Mice

[pew3]

I have a bobcat 643. How do any of you keep mice out of your machine?

 

[brdgbldr]

I have a bobcat 643. How do any of you keep mice out of your machine?

I have used a number of different techniques.

If you store the machine indoors, you should look into a 5 gallon bucket trap. They are easy to make and will catch multiple mice each day.

If the machine is outdoors. There are several ticks that can be used including over the counter solutions thar are safe for pets and humans. Most of these solutions deal with interfering with the rodents sense of smell.

Irish Spring soap shredded and sprinkled throughout the machine is very popular.

What has worked best for me is using old small containers stuffed with rags and then soak the rags in ammonia and place them in and around the machine where rodents can get in. The rags need to be re-soaked at least monthly.

You may need to use multiples of these tricks to really keep all rodents away.

 

[pew3]

I have used a number of different techniques.

If you store the machine indoors, you should look into a 5 gallon bucket trap. They are easy to make and will catch multiple mice each day.

If the machine is outdoors. There are several ticks that can be used including over the counter solutions thar are safe for pets and humans. Most of these solutions deal with interfering with the rodents sense of smell.

Irish Spring soap shredded and sprinkled throughout the machine is very popular.

What has worked best for me is using old small containers stuffed with rags and then soak the rags in ammonia and place them in and around the machine where rodents can get in. The rags need to be re-soaked at least monthly.

You may need to use multiples of these tricks to really keep all rodents away.

In the winter it is inside and I do use the bucket...which works well. In the summer it is usually tarped outside...I will try your suggestions. Thanks.

 

[[email protected]]

Funny thing is I had my loader parked in the garage one year. It was a mice heaven. So what I did was per a suggestion was to use Dryer sheets and fill the corners and all access panels etc. That worked or is it a coincidence they just left. I also put them on work benches drawers and where it looked like a good place to be nesting. Seems I am mouse free and yes redo this from time to time. I am due for a change of sheets. Good Luck with all this.

 

[mrbb]

honestly In think it depends on YOUR MICE, as what works for one person many times doesn't work for others(as example's , in MY area, mice will use dryer sheets to make nests and even eat the stuff, same goes for using Irish spring soap and a few other that work for others but not for me here)
and this is why there are so many home brew and commercial ways of trying to keep them out of machines and places not wanting them, there IMO is no 100% BEST WAY to do so, you have to experiment and see what works best for you and your mice!

I personally have best luck with mothballs, I buy the ones in small bags , and place the bags all over inside of cab and in belly pan and engine bay area
I also add commercial mice BAIT to places where I know non targeted critters cannot get it, like inside cab, in belly pan and such(there are also tons of home made mice baits that you can make that are NON toxic to pets, if you have pets)
mice cannot handle simple things like, baking soda, instant mash potato's and so on, if they eat them, they will die!
so mixing things like this with other foods they WILL eat can help kill off mice and not harm other non targeted critters! like your dog or cat(pending what you mix it with of course)

IMO< one of the best suggestion I can think of, honestly is to TRY and park machine as far away from any food source for mice,
like near where grains are stored , bird feeders, or other foods that can attract them, and places they can hide and sleep,
or you will be fighting a loosing battle IMO


if you can eliminate the reasons WHY there near your machine, (things like food, cover, water)
you up the odds in keeping them out of your machine's and things!
I also recommend making a gravel or better yet concrete pan for parking machine on
over say grass or dirt
this also seems to help keep mice away

as there are also somethings you can try spraying about the machine and ground it parked on,
to help try keep mice away, they dis like certain scents, which you can buy and spray around thing or ion things or on things!

I say spray around and under machine, due to some people will also dis like the scents in the machines themself, but it can be sprayed there as well so when having to use machine, you don't have to be stuck in a over scented machine while working!

do a simple search and you can find many scents they dis like! but using scents of any kind, requires re applying as needed, as once the scent looses it strength, it opens the door again to the ice!

 

[reaperman]

I've used diesel fuel in a plastic spray bottle and squirt it around when I have the cab raised. Some use hot sauce

 

[[email protected]]

Interesting. I can see the diesel spray but hot sauce? Mixed and spray or? Maybe the smell of it. Got to wonder. I still say dryer sheets since they stay where placed and if moved then you go an enterence I put them under the floor panels and seat and so far no mice since. A good pine snake trapped inside will also do a number on them. I had signs of one, some years ago.

 

[Kent Gorrell]

I did have this problem, in both my car and my BobCat, but now I have a python than visits on a regular basis and my rodent problem is solved.

The main issue with rodents is that create a nest and then set to chewing on your wiring. Before the python I found the best way to deter nesting was to run the engine at least once a day. Even better take it for a drive every day.

 

[mrbb]

I did have this problem, in both my car and my BobCat, but now I have a python than visits on a regular basis and my rodent problem is solved.

The main issue with rodents is that create a nest and then set to chewing on your wiring. Before the python I found the best way to deter nesting was to run the engine at least once a day. Even better take it for a drive every day.

that might work for you, but snakes up my way tend to get shot, HAHA
and in winter time, running a motor till hot, just invites mice to find a warm place to sleep
there more of an issue for me anyhow in winter time than summer time, due to this
I have several stray cats and and lots of foxes in my yard and that go in building with some of my machines, and I guess they help at times

but I still every now and then find evidence of one in something
they just breed so fast its hard to keep all of them out of things

 

[[email protected]]

I will bet that Python or any snake will do a number on them. I know one snake I saw enter under my garage door last year I never found but the mice vanished also. Plus I had the dryer sheets all over the place and no mice. They had the garage filled with acorns. I ended up cleaning all that up. Then Placing the dryer sheets all over the place but when I came back up to the place no mice. I can only hang my hat on the dryer sheets that on a regular basis which I will be doing again soon. The garage if nothing else has that fresh scent also. So it's a win win. So far.

 

[Tom in Mo.]

Mice like a roof over their head. I leave the cage lifted when not in use. Also leave the hoods open on the tractors. No mice.

 

[[email protected]]

Good idea. I will try that also.