Keeping rodents from moving into your combine

Whats the best way to keep rodents from invading your combine and stinking up the cab interior? I have thought of going to the local heating
and air conditoning shop and having tin work made up that would be 3 feet high and wrap around each tire to form a protective square
box.Anybody out there tired of these little invaders?

I use moth balls in the engine bay and fan housing, but do not like the smell in the cab. They cost a lot, but the pine-scented bags from the hardware store or farm center work well. (about $10 /4bag box). Friend using Bounce dryer sheets but the jury is still out on that one. I am at his place quite a bit and always check the combine, the Bounce sheets seem to dissipate more quickly and lose effectiveness. I don't complain about the price of the good stuff anymore since I pulled the trans out of my '68 F-500 because of a nest in the bell housing. Peed all over the release bearing and it seized to the sleeve.

We use Bounce brand dryer sheets inside the cab and we tuck them in areas all around the combine. We had an old exterminator tell us it had to be Bounce brand. Ever since we started doing that we have had pretty good luck. And the cab always smells great.

Use the bounce dryer sheets also. Works excellent. I use a shed across the road from me that I only visit occasionally and I have a PU truck in there and never have a problem with the critters in the cab. Like others have said, it always smells nice.

I have been using both moth balls and bounce sheets in my
combine for many years. this combination has worked so far.

Duane

I use fresh cab sold at fleet farm and tsc and ace hardware.I change them twice a year.

Fresh Cab is a brand name. See www.earthkind.com Package says Made In USA. Great. For what it's worth, it also says it's "certified" by the Federal EPA. woo hoo !!

One cannot spend too much time cleaning up a combine at the end of the fall harvest season. I typically spend an entire day cleaning it up. My arsenal is based upon two common tools. The first is a leaf blower and the second is an air compressor with 2, 4 and 6 foot air nozzle wands. Any trap door is opened up and the machine run to aid in emptying the machine. We also remove all shielding prior cleaning up and leave on a flatbed trailer during the storage season. I will start the machine up a few times during storage, take it outside, and even run the machine, and again, blow it off with the air wand. We load up the exterior with mothballs and Irish Spring bar soap. The cab gets loaded up with Bounce dryer sheets and the "cab fresh" product. In the engine compartment, we will leave a very low sided container with antifreeze to give any rodents who make it up there a fresh drink. The shed the machine is stored in is tight enough that our cats cannot get inside. The Bounce dryer sheets, mothballs, and Irish Spring bar soap get swapped out. I think we have managed to find all the little nooks and crannies where debris can settle. We also keep the various products of rodent bait in the shed, too, so those that are in there have something to eat and eventually die from. If you can eliminate the food source and any material that may be used to build a nest on the machine and in the storage shed, that seems to help quite a bit. I don't think I go overboard on this, as it was quite a few years ago, a rat ate into an air conditioning line and caused some other problems. I hope to never experience something like that again.

Mice must have different tastes in different areas of the country.

Around here, dryer sheets and "cab stink pouches" are simply (expensive) nest building material.

Bob

That's a good one. Never thought of it that way!

I had a $1400 bill for mostly rewiring a combine from critter damage.

As Bob said, thry ised drier sheets and the math ball box for nesting material.

I got 3-4 cats to move from the barn to the machine shed. Actually got a momma to move a few years ago, and her kids are staying there.

They occasionally have a dead mouse by the food bowl, but I pave had no damage from mice any more in 5 years.

Of course, the gravel side of the shed floor is a mess; and there is occasional foul smells and moisture from the males in places I don't care for... So it's not perfect.

But sure is an improvement.

Paul

Pour some used oil into the machine and run it a bit....will run to the low spots and taint any trapped seed so the mice are not attracted to it. Bounce sheets in the cab plus a small open container of diesel in the cab plenum. ALWAYS disconnect or remove the batteries. Ben

Original scent Irish Spring soap repels mice for me. It still helps to clean up as much as possible to eliminate food and bedding.

The best way is to clean your combine thoroughly after harvest. Remove all grain and chaff inside and out. Your mouse problem will disappear.

Knock on wood, I don't have trouble with the combine cab. The mice are in the combine but not the cab. When the dogs hear the combine start they come running for the shed to get the mice that take off.

Now the Ford L9000 semi? It's always FULL of mice. I just keep the cab loaded with bait. Once mice move into a vehicle it will be forever plagued with mice no matter what.

A lot of farmers are spraying Rataway Fragrance from Rataway.com to protect wiring, engines, hoses, lines,

Rataway Fragrance