Mice got into my lathe motor

I feel you frustration .Mice can cause so much damage. For some reason they just love wire,even the copper. My 8400 John Deere tractor had mice in the wiring to the processor . Over 70 wires were ate off. Dealer wanted 15 grand to replace the wiring harness. Three days of repair work later the tractor was up and running. Mice have caused more damage than anything to my equipment. Fork lift wiring . Sweeper air conditioning hose and wiring. It is so bad I put bait in all the equipment. For some reason they just love wiring. I just hope it gives them a quite indigestion .
 
I read somewhere some new vehicles have wire with insulation made from vegetable oil or some such thing. Great, just what you need to attract mice
-M
 
Put traps out baited with peanut butter. They love it...
I used to put out trap, bait, etc which did effectively terminate mice. However, given that there a a gazillion mice, I figgered it was not practical to achieve a mouse free environment. Now, I mouseproof what I don't want infested with them. I use 1/4" wire mesh across entry point, caps/plugs for holes etc in equipment and enclosed cabinets for parts etc. Vehicles are another ballgame. Deterrents like mothballs and mint seem to work.

I generally do not like to kill stuff. Figger mice just looking for a safe and cozy home in my stuff and it ain't personal what they wreck though at times I do wonder. On a sidebar, when I built my house a few years ago, I took pains to make it as mouseproof as humanly possible and so far it has proven secure. The attached garage door is only left open long enough to enter/exit. A detached polebarn/shop/garage probably cannot achieve a mouse free zone cuz the door is open often and easier entry points. So, I have accepted the mouse issue in my shop, do my best to protect stuff and try not to take it personally...
 
My dad had a remedy, Mix the old Decon with a can of pork and beans and they loved it, When they would get in, he would put that out and mice problems go away. His shed had so many holes there was not way to stop them from coming in, but they liked the pork and beans better that the wires so it worked.
 
I feel you frustration .Mice can cause so much damage. For some reason they just love wire,even the copper. My 8400 John Deere tractor had mice in the wiring to the processor . Over 70 wires were ate off. Dealer wanted 15 grand to replace the wiring harness. Three days of repair work later the tractor was up and running. Mice have caused more damage than anything to my equipment. Fork lift wiring . Sweeper air conditioning hose and wiring. It is so bad I put bait in all the equipment. For some reason they just love wiring. I just hope it gives them a quite indigestion .
Had the same thing happen to my Bobcat. What a PITA. After splicing, used heavy shrink wrap around damaged areas to protect them, but I worry it won't be enough.
 
Kind of an interesting deal today. Was all set to put the motor back in, I flipped it over to clean the mounting pads and when I went to double check it was spinning freely, it bound up again. Work it a little bit, it would spin, flip it over and it would bind up again. Pulled the daggum thing completely apart this time and the rotor was all clogged up with who knows what crud. Evidently, rotating the motor case settled the crud in different locations, spin it to pack it down, then rinse/repeat.

Got it back in the lathe, went in easier than I thought it would. Two of the four V-belts were in pretty sad shape so had to order some replacements. Tested the motor and thankfully it runs great. The belts on my SB 16" are 49" O.D. in case anyone ever needs a reference.
 
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