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SW WI | Anyone have tricks they want to share? My tractor on a tmr sits in a shed that is cold (no heated shop) have a block heater that needs to be looked at (tomorrow). I am concerned about another blast of cold weather that we are supposed to get next week. Maybe low's into the -20's. Does pulling the battery and keeping it in a warm place over night help? That's what I have been doing. Suppose I can't get the block heater fixed, would pulling the oil out everyday, keeping warm overnight, and refilling next day be a route to go? Read somewhere that that's what some guy's out in the bush of canada do to get things started next morning. Next year will be serious about a heated small shed to put tractor and skid loader into but that is next year and I need to make a plan for next week. Thanks. |
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Oakdale, Il. | Possible a trickle charger on the battery and a dipstick heater for the block would help. |
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| If it was me, I'd start it every couple of hours or so.I did have an old neighbor that only used his tractor to move snow,he would store the oil in the basement and pour it back in when he needed the tractor. fwiw. |
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NCND | Plugged in and inside unheated shed, never had one not start, we run them everyday for about 3hrs, before Christmas it was 38 below and they crack off. 1976 JD 4430, and a 2013 JD 6170R. We let run for 20-30 min before starting out. When it is cold and the wind is blowing the throttle on the 4430 needs to be pretty far ahead to throw good heat. |
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Cullom, Illinois | Trickle charge the battery keeps it warm. Fix the block heater. Look in the tactor owners manual. It will give you guidelines for running thinner oil when its cold. Can make a big difference. Just remember to check the oil level often. |
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west Nebraska northeast Colorado | Keeping the battery warm will provide a large improvement in how well it turns the engine over. I put synthetic oil in engines that I may want to start during cold weather. |
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Missouri | I'd be working on that block heater.
I still remember the little clank one of ours made a couple years ago when I started it one cold morning. I didn't bother touching the block and the heater had quit, it hasn't been the same since. |
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| I have drained the water out in a pinch. I have been known to leave a heat light on the side of the engine, Preferably the side with the fuel lines. Throw a tarp of some type over the top.
If the heat light doesn't do it get a knipco (torpedo) and shoot it at the engine area for 20 minutes or so. Again, leave covered if you can do so with causing a fire hazard. Shut off heater prior to cranking the engine over. Some engines will NEVER start, no matter how warm they are with that oxygen depleted air going in the intake. ( yes it took me 4 hours to figure that one out!) |
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Northeast Indiana (Auburn) | A magnetic oil pan heater will keep the oil warm, a Deltran battery tender will keep the battery fully charged, and a working block heater will keep you going. |
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Morgantown, Indiana | can you tarp it and put a heat lamp under it |
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Hitchcock SD | Magnetic heater stuck on the oil pan. Have used them here in the frigid temps and seemed to work pretty good. Start the tractor and pull magnet off, put back on when tractor is shut off. |
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Alberta, Canada | You didn't mention what make of tractor you have there. But if you can hook up a 1500 watt circulating heater into a heater hose lines that would be easy. Just clamp off the lines cut and plumb it in then you don't have to worry about dropping out he coolant like when changing a block heater. If its in a shed out of the wind a portable kerosen space heater blowing on it an hr. would warm things up in a hurry. Or even if you have a couple 500 watt halogen lights laying around the shop stick them on the bottom shining up close (providing ther is no oil leaks) that will warm stuff up too if its out of the wind.
AS for the oil if its its a summer grade I'd just put on a magnetic pan heater or use the halogen lights rather than draining it. Also places like home depot have all kinds of electric radiat heaters too now a days. As for the batteries a trickle charger is good enough. |
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| ON re reading I see it is inside. If that is the case the heater is a no brainer. If there is no electricity get one of those hard hat heaters that goes on top of a BBQ grill bottle. They are cheap and relativley cheap to run. They also makes a tube type heater that works off convection that work very well but are harder to find and more expensive. |
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| You could thin the existing engine oil in the tractor with Sea Foam. 1 pint of Sea Foam per 10 quarts of engine oil capacity.
A battery charger with a boost feature is quite helpful in sub-zero temps. 200 amps of boost to a 4DLT battery along with a sniff of ether helps get a Ford 401 started.
Edited by John SD 1/1/2014 12:00
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| Say, Just use either, lots and lots of either, It won't hurt a thing. Did I mention I have overhaul kits and reman engines on special this week? |
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| Get block heater fixed put charger on at nite on trickle an put a magnetic oil pan heater on an it will start. |
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South Western Ontario, Canada | Just fix the block heater or buy new one! Can buy the magnetic heaters to place on the oil pan to help when its very cold. Battery blankets are available too.
In the bush they start a fire under the machine to warm it up! Had a guy run the dozer do that when it wasn't close to hydro, made you look cross eyed at him first time but worked! |
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Triplett / Brunswick MO / Brookfield | A couple of weeks ago I unexpectantly had to start my excavator. It was below zero and I handn't started the machine for 2 or 3 weeks. I opened a side door an directed a 30,000 BTU LP heater at the engine compartment. 45 minutes later it turned over and stated like it was 80 degrees outside. I also had draped a tarp above the engine compartment and the open door. |
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| Torpedo heater will get most anything to start. Or, the neighbor used to use an old heat lamp from the supply store, left it on 24/7 on his 4020 and it always started. |
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Alberta, Canada | Before the days of the webasto diesel engine heaters some Russian equipment (like them big Krovets) built for work in the north like Sibera actually had a factory built on "wood heater" for under the engine. So if you had wood you could keep the thing warm at least. I don't know maybe old vintage cat engines had somethign like that too.
Edited by Larry in AB 1/1/2014 12:04
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sw mb. | Around here, 0w 40 synthetic goes in diesels that have to be used in the winter. |
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SE South Dakota | I'd look at leaving the tractor run overnight then after chores TOMORROW fix the block heater.
As always light weight fuel and keep your battery and any battery cables and the starter in good shape.
I have an old Ford 4500 three cylinder diesel that will not start on it's own below 30* F. I'm sure the fuel pump and or injectors could use some work. But plug the block heater in for a couple of hours and it starts like it is summer temps.
Diesel engines and warm temps go together well! I like my old heated shop.
Jim J |
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Alberta, Canada | X2 on the 1500 watt heater that goes in the heater hoses. 0w40 engine oil helps a lot. A tarp over the tractor and a small Herman Nelson heater will get it warmed up quick too. Just having it in a shed out of the wind helps as well. |
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Sandy Hook, MB | Hello Mikado
I have a block heater & an oil pan heater on my skidder. I run 30 oil in the 353 so it needs some way to heat up the oil. At -20° C, 3 hrs of being plugged in I would pull the dipstick & oil would drip off in no time, so I knew that it was OK to start. Oil pressure would come up right away. If it went to -30° C over night, I would pull the dipstick & oil was like tar & not drip off at all. I knew then that it needed more heat. I opened up the oil drain plug access plate in the stump pan & inserted 8' of 6" stovepipe with an 90° elbow on the end directed up to the oil pan. Insert tigertoch & go sit in the truck for 15 minutes. Oil & engine warmed & started just like on a summer day.
Warning: Do not leave it unattended!!! Neighbour lit his torch & deiced to drive to town to pick something up while his skidder was thawing out. As he was returning to the bush, he was wondering where all the black smoke was coming from!!!
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| If you only plan on doing this until you fix the block heater get some kingsford charcoal and the bottom
1/3 of a 55 gal drum get the coals going good and slide it under the oil pan.
If you plan on using it more get a propane bottle heater or a webasto |
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Alberta, Canada | Yeah I like that 0-40 too for stuff that's used in the winter alot. Typically if somethign is out of the wind those 1500 watt heaters plugged in anything will start... but the oil will still be is so stiff which 0W-40 fix. |
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Wi | well first I would fix it. But in the meantime providing it has no preheater to worry about just use some ether to help.
Cold weather kits use coolant circulators, oil pan heaters and battery warmers to allow perfect starts in artic. |
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| just put a knipco heater on the side in the morning that what we do. dad been doing this for 40 years if the block heater quits working.
just don't put it by the fuel pump and lines |
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NW Minnesota | x3 on the heater that attaches to the heater hoses. I think they are called a tank heater. I put one on mine after finding the block heater inadequate. Now I have it on a timer and have it turn on a few hours before I need the tractor. It has started down to -40. the heater circulates the antifreeze pulling it from the frost plug in the block and returning to the heater hose. It blows warm air almost right away after it is started. I have one on a TW20 ford that is on my tmr. Same situation, stored in unheated shed. I also use synthetic engine and hydraulic oil in it. I am leery of using heaters on the oil pan for fire danger myself. I always keep a newer battery in this tractor as well, rotating it to a tractor that only gets seasonal use every couple of years. |
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nw pa | send the wife out to start it every couple hours. while she's waiting for it to warm up she can keep the snow shoveled. Time she gets back to house both tractor and her will be warmed up. Do that more than one day and she will fix the heater or the tractor or you.. Either way it will all get fixed. (:) |
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CENTRAL ILLINIOS | Neighbor who worked at Allis Chalmers factory back in the day talked about the modifications they made to pipeline layers destined for Siberia. They put an extra set of batterys on who's sole function was to run heaters to warm up the regular batterys before starting. The other thing was an ether tank the size of a 30 pound freon tank they would use to atart it and let it run on ether until it warms up.
Edited by campbell 1/1/2014 15:12
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Rolla, ND | mikado - 1/1/2014 10:23
Anyone have tricks they want to share? My tractor on a tmr sits in a shed that is cold (no heated shop) have a block heater that needs to be looked at (tomorrow). I am concerned about another blast of cold weather that we are supposed to get next week. Maybe low's into the -20's. Does pulling the battery and keeping it in a warm place over night help? That's what I have been doing. Suppose I can't get the block heater fixed, would pulling the oil out everyday, keeping warm overnight, and refilling next day be a route to go? Read somewhere that that's what some guy's out in the bush of canada do to get things started next morning. Next year will be serious about a heated small shed to put tractor and skid loader into but that is next year and I need to make a plan for next week. Thanks. ic
Trickle charger on battery.
Synthetic oil.
Good ether like John Deere (80 %)
Magnetic heater or dipstick heater can make a lot of difference in a shed. They help outside but are often on the small side. |
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Ne Iowa | Anyone ever try a hair dryer stuck in the air intake ? |
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Sandy Hook, MB | alneiowa - 1/1/2014 17:22 Anyone ever try a hair dryer stuck in the air intake ?
Hello Alneiowa
Not a hair dryer, but 1 of those heat guns that looks like a hair dryer on my grain auger motor. Safer than the open flame of the propane torch! |
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SE Minnesota | I saw a couple of guys mention the magnetic heater. They work great, but all I'd say is be careful, because the one we've got gets hot enough to boil the oil in the crankcase. |
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Wi | ranchrider18 - 1/1/2014 16:54 I saw a couple of guys mention the magnetic heater. They work great, but all I'd say is be careful, because the one we've got gets hot enough to boil the oil in the crankcase.
Good point, make sure you get the appropriate one for the situation and put it on a timer if possible. |
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CO, NE | Dad's solution was to always keep the battery charger and block heater plugged in when not in use. Started fine outside this way (4020). I don't know the brand, but the heater he used connects to one of the bypass coolant hoses and circulates coolant (I think). |
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NW KS/ SC ID | around here magnetic oil pan heaters are used often. heat lamp on the fuel filters, most of our equipment can handle a small magnet heater on the fuel tank (handle, as its older than dirt and isnt a plastic tank :) )if we are concerned about the fuel.
sometimes we put a magnet heater on before we plug in the block heater. IMO very important to thin the oil enough for circulation.
Edited by GM Guy 1/1/2014 23:49
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Starting tractor in very cold weather
