Are block heaters needed?

[Charolais]

Doc-Bob,I mount the tank heater on the side of the engine. The intake end of the heater has to be below where you pick up the coolant. I've always used the drain plug for the engine block to connect the intake side to.

The output side runs up to what I call a water manifold along the top of the engine head. Most of those manifolds have a plug at the rear end(front end meaning the water pump). The flow from the tank heater has to have upward flow from the output side. So you can't take a hose over the engine and go back down to connect.

By connecting to the water/coolant manifold you get the engine head nice and warm, so you know what that does for combustion. If it's 10 degree in Feb. the engine will crank like it's July. I had a 574 IH and a 1,500 watt tank heater would put the temp. gauge just like the engine was running.

The tank heater uses barbed fittings and 5/8ths heater hose just like most trucks and cars use. I try and mount as close to the engine as possible so nothing hangs the heater while working the tractor. Tractors with loaders I mount the heater between the loader frame and engine. That protects the heater unit alot.

 

[Stubblejumper]

Up here in Saskatchewan we get winter similar to North Dakota. Perhaps a little colder even. Very few people here use recirculating heaters on their engines. They just can't get enough heat to stay in the engine. Block heaters are pretty much mandantory for any vehicle that is stored outdoors or even in an unheated shop or garage. I find that I can plug in the block heater an hour before using a gas engined car or truck, but for any diesel, a couple hours on the block heater is required. Ideally a battery warmer is used also. It greatly assists cold starts if the vehicle is out of the wind. If it is windy, you will need to plug the block heater in for 4 hours or more just to get some heat into the engine. A great aid in starting cold engines is low viscosity synthetic oil. I use 0W40 in my JD 3720. Seems to be pretty good stuff. Even flows half decently when cold. I just compared regular 15W40 to the 0W40 on a day that was -5C (about 23F) while changing my oil. The 0W40 poured fine if a little slow, but the 15W40 was like thick syrop. It took more than twice as long to pour the same amount of oil.

My main concern with starting my tractor in the winter is with the hydrostatic drive. JD offers a heater kit for the HST, but I have not yet installed it. What I currently do is use a magnetic heater to warm things up. It is not the ideal solution, but it warms things up enough to get some flow through the system when it is first started up.

I generally warm my tractor for about 5 minutes at 1200-1500 rpm then drive it gently for a few more minutes until the temperature gauge reads in the regular operating zone. This seems to work well even on the coldest days.

A final note. Make sure you have used all your summer diesel before it gets too cold. It is no fun trying to warm up a fuel tank full of gelled fuel.

 

[Doc_Bob]

A final note. Make sure you have used all your summer diesel before it gets too cold. It is no fun trying to warm up a fuel tank full of gelled fuel.

Or add Power Service???
Bob

 

[patrick_g]

Stubblejumper, There probably isn't 50 cents worth of difference between most of your weather and northern North Dakota (Minot.) You are doing what it takes. Some folks don't understand what all is hapening and are just happy to be able to start the engine. Unfortunately starting a really cold engine has an extremely high wear factor associated with it due to lack of lubrication. Warming the engine enough to see the temp gage come off the lower peg is way better than cranking a cold soaked engine which hasn't been run lately.

The HST and other hydraulics don't like to be worked much when really cold either. You need to be gentle with the HST and hydraulics until they start to warm up a bit. The magnetic heater on the tranny is a great idea. It doesn't have to make it feel warm to the touch to to help a lot. Warmin the tranny up to freezing is way better than using it at subzero temps.

Ths difference between summer and winter diesel is kerosene. Winter diesel is part kerosene. It develops a tad less power but has a lower gelling point. I run summer diesel all year in Oklahoma in the tractor but use anti-gel added to the tank. If it were to get and stay really cold (very rare) I would mix kerosene with my fuel as well. I buy 300 gal at a time and it lasts over 1/2 a year so I will have the wrong blend either way. I choose to buy summer off road diesel and take action to get along in cold weather.

Pat

 

[herringchoker]

Question (really 2) - how much juice does a block heater consume - is it equivalent to, say, a 100W light bulb?
Second question - can you leave it on "too long" - meaning will it get too hot or cause damage if you leave it on all the time?

They come in different ratings, e.g. 600W, 900W, 1500W. Normally they only need to be turned on for an hour or so before starting the engine (varies with wattage & air temperature). That said, I used to have a dump truck that was on standby in the winter for hauling snow. It had a Caterpillar 3406B diesel engine (893 cu. in. 6 cylinder) that was sometimes plugged in for days at a time so it would be ready to go when needed. I had that truck for over 10 years and never had a problem with it, so I don't think it hurts the engine...only your bank account.

 

[Iowachild]

What are your thoughts on a running a salamander type heater on the tractor? My old L175 has always been on cold blooded beast- have used a magnet heater on the oil pan with decent luck- resorted to the salamander when needed. Not too close, just blowing on the engine for a while.

That's exactly what we use to preheat our aircraft engines. Made a long snout out of 8" stove pipe with an adjustable elbow on the outlet. Place the elbow under the cowl and the length of stove pipe allows the air to cool enough to not damage.