# Mice got into my lathe motor



## tbone8 (Jun 13, 2021)

Daggum mice have not been kind to me this year. First go round a few weeks ago, they got into my mig welder and chewed through the gas line and used the contactor as a toilet and gummed it all up. Got that fixed and mouse proofed it with wire mesh.

On to the lathe... Ran it, stopped it to change something and when I went to start it, it would not turn. Thought the bearings or something seized up and when I pulled the junction box cover for the wiring, I saw the dreaded mouse nest fluff. Have always dreaded the thought of ever trying to pull that motor and the task did not let me down. Actually it wasn't that bad aside from a nice pinch of one of my finger tips and the PITA of wrestling that thing out.

Got it on the bench and thankfully, so far, they only had a party in the rear of the motor. They drug in some sort of long and tough fibers in it and it wrapped around the shaft and cooling fins. Pulled the back cover off, cleaned it out and reassembled it. Spins freely now but am leaving the door open that the motor might be damaged. Will keep my fingers crossed when I put it back in tomorrow. Gonna mouse proof it too.


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## rwm (Jun 13, 2021)

Wanna go fishing instead?





Robert


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## Z2V (Jun 13, 2021)

OMG


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## pdentrem (Jun 13, 2021)

A hungry cat or regular scented Bounce dryer sheets. If no pets or kids then do what you want.


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## markba633csi (Jun 13, 2021)

Thank goodness they don't eat copper wire LOL
-M


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## Martin W (Jun 13, 2021)

Squirrels are nasty too. This was under the table of my K&T mill when I brought it home.
Cheers
Martin


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## RJSakowski (Jun 13, 2021)

markba633csi said:


> Thank goodness they don't eat copper wire LOL
> -M


But they do eat copper wire or at least chew through it.  They have destroyed a set of noise cancelling headphones (in my office desk), two ham radio microphones, and countless other pieces of electrical wire, including the ABS sensor wiring on my old Grand Caravn, the ignition wiring on my wife's Audi and the wires to the fuel tank vent solenoid on her Mazda CX5.  Mice got into the below deck wiring on a friend's Warrior boat while it was in winter storage, requiring a complete rewiring of the boat.


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## markba633csi (Jun 13, 2021)

Maybe it's the insulation they're after and they don't know when to stop?  Wow, metal toothed mice of death


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## FOMOGO (Jun 13, 2021)

I've also had them chew threw wires on two of my vehicles. Have had pretty good luck this last year with peppermint soaked cotton balls, placed in old jar lids inside, and under the hood of my vehicles. Regular old mouse traps still seem to be the best bet in side buildings. Mike


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## Brento (Jun 13, 2021)

Well to make you feel better my wife and i found a chipmunk eating baby mice so. Maybe a pet chipmunk is needed?


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## Nutfarmer (Jun 14, 2021)

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 .


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## markba633csi (Jun 14, 2021)

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


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## Nogoingback (Jun 14, 2021)

Put traps out baited with peanut butter.  They love it...


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## tbone8 (Jun 14, 2021)

Nogoingback said:


> 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...


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## kvt (Jun 14, 2021)

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.


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## Brento (Jun 14, 2021)

Nogoingback said:


> Put traps out baited with peanut butter.  They love it...


What if the bastards are picky and only want chunky but not creamy?


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## ArmyDoc (Jun 14, 2021)

Nutfarmer said:


> 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.


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## tbone8 (Jun 14, 2021)

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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