Better to idle the tractor or turn it off?

[SPYDERLK]

Just learn to spread it EVENLY from the bucket.

Not that hard, come back later with a landscape rake if you want/need it "perfect" (whatever THAT means for spreading mulch).

Yeah. Med/hi rpm, lo/middle gear, shake the bucket. ...
larry

 

[HatTrickHero11]

Just learn to spread it EVENLY from the bucket.

Not that hard, come back later with a landscape rake if you want/need it "perfect" (whatever THAT means for spreading mulch).

Well I'm only 20, so I am the tractor driver and my parents want it spread. The plants are really close together so you have to hand move out of the bucket. It's a pain in the neck if you ask me.

 

[jpm1]

I have had a lot of diesels in my life time and they have always idled for extended periods of time, I remember years ago our skidder and crawler run 24- 7, never shut off other than to change the oil. They both had 5-6000 hours on each. My tractors have been left running just above idle speed a number of times all night because of the cold weather and when i'm working in a storm. I have a 2010 International road tractor with a Detriot and when i'm delivering i never shut it down. That engine has 2800 hours on it now and oil testing shows 100 percent no problems. IMO it only hurts your wallet for some extra fuel used. . . .John

 

[BroBro]

All the new John Deere and, I believe, Kubota manuals have warnings about extended idling for diesels because of carbon build-up.

Personally I go with the 3 or 4 minute rule... Longer than that I shut it off. I might also look for ways to shorten wait, like pulling off mulch in large quantities and going back later to actually spread it.

Have you ever been around a truck stop they idle those engine's for days at a time.
Also come on it save's the environment " GIVE ME A BREAK ""

 

[pat32rf]

Have you ever been around a truck stop they idle those engine's for days at a time.
Like the man from Detroit Deisel pointed out- The drivers aren't paying for the fuel or the wear on the engines...

 

[rsewill]

Have you ever been around a truck stop they idle those engine's for days at a time.
Also come on it save's the environment " GIVE ME A BREAK ""

We would roll off the interstate, idle about one minute while we preped to fuel, etc. and shut down. Same for hookup and drop. Never let the truck idle except if we needed heat and then we set the idle at one thousand rpm so we didn't have to worry about the oil polymerizing. That still means only five or ten starts a day.

 

[Soundguy]

Back to the original question: Diesels aren't what they used to be, in fact not for a long time. Back in the day my great uncle Vernie had to start his diesel tractor on gas and then change the compression and switch to diesel, Uncle Keith (n'er do well) never remembered to do the obverse. Next day all the diesel had to be cranked out by hand to restart. (Maybe he did that on purpose so Vernie would stop imposing on his time.)Thus once started in the day and switched to diesel an engine was not shut down, rather idled, since it needed to be switched back to gas to turn off. That behavioral entered the national psyche in the 1930s, and is irrationally continued. Shut 'er down. Diesels ain't what they used to be.
Mf

was this actually a diesel engine, or an all fuel model tvo / kerosene / distlate engine.. start on gas, then switch to 'low cost fuel' setup.. all using a carb or vaporizing carb.. and not a fuel injector?

soundguy

 

[namesray]

another thing to bring into this, what about "washing the cylinders" if you let it idle too much? i have heard that unburned fuel at idle will start to mix with the engine oil and "wash the cylinders" and that is NOT a good thing.

all the newer dump trucks where i work will automatically idle up if it sits for awhile at low idle. even the newer diesel crewcab 350's idel up after it sits at low idle for awhile.

bottom line, diesels are made to run. my dealer told me that a diesel is very "happy" running wide open. however, low idle is not good. a higher idle is fine, but increased fuel costs, and that many more engine revoultions and hours on your $$$$ equipment.

my equipment gets idled a bit, especially on warm up and when running my 3ph winch, but it is a higher idle-1300-1500 rpms. also when splitting wood with 3ph splitter i run it at 2000 rpms. but these are necessary to have the engine running. if you are doing the mulch work all day long back and forth, i would shut it off just to save fuel and hours on tractor. if you are only doing it for a couple of hours, then a high idle is ok.

i have taken the spark arrestor out of my kubota rtv900 multiple times and every time it was sooted shut (has the internal muffler screen type). the manuel said to clean it every 100 hours. i would check it at the 50hr mark and it was sooted shut. that can't be good for it to be back building into the engine. i even checked it one time after 15 hours after i cleaned it and it was sooted shut. so i cut the spark arrestor out. the rtv did get some idle time, so i have started to limit that and run higher rpms. i know the tractor probably doesn't have a spark arrestor, but that is the same type of soot build up you could get at low idle.

long story short, if you don't mind the little bit of extra fuel cost and hours on the tractor, high idle it. if you like to save fuel costs (diesel is getting higher) shut it down. starters aren't that much and i haven't replaced one yet. no matter how you look at it, things on equipment ARE going to wear and need maintenance.

 

[TripleR]

TripleR, what kind of tractor is in your picture? Is that yours?

It our Kubota M8540.

 

[RoyJackson]

Have you ever been around a truck stop they idle those engine's for days at a time.
Also come on it save's the environment " GIVE ME A BREAK ""

Quite a few states prohibit extended idling at truck stops nowadays...