Got Mice?

[Jovee]

I think I will have to automatically start pulling shrouds before the first start. I wish there was something I could spray on the engines to avoid this every year

[Kent]

You can hang a cloth pouch of mothballs (naptha) in the engine compartment...

[Charlieson]

Those mice cause more damage. Ive seen quite a few good tractors that have had engines burn up because of mice nests. Usually get a rash of them first thing in the spring. Always check tractors for them after winter. ddh

[firefoxz1]

I too have heard that mothballs will work. I have cats here so I don't usually find that problem. Last weekend I picked-up a free Cub Cadet that didn't run right. I first checked the carb because that's what the owner thought, No problem. Second I decided to pull the tin and found what seemed like ten pounds of nutshells and nesting material. Checked the oil and gave it a try, ran great. Atleast they didn't chew on the plug wire on this one.

[ehertzfeld]

The cat's and I have an understanding, they can hide in my tents as long as they don't leave any surprises in them. So far they have keep-ed out the mice:D Elon

[Jovee]

I will give the mothballs a try. Cats would be great but Im allergic to them. They make repellents for gardens for certain animals I believe. I wonder if that would work too.

[lndscpr]

I know a lot of people are offended by this but i ise DCON. Mice come to my shed to visit but never stay...I also like the sticky traps, the rat traps work better than mouse traps.

[richp]

My neighbor swears by irish spring soap chips. He has old cars and this keeps the rodents out during storage.

[UCD]

Clothes dryer fabric softener sheets.

[IronPony]

While operating our fishing resort in Minnesota, we had a number of seasonal campers that left their trailers at our resort over the winter. They tried ALL of the above to keep mice out of their units and nothing worked. The best is still a good old mouse trap used in the fall when the mice want to come inside for the winter. I would "run my trap line" twice a day until I stopped catching them.(took about two weeks as the weather started to change) No problem after that. As far as Decon goes, fox and cats are natural killers of mice; If you use Decon, you will also kill both fox and cats as they eat the dieing mice that have gotten into the Decon. xx( I don't want to do that so I don't use Decon. Dan aka IronPony

[OldFarmTractor]

Spackle wall patching material with some kind of feed. Put some water nearby. They eat the grain with the plaster and the water sets it up nice. I don't think this would hurt a cat or fox if they eat them later.

[Simplicity314]

Another reason for not using decon is if they are nesting in the walls of the shed they could return and die, then you'll have to find the source of the odor!

[Jovee]

Next fall I will give everything mentioned a try. Since the nests are in the engines, they arent living inside. The tractors all sit outside under covers during the winter months. I did have a few get into the basement somehow but those black box supertraps handled those. I did put some square blue food bait poison blocks out in early march. Over night, all four entire blocks disappeared. Put four more out the next day and they too were completely gone. I dont know if that should scare me or not. We have raccoon problems too. No remains have been found but will check the rest of the tractors before start up. I don't understand their motive with engines -

[dcw06]

Like Maynard said,keeps them out of our camper.

[IronPony]

The motor area is a real nice cozy dry place for a nest. Makes a good home for a family of mice. Dan aka IronPony