Maintenance and Service Tips for your Tractor

Green Country is farm country, and we take pride in our farmers and agricultural workers. And when you’re working on your farm, you need to be sure your equipment is in tip-top shape. With today’s tractors being some of the most versatile and useful tools on any farm, it’s critical to keep them running at optimal efficiency. Tractors are used for so many things these days - tilling, towing equipment, bulldozing, digging holes, mowing and grading land, landscape maintenance, excavation, and so many other purposes. The last thing you want is for your tractor to break down in the middle of any one of these tasks. That would be a disaster for your whole operation.

At Mike Cooper Tractors in Fort Gibson, we’ve got a great selection of tractors and other accessories and equipment for your whole farm. Come visit us when you’re ready to shop, and we’ll find you what you need. We proudly serve customers all over Eastern Oklahoma, including Tulsa and Muskogee.

Basic Tips

To keep your tractor up and running, make sure you’re taking care of the basics. Check your owner’s manual, which should give you a list of tasks and timelines that’ll get you started, and will give you information about what kinds or brands of products your tractor needs for optimal performance.

Give your tractor a daily walk around, checking for oil leaks, inspecting your tire tread, and looking for dents, dings, loose bolts, and other small things that might become big problems if they’re not addressed. 

To prevent your engine overheating, check your radiator fluid level on the daily, and top it off as needed. You should expect to have a little bit of fluid loss, but if you’re replacing a lot of radiator fluid every day, then that might point to a problem like a leak or other damage that needs to be repaired. 

Check your engine’s oil on the regular - but don’t do it while the engine is cold. Run your engine for a few minutes, then shut it down for a few more minutes, and then check the engine’s oil. The oil should not be sludgy, discolored, and it should definitely not have metal bits in it - that can indicate a serious problem with the engine. If your oil doesn’t look up to snuff, you’ll want to replace the oil and filter. 

While you’re doing your daily walk around, as described above, you need to give your tires a good once over. It’s critical that your tires have good tread depth, and that there are no bulges or deformities in the tire wall. Look for embedded nails or other punctures, and make sure your tires are inflated to the proper level as stated in your owner’s manual, the tire wall, or your manufacturer’s website. 

Tractor Storage

If you’re going to be storing your tractor for a long period of time, say over the winter, then there are some things you need to do to make sure your tractor runs properly when you’re ready to use it again. First of all, check your fuel, and add stabilizer to the tank. Stabilizer helps to prevent water from collecting or separating from the fuel - something that could seriously damage your engine.

Beyond fuel stabilization, there are a lot of other tasks you should complete to put your tractor to bed for the winter. Clean the tractor’s interior, checking for dirt under the hood. Cleaning that dirt can help prevent engine damage. Remove your battery and store it in a cool and dry location, hooking it up to a battery tender to prevent it draining over the winter. Deflate your tires to about a third of recommended pressure, and use supporting stands or blocks to prevent flat spots. Clean up the whole tractor, inside and out, and your tractor will be ready for you when you’re ready to get out there into the fields again.

Thanks for reading our quick guide to tractor maintenance - we hope you’ve found it useful. And if you’re in the market for a new tractor or accessories, come see us at Mike Cooper Tractors. We proudly serve our farmer friends all over Green Country.