Critter nests

OldMachinist

Bronze
Rest In Peace
Joined
Mar 1, 2012
Messages
1,140
It's that time of the year when I go around and check out all my power equipment and prepare them for winter storage. Draining fuel, changing oil, checking for debris and critter nests in the cooling fins.

I have a spare 4000w generator that's stored in the barn and I hadn't ran it since last fall when I stored it. I expected to find the normal muddabber nests.

DSCF2152.JPG

But this year a mouse decided it would be a good place to live. As soon as I started to remove the shroud I knew what I was going to find.

DSCF2149.JPG

Nice comfy home.

DSCF2150.JPGDSCF2151.JPG

Mouse urine is corrosive and a pretty good solvent for epoxies used to hold the flywheel magnets on.

DSCF2153.JPGDSCF2155.JPG

Magnets epoxied back in place.

DSCF2156.JPG

This year I think I'll bag the engine with some mothballs.

DSCF2152.JPG DSCF2149.JPG DSCF2150.JPG DSCF2151.JPG DSCF2153.JPG DSCF2155.JPG DSCF2156.JPG
 
Well, at least the mouse seems to have been taking care of your snail problem ;)

Sheesh, what a mess...
 
Actually those are acorn shells. I find piles like that in and on anything around here that sits for more than a couple of days. If one of my vehicles sits for a week or more I normally pop the hood to check for piles of them on the engine. They make nice little smoldering fires if they're on the exhaust manifold. Mice also love to chew on wires and vacuum lines.
 
Good catch! That would have really make a mess of your stator!

attachment.php?attachmentid=61639&d=1380816186&thumb=1.jpg

attachment.php?attachmentid=61639&d=1380816186&thumb=1.jpg
 
Yeah I've seen what happens from not checking the magnets on engines that have sat for a long time. The Lincoln Weldanpower I have sat for at least 10 years and the guy I got it from tried starting it before checking things out. Three of the magnets had come loose and ground around inside the flywheel. I salvaged the stator but had to replace two of the magnets.
 
Actually those are acorn shells. I find piles like that in and on anything around here that sits for more than a couple of days. If one of my vehicles sits for a week or more I normally pop the hood to check for piles of them on the engine. They make nice little smoldering fires if they're on the exhaust manifold. Mice also love to chew on wires and vacuum lines.

This sounds more like a pack rat than mouse to me.
 
As far as I know the range for rack rats doesn't come this far east. They're mostly a desert and mountain rodent. Now I do have plenty of chipmunks but the holes on the Kohler engine are too small for them.
 
Don,
I feel your pain!!!! I have to be very carefull opening the drawers on my roll around work benches because they are just the right size for a rat to move in and make a great nest. Found 2 nests like that this year already. The little buggers are persistent and rebuilt the nest in the same place. I think I solved the problem but we will have to see. We never had rats and mice till the neighbors got rid of their horses and the back neighbors got barnyard animals. Oh well something else to deal with.

Bob
 
I don't have much trouble with rodents in the shop anymore since I insulated and put osb on all the inside walls. I always leave a packet of mouse poison in corner so I know if there's one around that snuck in while I had a door open. Then I set traps with peanut butter. Gets them every time.
But in my 100 plus year old farm buildings it impossible to stop them from getting into things. Plus I have livestock which means there's always feed around.
 
As far as I know the range for rack rats doesn't come this far east. They're mostly a desert and mountain rodent. Now I do have plenty of chipmunks but the holes on the Kohler engine are too small for them.

I read the same things about pack rats myself on the internet, but I do not think that is accurate. Some years ago the old garage at a farmhouse I rented out in the country was overrun with pack rats. They had to be pack rats because they saved everything, stuff like dog food they would empty the dog dish and a year later I found a coffee can on a shelf over the bench stuffed full of dog food. These I dealt with had tails that were much longer than their body. To kill them with poison you had to use blocks that you nailed to wood because they would pack and store anything granular.

They can say what they will, but I know I was dealing with pack rats in Kansas. Your seasons cannot be that much different that our either.
 
Back
Top