Farm machinery stored in shed

Why Machinery Has To Be Stored Properly

Your machinery is a major investment with an impact on your bottom line so it makes sense to invest to protect it. Proper machinery storage can help reduce your costs, improve machine reliability and increase profit margins. 

This article discusses in detail exactly why machinery must be stored properly.

Resale Value

A shed maintains the resale value and extends the life of your vehicles and equipment.

Not having your machinery stored in a shed increases the chance of sun damage and accelerates the deterioration of components such as hoses. Signs like deteriorated hoses and poor paint condition immediately tell a potential buyer that the vehicle hasn’t been properly looked after and will affect how much they are prepared to pay.

Farm machinery stored in shed

Buyers will thoroughly assess any piece of equipment before purchasing and even more so if the machinery is second-hand. The advantages of a machinery shed are widely recognised, so often one of the first questions a buyer will ask is; “has it been stored in a shed?”

Presenting potential buyers, a documentation of your equipment’s maintenance and storage history lets them know that the equipment they are planning to buy has been taken care off

Safety

Having machinery properly stored decreases the chance of damage occurring and makes it easier to maintain. If a piece of equipment is well maintained and kept up to scratch, the risk of accidents occurring due to malfunctioning machinery is reduced.

Keeps Machinery Functioning

By having your machinery stored in a shed, you save both time and money.

Firstly, keeping equipment in optimum working condition minimises the risk of having unscheduled downtime. It is a lot easier to keep equipment in optimum working condition with a machinery shed as you can easily check for signs of wear and tear in between each use as you store it away.

A machinery shed also decreases the need for expensive repair works, reducing maintenance costs. The initial outlay for a machinery shed, given its lifespan, is insignificant when you consider both the value of the machinery it houses and the cost of breakdowns, general repairs and replacement parts.

Security From Vandalism & Theft

After investing in expensive farm machinery, the last thing you want is for them to be stolen or damaged.

Theft is becoming a significant threat to the rural economy and farm machinery is no exception.

As well as the initial monetary loss of stolen or vandalised equipment there are often further repercussions e.g. if an important piece of machinery is stolen at a critical time such as harvesting this decreases productivity and thus your profitability.

machinery shed is an excellent way to combat this as a fully enclosed, lock-up shed is a great deterrent to thieves and vandals.

Cleanliness & Hygiene

Machinery should never be stored in environments with high moisture levels such as with livestock because this can lead to corrosion of machinery as well as a low standard of cleanliness – we all know that clean, well-kept machinery runs better!

A fully hot-dip galvanised Action machinery shed provides a corrosion-resistant clean environment that allows a high level of hygiene to be maintained.

On top of that, from an aesthetics point of view, a dedicated machinery shed looks neat and tidy and increases the resale value of your property.

Fire Hazard

Think twice before storing old machinery (without circuit breakers) in a shed full of hay and vice versa.

Hay with high moisture levels should not be stored in the same shed as machinery as the hay could ‘self-ignite’.

Download a copy of our fire safety booklet for more tips and suggestions. 

Share this article!

Like this article?

Here’s a few more that might interest you.