Well I'm still trying to digest all this. Today only made it to 31 degrees but I looked at the thermometer in the equipment shed and it was on 48, this at 2 pm. It's still turning over pretty sluggish. I might video it starting tomorrow. I'm thinking it's probably the run time. In the spring and summer she always turns it off at least twice while feeding and it's probably taking a toll on the battery. This is her second winter feeding round bales, last year she used the 574 which doesn't have glow plugs or ether and she didn't have much of a problem. On the days that got down around 10 she really had to play with that weird start/run/stop lever thing it has. I have a good volt meter and I'm going to take some readings. If the alternator isn't up to snuff I'll call the dealer and see what he says.
BTW: She's definitely waiting for the glow plug light to go out, I made sure of that. She's pretty efficient at operating all this stuff, she's been on and around farm equipment for over 40 years.
You do know that a diesel engine is huge HEAT SINK dont you?
If your alternator belt is loose thats most if not all your problem;
If it has more than an eighth of an inch of slop................... and depending on the belts condition it may be bad and turning to powder due to the slop and excess wear further you dont need to shut it off while feeding just set it at idle and set the brakes.
The very second that the first cylinder that is in the firing order explodes its ration of fuel the rest wil follow simply due to the power generated by the first cylinders exploding the measure of fuel.
Check your alternator belt before anything else. Then remove the battery if the belt is tight, charge it overnight on a low charge rate, and then take it some where to have it tested with a load tester; It acts like you just might have a broken cell that makes contact and breaks contact.
A kerosene salamander is a diesel tractors best friend. twenty minutes after ignition the engine and cooling system will be near operating temperature, the engine oil will be warm and it will just purr when you start it.
( all that is needed is an heavy duty timer that the salamander is plugged into to heat the tractor and you will add years to its service life even in summer when its left overnight that engine is cold and the oil is cold so its behind the eight ball even in the warm months.
The problem with all internal combustion engines is simply one of no oil in the galleries when the engine is cranked and thats the biggest contributor to engine wear especially if the engine oil is cold.
several models of engine oil pumps are offered which pump the oil in the crankcase through the engine prior to ignition sequence.