ABG JANUARY 2021

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65 January 2021 | Ontario
STORING YOUR TRACTOR
FOR WINTER
Taking the time to store a tractor
properly in the winter can give farm-
ers a leg up on spring tune ups, an
industry rep said.
“I think a lot of it starts with your
fluids when you put the tractor away
until the spring,” J.E. Cadle, mar-
keting manager with Case IH, told
. “You’d want to make sure
the fluids are changed and the oil is
changed if it’s due.”
Getting a head start on any fluid
changes can also save farmers time
during the season.
Modern tractors are capable of
operating for long hours before some
items need to be checked.
“You can go up to 1,500 hours
between transmission (fluid) changes,
and up to 3,600 hours before need-
ing to change coolants,” he said. So,
getting those levels right before you
need to use the tractor is just a good
overall practice.”
The fluids themselves have changed
to accommodate modern tractors,
Cadle added.
“Every engine oil isn’t the same
now that we’ve gone to stricter emis-
sions,” he said. “What you’re running
in a tractor today likely isn’t an oil you
can run in an older tractor. We’ve got
better additives and overall better
products available.”
One item that may go overlooked is
tire air pressure.
Farmers should refill the tires prior
to storage and check the pressure
again in the spring, Cadle said.
“I don’t think a lot of people think
about filling their tires back up with
air,” he said. “If tires sit with low
pressure all winter it could be bad
for the tires. You want to make sure
the tires are full for the winter and
brought back to operating levels in
the spring.”
When starting a tractor for the first
time after winter storage, farmers can
use their experience to determine if
there’s an issue with the equipment.
“Trust your gut when it comes to
the sound and feeling of the tractor,”
Cadle said. “You know what your
tractor should sound like and feel like
when you’re operating it. The elec-
tronics and things like that should get
going fairly easily, but an odd vibra-
tion might tell you something needs
to be addressed.”
Farmers should try to keep batter-
ies charged if possible and consult
their owner’s manual for more tractor
tune up information, Cadle said.
BY DIEGO FLAMMINI |
jeffbergen/E+ photo