it flying. This is very common but a lot of people don't pay it any attention until it's too late, after their motor over heats.

Yeah, I probably should - I was just hoping to avoid having to pull everything off to get the tins off. Oh well.... :omg:

Related, anybody got any tried and true methods of keeping the pesky little critters out during storage? Mothballs, snake oil, Uncle John's Patented Mouse Repellent, etc..... :banghead:

Duff :USA:

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Rideawaysenior

I put Decon Mouse poison in the storage areas to keep them little Bastiges out of my machines. They sure can do some damage. I had a Honda 3813 that was two cyl and liquid cooled. I when to start it, and the timing belt jumped and it never ran right. I thought I blew the engine. When I pulled the motor, I found mouse parts and nest parts through the timing belt cover.

Ever since I put the mouse traps in there, I've never had another problem.

Jack

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Rod(NASNUT)

I use Mothballs I have a dog so I will not use Mouse poison

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KyBlue

Ive got the 09 Almanac and its calling for snow, for us, starting before thanksgiving...Which is WAY early from what we normally get

Im with David...we are due for a good hard snowy winter.. and I welcome it!

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CasualObserver

Welcome to my world!... our snow usually starts before about a week before thanksgiving, and I don't see grass again until the end of march or beginning of april. Probably about the same for Micah up there in Maine!

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KyBlue

Yeah, but thats all up north. We aint used to that length of winter.

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perry

:USA: we had alot of snow last year. i will have 4 non red tractors suited up with snow blades. but as of now no wheel horse's will be used this year for snowplowing :banghead: .

im giving my 877 a break after many hard years plowing and the 1277 i dont want to break it .

the mice is a losing battle. anything that sits hear for more than 3 days gets mice in it. i would definitly take off atleast some sheet metal and look in the housing with a flash light, you can usually have good luck getting the rest of a nest out with a shop-vac and a blow gun. i start the engine and use the blow gun to stir up the nest remains and the force of the flywheel fan will blow alot of it out. its a weekly thing here for me, and with as many tractors as i have i got tierd of pulling engines and sheet metal. unless i really have to. and it seems once the engine has the mouse sent they keep coming back. and even if you kill the first mice new mice will smell it and move right in. i have had 3 new nest in the same tractor within a week .

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Duff

the mice is a losing battle. anything that sits hear for more than 3 days gets mice in it. i would definitly take off atleast some sheet metal and look in the housing with a flash light, you can usually have good luck getting the rest of a nest out with a shop-vac and a blow gun. i start the engine and use the blow gun to stir up the nest remains and the force of the flywheel fan will blow alot of it out. its a weekly thing here for me, and with as many tractors as i have i got tierd of pulling engines and sheet metal. unless i really have to. and it seems once the engine has the mouse sent they keep coming back. and even if you kill the first mice new mice will smell it and move right in. i have had 3 new nest in the same tractor within a week .

Hi, Perry,

I was afraid one of you fellows with experience was going to tell me it's a losing battle. :banghead:

Pesky little critters sure are persistent, I'll grant you. Since I'm a newbie to this WH collecting business I've only got one tractor so far (but on the lookout for more, I promise you!), so I guess for this winter I'll just have to convince the wife that putting the tractor in our basement where the critters can't get to it is protecting our (my) investment. Looking ahead, sounds like my workshop may have to get an extension for herd growth! :horseplay:

Thanks to all for the advice and observations! :omg:

Duff :USA:

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KyBlue

Youll have to grab you a snow chucker or at least a blade...to add value to your eh... Investment! Not to mention that then you get to play on you WH year round!! im hoping for a fair bit of snow myself (as said above)

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MaineDad

The acorns dropped early at my house...

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combatmp29r

Our outside Tom cat who normally leaves me a rodent gift every week brought me 5 ice over the weekend, and I had 2 more waiting for me when I left for work this morning :banghead: If this keeps up he'll want a raise.

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perry

Our outside Tom cat brought me 5 mice over the weekend.... If this keeps up he'll want a raise.

send him my way. all my damn cat does is walk around and constantly meows after his twinn brother came up missing 2 yrs ago. i wish this one would come up missing. :banghead:

the dog is a better mouser than the cat. she walks around all day inspecting tractors , sheds, and the vehicals.

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Jim_M

I use fabric softener sheets, the kind you put in your drier to keep the mice away. They don't like the smell and it keeps them away. Just stuff them in the openings on your engine and anywhere else that mice might cause a problem.

I use them in cars that I have in storage and also my camper. I've never had a problem and they smell better than moth balls.

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Duff

I use fabric softener sheets, the kind you put in your drier to keep the mice away. They don't like the smell and it keeps them away. Just stuff them in the openings on your engine and anywhere else that mice might cause a problem.

I use them in cars that I have in storage and also my camper. I've never had a problem and they smell better than moth balls.

Somewhere I'd heard anout this but had forgotten it. Any particular brand seem to be more effective than another? :USA:

Duff :banghead:

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Rideawaysenior

The worst part about mice aside from the nests, is mouse urine. It is extremly corrosive. So much so that even if you grind the rust off, it still seems to rot. I had a K241 on a John Deere 110. There was a mouse nest in the shroud and they did their business in there too. I thought I had sanded all the rust out but a couple of months later it was back. It was a replaceable part but to imagine that they could be so destructive. They messed up another machine I have and I have also been told that they will chew wires. Wish there was a more permanent way to keep them away from the stalls.

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linen beige

the dog is a better mouser than the cat. she walks around all day inspecting tractors , sheds, and the vehicals.

Just the vibrations from that "clydesdog" (Or is she a Poocheran?) walking around scares the meeses away!

A little ammonia sprinkled around or left in a jar lid works pretty well too.

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Jim_M

Somewhere I'd heard anout this but had forgotten it. Any particular brand seem to be more effective than another? :USA:

Duff :banghead:

I've used name brands and off brands and either one seems to work just fine.

I used to use moth balls, but it took a month to air the camper out. A friend told me he uses dryer sheets so I gave it a try and have been using them ever since.

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Duff

I've used name brands and off brands and either one seems to work just fine.

I used to use moth balls, but it took a month to air the camper out. A friend told me he uses dryer sheets so I gave it a try and have been using them ever since.

Thanks, Jim. :omg: Headed to the market tomorrow.

Went out this afternoon and the beady eyed little bas*ard had already started rebuilding (only two days!) even though I moved the tractor to a completely different location. :banghead:

This is war, at least until I get the basement moved around enough to bring her into the fortress! :lol:

Duff :thumbs:

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MaineDad

Duff,

Have you tried setting a snap trap for them. Instead of repelling them you can just get rid of them for good :banghead:

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Sparky

I think with the dryer sheets you want the scented ones and not the un-scented ones. Something about the smell that keeps em away. I use scented sheets in my camper every winter. Smells nice in the spring as well :banghead: !

Mike............

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Duff

Duff,

Have you tried setting a snap trap for them. Instead of repelling them you can just get rid of them for good :USA:

Hi, Micah,

That's among my options for sure. There's a feed store a half mile down the road with a good selection of them thar mouse crushers.......

The wife doesn't like to see the poor little darlin's smushed, so I may have to resort to the glue-box type traps which we've used before with considerable success. I just hate to throw something away when there's a reusable/recyclable alternative.

And I'll augment the effort with dryer sheets - the sweet smellin' ones - in case the critters get by the traps.

Let the games begin! :horseplay:

Duff :banghead:

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