winterizing

[DanR]

Several tractors need to be winterized. Your opinions about Seafoam and or MMO in the gas and oil.

[Don McCombs]

I use Sta-Bil, plus run them out of fuel.

[Super A]

I don't use anything. Of course our winters are not as severe as in colder climates. Low temps rarely get below 20-25 and usually not every night.

I like to clean things up, service battery, and note stuff I want fixed before next spring. When the spring work starts again, I change the oil and filter and grease everything.

Al

[Phillip W. Lenke]

I fog us the stabil fogging spray , ours tractors are in a colder and wetter conditions than a standard garage.
Grease good put tires on wood etc.
Seem to go well
Phil

[Don McCombs]

Phil,

Out of curiousity, why do you put the tires up on wood?

[Dale Shaw]

Don, concrete and dirt will pull the oils and moisture out of the rubber if left to sit for a period of time, drying them out. By setting them on wood, it does not.

There may be other reasons, but that is what my Grandpa told me when I asked as a boy.

[Phillip W. Lenke]

Don as Dale mentioned, Ours are in a Friends barn on stone, pretty damp, get them out of the stone. If I had the jacks , I would block them up off the ground completely.
Hope this clarifies.
Phil

[gcbailey]

Don, concrete and dirt will pull the oils and moisture out of the rubber if left to sit for a period of time, drying them out. By setting them on wood, it does not.

There may be other reasons, but that is what my Grandpa told me when I asked as a boy.

I had a set of 2 year old Kuhmo tires on my jeep a few years back.... I let the jeep sit beside my house all winter in direct contact with the ground, by the time March rolled around the tires had all dry rotted.

[Don McCombs]

Thanks for the info, guys.

[Super A]

Don, concrete and dirt will pull the oils and moisture out of the rubber if left to sit for a period of time, drying them out. By setting them on wood, it does not.

There may be other reasons, but that is what my Grandpa told me when I asked as a boy.

I had a set of 2 year old Kuhmo tires on my jeep a few years back.... I let the jeep sit beside my house all winter in direct contact with the ground, by the time March rolled around the tires had all dry rotted.

Must be a climate thing. We've never put anything on blocks or anything else and the tires have held up fine.

Al

[Don McCombs]

With tires, I think the sun is more of a factor than anything else.

[gcbailey]

That was my one and only set of Kuhmo's..... that particular winter we also had several snows of 18"+ at a time, so the tires were pretty well covered a lot. (don't know if that had anything to do, or just the face the tire was absorbing everything from the ground) The cracking was mostly on the sidewalls. When I went to get another set of tires the service guy there mentioned the same thing that Dale had mentioned.

As far as winterizing, this will be my first with the big cub... on all the cadets I've always ran a little extra seafoam mixed in the gas and shut off the fuel flow and let the carb run out the gas. All my stuff is stored inside, unheated, but never below 38F.

[Phillip W. Lenke]

UV rays are very destructive on tires
Phil

[Boss Hog]

With tires, I think the sun is more of a factor than anything else.

You ever noticed that the weather cracks are always worst at the bottom of the tire where is is on the ground

[Rudi]

I use Sta-Bil, turn off the gas while the engines are running and let em go until they quit from fuel starvation. All the smaller outdoor stuff is stored in-doors. My Cubs are stored in-doors however it is on dirt. I agree with the observations on storing tractors on dirt/concrete/stone. Dad always had the Putt-Putt in the barn on wooden floors, Clorice has the Cub in a baby barn on a wooden floor and when it was in the garage the tires rested on plywood over concrete. Goal is to have the pole barn with a solid wood floor in time both to protect tires and save knees