Cold starting options
- Thread starter dun
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dun":1r2lidya said:
Granddad alway wanted to feed before lunch. It has usually warmed up here a might above those by noon on most winter days. At 5 they have hit their highest.
Leave the tractor where the sun will hit it. I'm sure this is not what your looking for. Good luck.
bgm
Well-known member
Dun,
I would think the magnetic heater would make a big difference. I had an old car in the winter I'd put a drop light on each side of the block and it would keep it warmer. Only way I could get the thing started on bitter cold days.
The only other suggestion I could make is synthetic oils don't get as thick like natural oils in the cold. Not cheap and changing it is definately not a fun thought when it's this cold out. Might be something to think about come spring.
I would think the magnetic heater would make a big difference. I had an old car in the winter I'd put a drop light on each side of the block and it would keep it warmer. Only way I could get the thing started on bitter cold days.
The only other suggestion I could make is synthetic oils don't get as thick like natural oils in the cold. Not cheap and changing it is definately not a fun thought when it's this cold out. Might be something to think about come spring.
Up here where I live block heater are the most common thing to heat up an engine. A magnetic type heater for the oil pan works as well. Anything you can do to make the engine heat up quicker wil extend the life off your engine. Remebering most engines run with a 190 degree thermostat. I figure a 1000 watt heater only uses .o6 an hour. I would use a block heater anytimethe temp is below 50 degrees. Very cheap protection when you figure the benfits. Remebr your strter works harderona cold engine. An starters to ant to cheap anymore. The cylinder head is where you want your heat. Those cylinders are difficult to move when the engine is cold. Pratically impossible to move. When hot they move easily. Consider this over 90% off the wear an engine has over its lifetime is the cold start. All the more reason to use a block heater religiously.
Cabo
Well-known member
Caustic Burno":30mnx7jv said:
I'm with Caustic on this one, get a good magnetic one for the engine and hydraulic res. and you will be set. Watch the dipstick heaters, have had them to overheat and bake the oil til it flakes off and clogs the strainer.
cowtrek
Well-known member
Here's a quick method that I've had good luck with even on tractors outside down in the 20's overnight.
I needed to feed as soon as I got off the schoolbus at 8 so the temp is real low and what sun was there was so low in the sky and late coming up so no warmth from it.
Go swipe the wife's hair dryer and pull the extension cord out of the shop to the tractor. Raise the hood and put the hair dryer in a fairly clean dry spot where the air will be directed at the head/intake manifold. On my Fords the battery is over the valve cover so if you prop the hairdryer right it will blow hot air over the head and intake, around the battery, and kinda recirculate under the hood back to the radiator area. Prop up the hair dryer securely (baling wire or wood blocks) then gently close the hood. I put it on there at 6:20 and at 8 am the tractor started up like it was a 90 degree summer day. Just be sure to take the hair dryer and other stuff out from under the hood before you start it. Takes maybe a minute to do and works like a champ.
PS. Don't let the wife know you do this. Clean and dust off the hairdryer and tiptoe back into the bathroom and put it wherever she keeps all her unnecessary junk that clutters the place up (all females do this
Put it back carefully enough and she probably won't even notice it's been gone.
You'll probably just want to swipe it for good at some point so you don't have to keep bringing it back. Get her a new one and tell her you thought she needed a nicer one so you bought her a gift. NOTE: NEVER do this on Valentine's Day or your ANNIVERSARY!!! That way you'll get brownie points for being a 'sweet guy' and the old hair dryer to heat up the tractor. Win-win scenario.
PPS-- If you don't have to get up at the butt-crack of dawn to drive griping miserable little ingrates on the schoolbus, you could always hook it up on one of those plug in timer things you can buy at Wally World for like $4.00. Depending on your temp give it about an hour or two.
PPPS-- Be careful if you haven't cleaned off your engine since it was new or have 3 inches of soybean fluff or corn chaff laying on top of everything under the hood. You might want to grab the old air nozzle and blow the crap out of there first before putting your hairdryer under there. Of course blowing the junk out of there is just a good idea anyway hairdryer or no...
Oh, and by the way, be REAL careful with those heat lamps. That USED to be my favorite method was to put one of those heat lamps in a clamp on brooder lamp rig and clamp it to shine on the manifold, head, injector pump, and the side of the battery. On a white cased battery it'll work, but on a black cased battery it can cause the plastic to soften and bubble up. Glad I caught it before it melted through the battery case. I never expected it to do that since the light was about a foot away or so and shining mainly on the head and manifold, with just the 'edge' of the light shining on the battery. BTW the hair dryer works a lot better and hasn't hurt the battery case, though I wouldn't put the hairdryer nozzle within six inches or so of the battery anyway.
Good luck! OL JR
I needed to feed as soon as I got off the schoolbus at 8 so the temp is real low and what sun was there was so low in the sky and late coming up so no warmth from it.
Go swipe the wife's hair dryer and pull the extension cord out of the shop to the tractor. Raise the hood and put the hair dryer in a fairly clean dry spot where the air will be directed at the head/intake manifold. On my Fords the battery is over the valve cover so if you prop the hairdryer right it will blow hot air over the head and intake, around the battery, and kinda recirculate under the hood back to the radiator area. Prop up the hair dryer securely (baling wire or wood blocks) then gently close the hood. I put it on there at 6:20 and at 8 am the tractor started up like it was a 90 degree summer day. Just be sure to take the hair dryer and other stuff out from under the hood before you start it. Takes maybe a minute to do and works like a champ.
PS. Don't let the wife know you do this. Clean and dust off the hairdryer and tiptoe back into the bathroom and put it wherever she keeps all her unnecessary junk that clutters the place up (all females do this
Put it back carefully enough and she probably won't even notice it's been gone. You'll probably just want to swipe it for good at some point so you don't have to keep bringing it back. Get her a new one and tell her you thought she needed a nicer one so you bought her a gift. NOTE: NEVER do this on Valentine's Day or your ANNIVERSARY!!! That way you'll get brownie points for being a 'sweet guy' and the old hair dryer to heat up the tractor. Win-win scenario.
PPS-- If you don't have to get up at the butt-crack of dawn to drive griping miserable little ingrates on the schoolbus, you could always hook it up on one of those plug in timer things you can buy at Wally World for like $4.00. Depending on your temp give it about an hour or two.
PPPS-- Be careful if you haven't cleaned off your engine since it was new or have 3 inches of soybean fluff or corn chaff laying on top of everything under the hood. You might want to grab the old air nozzle and blow the crap out of there first before putting your hairdryer under there. Of course blowing the junk out of there is just a good idea anyway hairdryer or no...
Oh, and by the way, be REAL careful with those heat lamps. That USED to be my favorite method was to put one of those heat lamps in a clamp on brooder lamp rig and clamp it to shine on the manifold, head, injector pump, and the side of the battery. On a white cased battery it'll work, but on a black cased battery it can cause the plastic to soften and bubble up. Glad I caught it before it melted through the battery case. I never expected it to do that since the light was about a foot away or so and shining mainly on the head and manifold, with just the 'edge' of the light shining on the battery. BTW the hair dryer works a lot better and hasn't hurt the battery case, though I wouldn't put the hairdryer nozzle within six inches or so of the battery anyway.
Good luck! OL JR
A tank heater or heater hose heater is about the best like stated before, get in the double didgets BELOW zero here and never have a problem with starting, hyduralics are sure slow and cold for a while though.
gendronf
Well-known member
dun":o21pm2xz said:
Dun they sell winter hydraulic oil . Even at -30 you wont have problems.
OP
OP
dun
Well-known member
Wasn't as cold yesterday, about 20. Tractor fired up first tuen and the hydraulics worked as soon as the tractor started. I guess the magnetic heater on the oil pan and the dipstick heater in the hydraulics worked.
dun
dun
