So nice to read all these reactions. Makes me feel good that i am not alone in this
So here is what i did so far:
1. i bought this battery tester. Currently i have 3 batteries around my house for use with the iseki's. The youngest is less than 1 year old. I have 330 cca (2x), and one 380 cca. The battery tester shows that, even on the 380cca, after a full recharge, it gives max 200 cca load. Cannot believe that these batteries are degrading so fast. Another test i did was to leave a fully charged battery outside for a night, temperature close to freezing. In the morning it gave me a max of 100cca. So it's hardly surprising that a cold start in the winter morning is almost impossible.
2. I bought a battery booster. Nothing big or fancy, but it already showed it's purpose. One morning, again close to freezing, again the iseki would not start. Not enough cranking. So connected the booster, and there is was
. That's a quick return on investment.
3. I changed the oil into a 0W30 grade. The guy selling me this was laughing, told me i might as well put in some water. Here in Poland these iseki's are a rare item. 95% or more of tractors are the local Ursus (i also have one), and they don't have these issues.
So for now i am waiting for the next -10 degrees C, and for next snow to fall. Hopefully i will finally be able to use the iseki on cleaning 50 centimes of snow.
Another thing i found is that the oil pump, also for the hydraulics, is full-time connected to the engine. Meaning that on starting, the whole circuit of hydraulics oil is also pumped around on starting. In my opinion that is a mistake in design. I have a FEL connected, and because of this i have a lot more hydraulic lines where the oil has to be pumped through when starting. Any next time on the really cold start i will try to disconnect these hydraulic lines, just pumping out the oil at the moment when i want to start it. Maybe this will also help...
About block heaters: i asked around in 2 local tractor shops, but nobody recognises this. If anybody has a link to a product that i can install on my iseki tx1300/tx1500 then please send it. Maybe i can find a way to order it locally.
Anyway many thanks for all the hints, tips and tricks. Much appreciated! Happy holidays from Poland
thx
M.