First winter with my backhoe (580K) and just looking for suggestions and tips on putting it to bed for the winter. I did read you should position the cylinders so they have the least exposure to the weather. For the cyclinders that are still exposed is it a good idea (or not) to spray some rust inhibitor (WD40) or other product or is that a bad idea? I suspect i should top up the tank to prevent condensation. Is it necessary to put fuel stabilizer into diesel fuel? Any other liquids I should be aware of that might freeze and crack the unit. (E.g. is there a canister that collects water from the fuel). Is it necessary to bring the battery in and keep it in dry cool place? Anyway - any suggestions on what you guys do to store your equipment would be appreciated! Thx
I just bought my 580SE a year ago last Sept. It sits at about 3200 feet elev. in NC where the temps can go below zero. Last Oct I had no choice but to wrap it up in heavy tarps and head back to FL for the winter. I topped off the radiator and bought the antifreeze to 20 below and ran it so the liquid went into the recovery tank. I topped off the fuel and put in additive and also ran it on and off for a day. The rear tires have liquid and I was assured by the previous owner that they were good for the winter. I removed the battery and bought it with me to FL. I also loaded it up with mothballs where ever I could, (not sure if that did anything as far as varmints). In May we went back up and I uncovered it, checked all the fluids and hit the starter. It started up as if I had been running the day before. We worked for about two weeks and covered it for the summer and did everything as far as storage the same. Went back in Sept to build a barn for it and my wife's garden tractor, it again started right up. After two weeks of use we parked it in the barn leaving it just as we did in the past. I made the barn well vented as with the tarps this could not be done. I never heard of cylinder positions and spraying into the cylinders with a diesel engine, I have with outboards. I won't change a thing as what I did seems to work. Oh, I did have a minor bee problem but a can of spray fixed that.
He's not talking about engine cylinders. He's talking about hydraulic cylinders. We also keep all cylinders retracted whenever our machines are not in use. I don't know of anything else other than putting stabilizer in the fuel and running it long enough to work it through to the injectors.
Don't know where my mind was, of coarse, hydraulic cylinders. When I had mine wrapped up in tarps I tried to compress all the cylinders so they were in hydraulic fluid, see photo. I also used tarps that were used billboard signs each being 14X48 feet and weighing 80 pounds. Now it is out of the weather and in the barn which is 30 feet long so it sits how it fits and the rods are exposed. The pads are up and chained so they can't leak down.
If you are gonna spray exposed cylinders, use something better than wd40.
Wd40 should not be bad, even vegetable oil should be good, the trick is to have an hydrophobic surface so that water and ice does not stick to it.
Sorry Rikky I don't agree with your suggestions. WD40 dries very quickly and may be totaly gone quite quickly. It's a good product to loosen things up but it's just a temporary fix. Vegetable oil on the other hand is full of natural sugars and dries to a shelac type film that is extreamly difficult to remove. It will stay on your cylinder rod and then be forced in through your seals at a later date. I would be more comfortable just wiping hydraulic oil on with a cloth and then cleaning it off before use to remove any dirt that is glued to it.
It's not that WD-40 is bad per say, it's just not as good as many people think, especially for long term protection A better choice is a grease or lube specifically made for long term preservation. You'll want to clean it off before using the machine. I wouldn't use vegetable oil myself...
After reading the original post wrong, it got me thinking about my 20 years in the marine repair business. I used to use a marine engine fogger to spray the cylinder walls for storage. This stuff works in a heavy salt environment as it has many additives to prevent rust and corrosion. It clings to anything and will not evaporate. I plan to use it next year when I get back to my tractor. Every outboard engine Mfg makes it but the link below has about the least expensive fogger. Because it clings, it will pick up dirt and grime so a good wipe down would be needed before you start using the machine. http://www.discountmarinesupplies.com/Winterizing-Starbrite_84812_Fogging_Oil.html