mice make for hot tractor engine !!

[quantico 1]

I used my deutz 1816 ( 6500 simplicity ) a couple times this year without issues when it was cooler. My next door neighbor used the tractor to mow a couple neighbors lawns. I got the phone call we dread " yeah the tractor stopped running " I found a mouse nest that looked like it had a mop in the middle. cleaned it out and it seems fine... I changed oil and filter and it seems fine... God I hate those little furry critters when they decide to use my engines to build condos. The shape of the briggs leads me to believe that I would not have seen the pile of mouse debris even when changing the oil and filter.... I guess I need to get out an inspection mirror every spring and have a look around... Glad my neighbor spotted the nest, not good that it was on a really hot 90 degree day. hope all the stuff is ok inside the engine... sounds good to me ... Do many of you have mice around that like to build homes .. Can you rent a cat ??

[Burntime 0]

My old landlord was used one weekend, 2 weeks later I started it up to see mouse nest pieces flying. They do not waste any time in there!

[dentwizz 1]

Mine had enough to fill a 3 gallon bucket when I got it. I would turn it off and it would smolder for a few minutes, even after the oil burned off. As a maintenance practice, I always check for airflow while it is running and periodically shoot compressed air up the shroud to check for debris.

[goatfarmer 471]

That's what usually happens when someone borrows your equipment......XX(

[quantico 1]

I can't decide if they just built the nest or if they were in there since winter .... guess they can build fast !!! Not my neighbors fault.... he is a sharp guy and found the problem quickly and got rid of it... so he is not in any way a bad guy here... I have great neighbors... they can borrow stuff and take good care with it...

[tripleguy 14]

A few years ago, I had one get into and store corn in my snowblower's air intake. I've got a Simplicity with a Briggs 8 hp Snow Guard. There's a shroud around the whole carb. I went to start it up in fall and it started smoking real bad and clattering. I quickly tried to shut it down. When I did, I went ahead and tried to pull on the pull-starter and it wouldn't budge. I had to tear it down and once I got the shroud off, corn started falling out of the intake on the carb. I pulled the head and there was a round corn tortilla on top of the piston, keeping it from reaching TDC on the head - that's why I couldn't pull on the pull starter. Got it all cleaned off all right but what a mess! The nest was actually down inside the pully assembly of the blower. That mouse had quite the set up there. Housing and food storage all in the same snow blower. I store it with the choke closed now.

[dentwizz 1]

Wow. I haven't heard of one inside the chamber before! I went to start my grandmother's new cub in the spring this year and it was an explosion of feathers out the blower cover. Fortunately they designed it that there wasn't anything left once I took the cover off. Needless to say I told her to get mouse poisons...

[perry 0]

have to check for mice on any tractor -car that sits for more than 3 days around here. my big ten i just worked on had mice. i allways check with blow gun before i pull them into the shop. my st.bernard got the mother and 2 babys, and i got another baby with a shovel. then about 2 hrs after i was working on the big ten i seen a little guy crawling around on the engine head and went back into the cover. he stayed in there the rest of the day untill i finished the tractor. well come to find out there was 2 more of them in there. last week i brought a old landlord home from my father-inlaws barn and there was a bubble bee nest in the blower housing all wrapped up with a old mouse nest. we'll good thing the engine was junk anyway. i poured lighter fluid down there and lit a match. if you have other pets around, here is a safe way to catch alot of mice. [url]http://www.frugal-living-freedom.com/mouse-traps.html[/url]
[img]http://www.frugal-living-freedom.com/images/mousetrap.gif[/img]