Rodent nests

bandmiller2 · December 05, 2009, 07:38:45 AM

Dasterdly rodents have a habit of building nests in air cooled engine cowlings.A friend stopped by the outher day showed me some mouse repellent packs, first thing I did was look at the ingrediants pepermint oil and spearmint oil in ground up corn cob.I haven't tried it yet but mayby a mix of those two oils squirted in the housing will keep the little blighters out and give you a sweet smelling engine.Frank C.

Larry · December 05, 2009, 10:31:05 AM

Yes, I've had several nests built over the years. The worst one I cleaned it all out and the engine ran fine for about two months. It started to miss and die one day...took all day to find the one wire they had chewed on and fix.

logman · December 05, 2009, 12:28:44 PM

I had problems with them building nests in the front of my LT40 engine cover. I cleaned it out and about 2 weeks later started up my engine and had mouse parts fly everywhere. I had to clean out the mess again along with mouse parts.
I've started leaving that part exposed to the weather and it seems to be working.

UKJimbob · December 05, 2009, 05:05:25 PM

probably slightly relevant to the topic, but i heard that a guy was having problems with local moggies (cats) digging up his prized rosses and leaving a little unwelcomed gift, so he grew fed up with this and the damage it was causing, so some zoo keeper suggested he use Wild tiger manuere, to which the keen gardner never had another problem. So i suppose the moral of the story is, find a scent of the invaders natural enemy and he may choose not to set up shop in the engine room ;D 8)

jim

jackpine · December 05, 2009, 06:34:48 PM

Yesterday morning a customer brought over two pine logs so I told him I would do them first thing. Started the mill, lt40hd, let it warm up a little and it would not go forward >:( It went in reverse just fine and I had visions of another circuit board I would have to replace. Then I remembered that not only has a failed circuit board caused this problem in the past but also a mouse chewing though the wiring inside of the operator panel has also. Took off the side cover and sure enough the entire panel was one giant mouse nest inside. After pulling out the nest and splicing the chewed wire from the forward/reverse switch everthing worked.

At least twice a year I have to clean mice nests out of the operator panel. Anyone have a cure that has worked for them?

Bill

WH_Conley · December 05, 2009, 07:07:10 PM

Steel wool in the square tube.

Jasperfield · December 05, 2009, 07:19:42 PM

Yeah, I've had problems with field mice for about 3 years in my F-450. I cannot keep them out.

easymoney · December 05, 2009, 07:34:21 PM

from time to time i have had mice in my house. a while back i saw one run from my couch to the tv stand. i put out a box of mouse poison bewtween the couch and tv. i watched him run out and grab a bit of the poison several times that evening. the next day he was not back.
also dirt dobbers can be a problem too. they will stop up any small hole they can find. i have picked up an air tool more than once finding that it would not work. those dobbers had stopped up the air inlet.

toploader Ford · December 05, 2009, 08:23:06 PM

Every year I have wrens build a nest on that shelf under the engine near the drive pulley and belt. (Woodmizer)

sawthemlogs · December 05, 2009, 08:48:09 PM

i heard moth balls work pretty well...i got to get some and try myself

paul case · December 05, 2009, 08:58:12 PM

b careful moth balls are poison. i lost a good dog to rat bait put in a building without a cover or feeder.
UKJIMBOB,
i think your on the rite track but if skunks are natural enemy of mice i think i will put up with the mice. im not a big fan of the idea of rubbing tiger crap on my sawmill or gatherin tiger crap. could be bad for your longevity. pc

Onthesauk · December 05, 2009, 10:08:39 PM

I've heard that dill will keep them out of storage or a barn. Your mileage may vary.

Night Raider · December 06, 2009, 10:26:51 AM

I have a small tractor they like building nests right around the flywheel and starter motor it usually gets about half a revolution then jams tight, then about half an hour later everything is pulled apart and the nest has to be pulled a little piece at a time from between the gears. This seems to happen a couple times a year, haven't found a good solution to it yet...

paul case · December 06, 2009, 03:17:42 PM

night raider,
tiger crap may cause the same problems??? :Dpc

Chuck White · December 06, 2009, 06:48:27 PM

I have had mice nests in the hydraulic control box a couple of times. Fortunately they didn't damage anything!

Got some galvanized wire mesh with ¼" holes and cut it slightly larger than the square tube and mice can't get in!

bill m · December 06, 2009, 07:27:16 PM

Peppermint oil keeps nice out.

Jasperfield · December 06, 2009, 08:57:40 PM

I'm going to try the peppermint oil (and dill). From my experience, moth balls do little to deter mice.

Magicman · December 06, 2009, 09:46:50 PM

Quote from: bill m on December 06, 2009, 07:27:16 PM
Peppermint oil keeps nice out.

Yeah, but they keep throwing the wraping paper on the ground..... :D :D :D

I normally don't leave a band on the mill in the evening. Never now, but once I did. I tightened it up one morning, cranked up, and pulled the clutch lever. DanG racket, and the mill threw the band. A big wood rat lost his head trying to sawmill. Made a mess when he hit the blade guide......

:(

I've learned that the band needs removing each evening and the sawdust cleaned from the B57 belts. Start fresh each morning.

bandmiller2 · December 07, 2009, 07:49:59 AM

Mayby peppermint schnapps would work,second thought I'll drink the schnapps and wack the rodents with a piece of sticking.Really as soon as i can round up the peppermint and spearment oil I'am going to try it.Seems if you use the equipment often not much trouble, its when it lies fallow that micky moves in.Frank C.

SamB · December 07, 2009, 08:22:47 AM

Some folks have success using dryer sheets.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Mice-Problem

beenthere · December 07, 2009, 10:16:01 AM

The two or three places I've had a problem, I figured they came back after the first cleaning because they had their own "smell" and it was "home" to them.
So, I spray chlorox bleach full strength after the first cleaning, and they don't (haven't yet) come back.

When I had to clean up some racoon "dump" on my deck, I noticed the coon would come back to the same spot time after time. So I started putting chlorox bleach on those 'spots' and that also worked until they picked a different spot. A couple years now, have had no problem on the deck.