Mouse in Tailwheel

How to keep the Cessna 170 flying and airworthy.

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aileron170b
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Mouse in Tailwheel

Post by aileron170b »

Again, a mouse has crawled up my tailwheel (hangared in a brand new hangar, too!) and nested in my headliner. Has anyone come up with a failproof method of keeping them crawling through the tailwheel assembly holes, etc.... other than the obvious of stuffing each opening with foam or material after flying? Right now I have four traps inside the airplane...and two around the tailwheel.... just waiting.... :roll:

Thanks
Michelle
(This happened in Durango in '98, for those of you who may remember)
Jr.CubBuilder
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Post by Jr.CubBuilder »

A sheet metal ring.

Just measure your clearance height and the daimeter you want. Then go to a local HVAC type outfit and they can cut out a piece of sheet metal, and put folds on either end so they hook together. They can also run it through some rollers to put some curve in it.

What you end up with is basically the equivilant of a tall tin coffee can with no bottom or top that your tailwheel is sitting in. As long as it's high enough that the mice can't jump over they won't get in the plane anymore.
bsdunek
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Post by bsdunek »

Jr.CubBuilder wrote:A sheet metal ring.

Just measure your clearance height and the daimeter you want. Then go to a local HVAC type outfit and they can cut out a piece of sheet metal, and put folds on either end so they hook together. They can also run it through some rollers to put some curve in it.

What you end up with is basically the equivilant of a tall tin coffee can with no bottom or top that your tailwheel is sitting in. As long as it's high enough that the mice can't jump over they won't get in the plane anymore.
Exactly! When we had the 170 on the farm, we had to keep the ring on all the time. I think Dad had at least two headliners ruined by mice. I remember one Sunday when we (the whole family) were flying out for dinner, and a mouse was looking through a hole in the headliner at us. The metal ring solved all that - no more mice!!! 8)
Bruce
1950 170A N5559C
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Joe Moilanen
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Post by Joe Moilanen »

I think I'll try the sheet metal thing. I've been slipping a couple of custom rubber pieces over the rudder cable holes and it works, but kind of a pain.

I've also lost a headliner to mice. When I was in the Idaho backcountry last year I didn't put my plugs in, and got a mouse running around somewhere inside. I finally just gave him the ride of a lifetime and I think he bailed out :lol:
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170C
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Mouse Protection

Post by 170C »

How about posting photos of your solutions?
OLE POKEY
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aileron170b
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Mouse in Tailwheel

Post by aileron170b »

We have photos, which I will post post-haste :D
4stripes
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Mouse proof!

Post by 4stripes »

Jr.CubBuilder wrote:A sheet metal ring.

Just measure your clearance height and the daimeter you want. Then go to a local HVAC type outfit and they can cut out a piece of sheet metal, and put folds on either end so they hook together. They can also run it through some rollers to put some curve in it.

What you end up with is basically the equivilant of a tall tin coffee can with no bottom or top that your tailwheel is sitting in. As long as it's high enough that the mice can't jump over they won't get in the plane anymore.
Great idea! Finished product installed yesterday. 16" high by 6 1/4' long. I put a mouse trap inside the ring near the tailwheel just in case a mouse had been trapped...(so far so good). I also put rubber moulding on the top edge to prevent scratches to the aircraft. The 16" high ring can't help but touch the belly once and a while during installation.

I would recommend this simple device ASAP as the cold weather approaches. Mouse nests are very common and can do expen$ive damage very quickly.

Cheers Eric
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GAHorn
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Post by GAHorn »

Never eat food in your airplane! Water only. Mice have good noses and any food crumbs at all will attract them. I live on a ranch, in open fields, with plenty of mice. I've never allowed food to be consumed in the airplane and never once had a mouse problem, and take no extraordinary means to prevent them. (My hangar didn't even have a door for 4 years.)
NO FOOD! (Makes a great excuse to stop for a $100 burger anyway.) :wink:
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
N2782C
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mouse

Post by N2782C »

I have used regular clothes softner tissues in both my airplane and hot rods over the years and have not had the mouse problem. Tried mothballs with absolutely no luck. Good idea about no food in the airplane.
Semper Fi

'54 C-170B N2782C
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flyguy
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WHERE U GIT CHEEP MOTH BALLS

Post by flyguy »

[quote="gahorn"]Never eat food in your airplane! Water only. :wink:[/quote]

I TRY EATIN WATER BUT IT DON'T CHEW UP TOO GUD!

MOTH BALLS FER MUD DOBBERS AN SMELLY SHEETS FER MICE! SOUNS LAK BAD DREEMS ( catchin them moths to git their balls is lots of work!) :idea: LEARN THEM DOBBERS TO KILL MICES!

BTW: Mice waste - left in situ too long - can damage more than just the headliner. The waste deposits, over time, are very corrosive and smelly. I had to leave my 170 sitting outside here in Louisiana for a couple of months. When I returned and opened the cabin doors, the smell was overwhelming. The many pounds of insulating material, torn from behind the kick panels and carried up into the headliner, held lots of moisture and mouse waste. After I removed the head liner I had to scrub and treat the area over the doors on both sides. I was not a happy camper! Since being here in Louisiana I haven't had mice at all. (I must have imported them from Missouri. :x ) The mud dobbers give me heck though. And for them I hang little bags of "moth balls" in the wing bays and rear of t he fuselage.
OLE GAR SEZ - 4 Boats, 4 Planes, 4 houses. I've got to quit collecting!
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GAHorn
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Post by GAHorn »

Gary, you remember when we hanged tobacco-bags of moth balls all over both planes in my hangar? It had no effect at all. Except to stink up the place. (I even removed the tobacco-bags from your C-150 and attempted to turn it into a "Dauber DeCoy" ...but the little buggers still showed no preference for one over the other.)
I've thrown the moth-ball system away.
Weatherstripping my hangar door has done far more than anything to reduce mud dauber nests.

I hated the number of nests I found every annual. I don't like spraying water up into wings/tails and it makes for a day's work just inspecting removing them. Flight controls have to suffer the indignity of the water hose. There's no other way to get 'em out. I fly-to-dry the controls and then spray WD-40 inside to ensure against corrosion. (WD-40 was specifically designed to negate water. As a side benefit I've found it kills freshly arrived daubers come to inspect for new quarters. Pump-up garden sprayers are convenient applicators.)

But getting those hangar doors weather-stripped is the real answer.
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
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aileron170b
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Mouse in Tailwheel

Post by aileron170b »

Thanks, everyone, for great tips to remedy my mouse problem.

When the mouse got into the airplane in Durango in 99, I had camping provisions in the back (food, etc), which likely attracted them. But haven't had any food in the airplane since. So I think the small openings on the tailwheel are natural attractors, as well. But, the no-food policy is a good idea, too. Luckily my problem has not been as serious as some of the ones posted.

We made the aluminum "collar" around the tailwheel and set a trap inside just in case it was still in the airplane. Within two days we caught the critter. Now we're leaving traps around the hangar, as well. Since I can't load a picture on this website, I would be happy to send directly to anyone interested. But it's pretty straight forward. I now will consider this contraption part of my every-flight "luggage"!!
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GAHorn
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Post by GAHorn »

Send me the pic and I'll post it for you.
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
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flat country pilot
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Post by flat country pilot »

This has been a very good deterent and keeps the mice out of our farm trucks all winter. 8)

I have them at the corners of the hangar door and by the tail wheel. Good product, but needs to be replaced every 3 months.

<broken link removed>

Bill
Flat Country Pilot
Farm Field PVT
54 C170B
Haydon
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Post by Haydon »

Hi All,

I was reading this thread....and had a vision of Gary H. (Flyguy, Ol-Gar) standing guard on his plane at night....with a carbide lamp on his head, "giggen rig" in hand, with steel toe boots on, in his shorts, stalking the elusive "mighty meese" invading his aircraft.... :roll:

I guess....to much coffee this morning, brain damage or dementia is rampant on this end.... 8O

Richard....
Richard Haydon
'49 170A
Ducote Airpark TS65
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