How Do You Clean Your Tractor, Or Dont You?

alomy75

Member
Just curious, how many of you have employees and how much time would you let them spend cleaning/polishing a tractor?
I suppose a cereal farm in winter with a salaried worker would get more time than somewhere that's busy year round.
This is a really good point. If I had staff for sure I’d have them wash kit more frequently than I do
 

ARW

Member
Location
Yorkshire
Just curious, how many of you have employees and how much time would you let them spend cleaning/polishing a tractor?
I suppose a cereal farm in winter with a salaried worker would get more time than somewhere that's busy year round.
If it’s a proper wet day then we service and clean things
When a hedgecutting rig is getting ready for a season it gets a good clean in the cab and will stay reasonably clean all year, just keep on top of it
Fencing tractors are worst as not much time is spent in them so they a worse
Our pickup is worse, it gets cleaned in spring when it dries up then maybe again in winter, washed about 3 times a year
 

IOW91

Member
Livestock Farmer
That's impressive selection but looks like alot of hard work to me😂🙈

I dont know what's in the snowfoam/TFR but it works and seems fine on paint and non of them nasty white Mark's after. It does say safe for all paints on there website and they do another version of it too that is PH neutral🤷‍♂️ not tied that one yet.
I have the Jenny chem PH neutral snow foam. It does a good job gets stuff shifted nicely.

I also use EZ car cares "gentlemen's club" shampoo.

Both of these I recommend.
 

Robt

Member
Location
Suffolk
There's a big difference between pride and obsession.

I'm comfortable with myself because of who I am as a person. I don't need to keep "polishing my tools" to boost my self esteem.
Perhaps just perhaps, they enjoy cleaning their kit. Perhaps just perhaps they are different to you. Is that so wrong to have a different view to yourself? I find cleaning my car at then end of the week very therapeutic. I also like to start the new week with a clean car and clean shoes etc..
 
Location
southwest
Perhaps just perhaps, they enjoy cleaning their kit. Perhaps just perhaps they are different to you. Is that so wrong to have a different view to yourself? I find cleaning my car at then end of the week very therapeutic. I also like to start the new week with a clean car and clean shoes etc..

Totally agree. But one or two on this thread seem to have gone beyond cleaning a tractor once a week to being totally OCD about keeping a working machine spotless 24/7
 

ACEngineering

Member
Location
Oxon
There's a big difference between pride and obsession.

I'm comfortable with myself because of who I am as a person. I don't need to keep "polishing my tools" to boost my self esteem.

like i said just an opinion like yours, i spend a fortune on tools and van so take pride in looking after them as best i can. IMO i dont care if a tool cost me £5 or £50k i still look after it the same.

It baffles me how anyone can buy new tractors and handlers now costing near 100k or over and they have zero interest in mechanical symopthy or basic maintenance let alone a notion to keep them clean 🤷‍♂️

If only i had more customers with the same opinion as @ColinV6 or even some where remotly close! i might actually start enjoying the spanner job more like i used too! as each year passes i do less and less spanners and more parts, i could now actually give up spanners totally IMO, i'm sure many other technitions/mechanics feel the same way or will do when the novolty/keen young enthusiasm wares off.
 

Finn farmer

Member
Just curious, how many of you have employees and how much time would you let them spend cleaning/polishing a tractor?
I suppose a cereal farm in winter with a salaried worker would get more time than somewhere that's busy year round.
We don't have employees, we could get a new tractor every two years with all the pay and taxes an employee means.
 

ColinV6

Member
like i said just an opinion like yours, i spend a fortune on tools and van so take pride in looking after them as best i can. IMO i dont care if a tool cost me £5 or £50k i still look after it the same.

It baffles me how anyone can buy new tractors and handlers now costing near 100k or over and they have zero interest in mechanical symopthy or basic maintenance let alone a notion to keep them clean 🤷‍♂️

If only i had more customers with the same opinion as @ColinV6 or even some where remotly close! i might actually start enjoying the spanner job more like i used too! as each year passes i do less and less spanners and more parts, i could now actually give up spanners totally IMO, i'm sure many other technitions/mechanics feel the same way or will do when the novolty/keen young enthusiasm wares off.

I agree. It must be pretty disheartening to work on absolute sh!t-tips. Knowing fine well that your hard work fixing it will go completely unappreciated.
 

benny6910

Member
Arable Farmer
Just curious, how many of you have employees and how much time would you let them spend cleaning/polishing a tractor?
I suppose a cereal farm in winter with a salaried worker would get more time than somewhere that's busy year round.
I remember a local contractor to me who is quite well known for having shiny tractors saying that his pressure washer does around 800 hrs a year.
 

Boomerang

Member
Live shots. Busy tipping muck on stubble with no hydraulic door so it’s a bags and wellies kind of day. Not a speck of mud or grease on any points of contact though. :) It’s suprisingly easy to keep this way IF YOU WANT TO.

View attachment 1010541View attachment 1010542
It's a tractor ffs , you clearly have it way too easy if you've time to fanny about with bags on pedals . Ridiculous.
 

Dan Attle

Member
ours get 23 or 4 good washes a year normally before start of a job like drilling end of drillling start of grass and start of baling try to keep the cab swept and windows clean but they are workhorses not show ponies , lad who helps me loves to presssure wash but is shy with a grease gun after as my tractor is normally the last one washed but always sees plenty of grease , a clean tractor can give just as much bother as a dirty one
 

Farmer Roy

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
NSW, Newstralya
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NH blue & Case red are both rubbish in our sun & fade badly. JD green seems to stand up to it better ( any other brands are too thin on the ground to be relevant 🤣 )

not much time wasted on anything more than a quick blow down & window cleaning on arable farms here, in my long experience

personally, I could never understand some peoples obsession with cleaning & polishing & detailing their cars every weekend ( I’ve got better / more interesting / more profitable/ more fun things to do with my time ) let alone tractors 😮
My cars & bikes might get washed 2 or 3 times a year . . .
 
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