storage of older equipment

Jim Wolf

Member
I am noting the amount of rust accumulating on my haying equipment and thinking of how to prevent it. We do not have barns enough to store it all.
I was thinking of tarping it at least off season and then thinking of how much shelters with no floor have condensation from the earth. O.K. so put a tarp under as well. Then I was thinking of what a cozy winter home for rodents and how much chewing they can do and the nests they make in inconvenient places. And I wonder what others have thought of.
 
sun causes more problems with paint than anything else in my opinion. I park in the shade and don't cover unless it is something like the knotters on a baler. Mine ties a lot better at the start of each season since it was tarped. The rake stays out. The sickle mower is on the tractor and IT lives inside. Keep things painted up, oiled or greased and outside in the shade is probably fine.
 
Have heard some spray down their equipment with diesel/oil mix to keep rust down. Keeps the yellow jackets out too. Tarping always leads to rodent problems around here. I am currently looking for used tin to build more equipment sheds. Right now I am borrowing an unused loafing shed at a friends farm.
 
I'll second the sun damage. I've always kept my round balers inside. Last summer I bought another one just like mine,only 75 numbers higher on the serial number. It was a local trade,but has sat on the dealer lot for several years. Mechanically it's in great shape. The lifetime bale count on the computer was only about what I bale in two years,but that thing looks like heck from being bleached out by the sun. I'm tempted to take all the sheet metal off my old one and put it on it for the new paint and decals.
 
Gehl machinery was some of the worst for that.I have seen lots of pink Gehl choppers and silage wagons.Once saw a WD allis that was repainted with cheap paint turn bright pink.
 
Depending where You are it can be considered an "Environmental Hazard" Using petroleum to preserve equipment now a-days. EPA has recently been going after construction equipment. I have heard State contractors being told they cant park oil soaked equipment unless its covered from the rain.
 
I use a air blow gun with a siphon tube attachment. Run a tube [gas line] to a gallon jug filled with used oil. works like a crude paint sprayer. Does the same as you describe, except using air compressor air instead of hand pumped air.
 

Consider some repainting. I have done a few where I pressure wash then wire wheel. Then a quick hand sandpaper to scuff and smooth a little, then prime those spots with aerosol primer. The shoot on some alkyd enamel. I have found it very worthwhile. The key is that it has to be done before the original paint gets too bad, some where around 10-15 years.
 
As long as you put some boards or something between the tarp and bailer to get some air flow, it should work fine. I don't see a need to put a tarp under it.
 

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