Go BottomHow to stop Mice Rodents eating Tractor Wiring
 | ScottD
Join Date: Posts: 1 
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2001-10-04 32208
Does anyone know of a trick to prevent rodents from nesting in and eating the wiring of a tractor? My father's Zetor was recently ravaged with many wires chewed flush with the back of the control panel.
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 | Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada 
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2001-10-04 32209
ACtually Scott, I'd be surprised if it was rats doing it, it sounds more like it was squirrels. Theses little critters are built with a particularly strange set of habits, amongst the forefront is a need for a balanced diet, seriously! A rat will happily live on absolutely anything, a squirrel will however, go a little 'squirelly' (pun intended) if their body senses that they need more of something in their diet (it is this same 'programming' that makes dogs eat grass, and deer lick salt from the gravel next to roads). The little fellers eat your wiring because their instincts tell them too. instead of trying to fit Mother Nature, do her a favour, put out a 'Mineralized Salt Block' like what cows need, a short distance away in a sheltered location and they will attack it rather than your prized possessions. Besides, boosting wild animal health is one of the best defences against things like Mange and Rabies. Best of luck. ....
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| Stan in Calif
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 47 Sacramento Valley- Glenn County
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2001-10-04 32213
Rats like plastic. I've had them chew up wiring, pvc fittings, and containers, esp. those containing delectable ingredients such as tung oil, even loctite. The only way I know is to eliminate them. In my rat eradication forays, I've learned that exclusion and destruction of habitat are vitally important. The basic Victor rat trap, loaded with peanut butter, and placed in their pathways works very well. D-Con and the other anti-coagulants are very effective, but do pose a minor threat of secondary poisoning to pets. - Stan ....
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| kay
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2001-10-04 32216
I have had the same experience with mice nesting in amongst the wires (and eating the wires) of different sized tractors and autos, when parked outside or in a open shed. Never had any problems with squirrels though.
The nests the mice make are very smelly, and I believe that they come back to that smell (just cleaning out the nest doesn't discourage them from returning). I discovered that spraying the area with bleach (I did this because when re-wiring the tractor, I couldn't stand the mouse urine smell) did have an effect on the re-building of the nest. You can tell if you have rats versus mice by the size of the turds left behind. Mice are about the size of grains of rice, rats the size of navy beans. Sorry if that comparison causes a loss of appetite for anyone. ....
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| Jeff B
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2001-10-04 32217
My neighbor hangs a small can of mothballs in the engine compartment of his plow truck to keep the chipmunks out. He removes the can whenever he needs to use the truck. Apparently works pretty well. -JeffB ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2001-10-05 32220
I'm not sure how sealed the console of the tractor is. If the only access points are fairly small, stuffing them with steel wool will keep mice and probably other rodents out. At least steel wool seemed to stop the mouse invasion of the construction trailer at our camp. Wire screen may work for larger spaces.
All rodents have to chew to keep their teeth from growing too long. They'll chew most anything available. Maybe the wiring was just something there, and covering wiring harnesses with the tubing sold to protect trailer wiring would provide something to occupy them. It's a different problem if they're attracted to something in the insulation.
We're in the middle of a mouse plague year here, and they're everywhere. It doesn't seem how much bait or traps are used, there are always more mice in a couple of days—but fortunately not in our house. The chipmunks and squirrels that have tried nesting in our car and truck haven't chewed wiring but they have left places stuffed with pine needles. I think I'd concentrate on making the console less attractive for rodent digs. Owls etc. and people can’t seem to kill enough mice to make a dint in the population this year.
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 | BillMullens
Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 649 Central West Virginia 
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2001-10-05 32229
I had a problem with mice in my riding mower. The nests would block airflow, it would overheat moderately and spit a valve seat. Moth balls worked for me. I just left the whole box sitting on the mower, around the engine, and moved it before I mowed again. I would caution that I don't know how flammable they are; forgetting to move them could be dangerous.
The mice once pretty much ruined the wiring to the rear end of a motorcycle that I kept in the shop. Had to re-wire the turn signals, brake and tail lights. They chewed on the plastic airbox cover, too. After that, it was war. I control population with D-Con, and discourage nesting with moth balls.
Bill ....
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| Roger L.
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 0
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2001-10-08 32304
Around the Rocky Mountain area what you describe would be due to pack rats doing the damage. They have a thing for wiring and often will rob all the wires that run anywhere close to their nests. Instead of just clipping the wire, they will cut it at the firewall and then follow it forward to where it disappears in the front and clip it there as well. Then they must take it somewhere because it is not in their nest...it is just completely missing. They can built a nest overnight and fill up the hood of your car with twigs and dry leaves in a week. The common trick here to keep them from nesting under the hood of a car is to prop the hood open. They don't seem to like it nearly so well when the hood is open. ....
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| hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 3583 iowa
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2012-12-26 185771
In the past I've had mice/rats ruin the woring harness and also chew thru the radiator hoses on my combine. After a sort of pricey repair I would dump a couple boxes of moth balls around in the engine compartment and under the cab where lots of wiring and hydraulic hoses are. That seemed to work for me.
On another occasion we had bought a new travel trailer but didn't have a shed to winter it in and never had a mouse problem so long as it sat outside. After a couple years we put up a shed to store the trailer, then the mice moved in. A campground owner told me afterwards that anytime an RV is stored inside for the winter the rodents will move in, but they seldom bother if the unit is left outside. OK, he was right after that we left it outside and no rodents, so go figure.
Frank. ....
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 | kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2012-12-31 185815
cats? ....
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| hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 3583 iowa
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2012-12-31 185818
Cats? Yes, how many do you want?
We seem to have an endless supply of cats, some are born, some run off, some just always hang around.
They do a pretty good job of keeping the shop and sheds rodent free, but they DON'T get in the house!!!!
Frank.
Oh, Happy New Year!!!!
....
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 | yocsr1
Join Date: Dec 2013 Posts: 182 Terre Haute, Indiana
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2015-01-05 191786
I use mothballs around my tractor and in the sheds. Haven't had a mouse since I started using them - ten years now. I had trouble at a state park with raccoons getting in my bass boat (fish smell in the livewells) and got mothballs and put around the boat and they stayed away. I even put them around the perimeter of my house just before they take the farm fields out and have never had a mouse in the house. ....
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| yocsr1
Join Date: Dec 2013 Posts: 182 Terre Haute, Indiana
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2015-01-05 191787
I use mothballs around my tractor and in the sheds. Haven't had a mouse since I started using them - ten years now. I had trouble at a state park with raccoons getting in my bass boat (fish smell in the livewells) and got mothballs and put around the boat and they stayed away. I even put them around the perimeter of my house just before they take the farm fields out and have never had a mouse in the house. ....
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 | Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 6898 Waterville New York
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2015-01-08 191805
We get several machines in every year do to the rodents. There are times we thought that the wire companies were using special flavors in the insulation on the wires to attract them but we haven't found any favorite colors or any one makes machines to be a plus from one to another.
Something that doesn't leave odors such as moth balls is using flashing to go around the base of the tire to the floor. It is a bit slippery for them to climb up on and if you are using 16 or 18" it is well over there reach before they can get traction. We first saw this being used in a farm magazine and to the best of our knowledge it hasn't failed yet. To leave an attachment on the ground might give them a way around so beware! ....
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 | PaulChristenson
Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 83 Vermont
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2021-05-16 200328
Like kthompson says... Barn cats
Make sure your tractor doe NOT have any of that soy-based wiring!!
https://nhoilundercoating.com/soy-based-wiring-how-to-help-keep-mice-out/ ....
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 | ricksuddes
Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 4 Ojai,CA USA
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2021-05-17 200330
Rataway Fragrance from Rataway.com has been helping farmers with rodent problems since 1999....non-toxic & non-poisonous safe around children & pets. $25.00 makes a gallon enough product to spray an engine 50 times at 2 oz per treatment. ....
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| Trainpilot
Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 69 Ukiah, CA
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2021-05-20 200334
I have found two methods to be effective: mice don't like to be in the open. Leaving covers off our pump engines has kept mice out of the compartment. If you can leave the equipment with the hood up, that can make a huge difference. One of the other things i do is poison them. (sorry mice, but it's not your equipment) I buy the block baits that have a hole down the middle to hold them in the dispensers. Then I use safety wire to attach them to a convenient spot. That way the mice or rats don't drag them away and I can monitor how fast they're being consumed. I used to think steel wool was a deterrent, but I've seen rats tunnel right through it. For those situations now I use hardware cloth. Cut and bent it tends to stay where it's put. ....
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| macdoesit
Join Date: May 2021 Posts: 28 OKC
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2021-05-24 200341
Fabric softner sheets. ....
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| ranktrank
Join Date: Jun 2020 Posts: 23 florida
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2022-07-01 201180
Mix one cup of good cereal and one quarter cup of sugar and one cup of cement then put it around your tractor shed in dry places and your rats and squirrels will disappear ....
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| charlieK
Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 137 kentucky
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2022-09-19 201319
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?????????????????????????? ....
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| Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2022-09-19 201320
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Actually Charlie, it works, except we used Plaster of Paris or Drywall Mud.
When the rodents eat it it sets up in their gut and kills them.
Best of luck. ....
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| Handson
Join Date: Apr 2020 Posts: 28
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2022-09-19 201321
Would this also kill cats and dogs? If so, do make a mouse only trap with it inside? ....
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| Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2022-09-19 201322
If you left it somewhere a pet could get to it I suppose it really wouldn't be good for them, however I'm guessing that if it's being put around a a tractor or other equipment there'd be spilled oil, hyd. fluid and antifreeze that wouldn't be very good for them ether.
Best of luck. ....
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| gregjo1948
Join Date: Feb 2019 Posts: 10
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2022-09-26 201339
I've used dryer sheets to keep mice out of campers and boats. I guess they don't like the smell. ....
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| Johnvandenberg
Join Date: May 2021 Posts: 8 77660
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2022-09-26 201340
Put put baking soda mixed with cornmeal
Mice and rats cannot burp or fart !
It will make bubbles mixed with their stomach acid
They will explode.
It will not harm any other animals . ....
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