Block heater...worth installing ??

[3v0]

Whats the difference?

There are several ways to heat the block. Kubota uses a freeze plug heater where you have to pry out a freeze plug and insert the heater. I have seen these rust through.

A lower radiator heater is installed by cutting the lower radiator hose and clamping the pipe like heater in to splice the hose back together.

Before and after


Both are good solutions in that they heat the water. There are other types of heater like the magnetic one Astanton mentioned, head bolt heaters, and even dip stick heaters.

 

[PeterK]

Up here in Maine, my dealer put a kit in my BX for free/no charge/nada that includes: 1)block heater, 2)rear work light, 3) welded center FEL hook as part of doing good business.

Union Farm Equipment (right next to the Deere dealer) Rt 17. Union, Maine nfi.


I use the block heater for a hour or so before starting, usually gets the water temp gauge in operating range, then glow plug for 8 seconds or so. Unless the BX has been sitting at zero degrees for a few days which is doubtful in my unheated garage but it happens, it starts right up smoothly with only a small puff of black. If really cold, it will shake it off for 1-2 seconds then smooth back to normal running. I set idle up a little to start, maybe 1600+rpm, then let it run for another 5minutes before working it.

 

[dsmiley]

I'm wondering if an engine block heater, plugged in for a couple hours prior to use might help with these issues?

Not only will it start quicker, it will be all warmed up and ready to work, no waiting. And it has to be better for the engine. Mine is at running temp. in an hour.


Edit: Peter types faster than me.

 

[crazyal]

I rarely use mine. When I decide I want to use the tractor it's never plugged in and I usually don't want to wait. It could be a week or more in the winter between uses so it makes no sense to leave it plugged in. I tried to plug it in for a half hour but it really didn't have enough time to warm it.

 

[PRF]

Totally worth it. If i try and start my tractor with out plugging in, is does start after a bit out cranking but it sure does like it. It needs throttle to start, puffs white smoke and has a rough starting idles. Depending on temperature sometimes plugging it in for as little as15 minutes will make a huge difference. I recommend it for any cold starting.

That's what mine does, so I'm glad to see the heater is working for ya

PRF,
I live in your neck of the woods and use a magnetic block heater that I bought at Napa Auto. I use it when temps drop below twenty degrees for my B3030. The beauty of this heater is that you can use it on another tractor. I use a dollar in the pic to show scale.

Definitely the easiest way, but I think I'm going with one that heats the coolant..thanks !!

There are several ways to heat the block. Kubota uses a freeze plug heater where you have to pry out a freeze plug and insert the heater. I have seen these rust through.

A lower radiator heater is installed by cutting the lower radiator hose and clamping the pipe like heater in to splice the hose back together.

Before and after
View attachment 313125

Both are good solutions in that they heat the water. There are other types of heater like the magnetic one Astanton mentioned, head bolt heaters, and even dip stick heaters.

I could be wrong, but I think the tech at my dealer mentioned mine having a threaded plug for the heater? If not, I like that hose heater, is it a Kubota item?

Up here in Maine, my dealer put a kit in my BX for free/no charge/nada that includes: 1)block heater, 2)rear work light, 3) welded center FEL hook as part of doing good business.

Union Farm Equipment (right next to the Deere dealer) Rt 17. Union, Maine nfi.


I use the block heater for a hour or so before starting, usually gets the water temp gauge in operating range, then glow plug for 8 seconds or so. Unless the BX has been sitting at zero degrees for a few days which is doubtful in my unheated garage but it happens, it starts right up smoothly with only a small puff of black. If really cold, it will shake it off for 1-2 seconds then smooth back to normal running. I set idle up a little to start, maybe 1600+rpm, then let it run for another 5minutes before working it.

I got 2 out of 3 from my dealer, actually the hook, rear lights and wiper.. I was pleasantly surprised when they delivered it.. Needs a block heater though.. That poor engine struggling on initial firing makes me cringe !!


Thanks very much for the replies fellas !!

 

[john haylow]

It’s well worth it. I have mine on a timer and plug it in if I’m going to be away for the day and I know that I will need it when I get home. I leave it for about 2hrs and 3 if it is really cold, and then let it run for 10min, by then your cab is nice and warm.
John

 

[3v0]

@PRF the lower radiator hose heater is generic. Just find one that is the right diameter for the hose after checking to see that you have the room.

It is kinder to plug a diesel but on bigger tractors it takes a lot of watts to warm them up. Not so much on a SCUT.

Getting off topic here but it is a bit nostalgic.

Back in North Dakota during blizzards we kept a loader and a tractor with a snow blower plugged in. The loader tractor had to start to feed cattle and the snow blower to clear the road in case of an emergency.

In the 60s everyone on our gravel road was snowed in till the county came to dig us out. When the farmers got decent FELs they started clearing the drifts over the road. That was slow cold work. In time they put blades on the farm tractors. At least one got a cat. Then rear mounted and finally front mounted snow blowers.

 

[PRF]

@PRF the lower radiator hose heater is generic. Just find one that is the right diameter for the hose after checking to see that you have the room.

It is kinder to plug a diesel but on bigger tractors it takes a lot of watts to warm them up. Not so much on a SCUT.

Getting off topic here but it is a bit nostalgic.

Back in North Dakota during blizzards we kept a loader and a tractor with a snow blower plugged in. The loader tractor had to start to feed cattle and the snow blower to clear the road in case of an emergency.

In the 60s everyone on our gravel road was snowed in till the county came to dig us out. When the farmers got decent FELs they started clearing the drifts over the road. That was slow cold work. In time they put blades on the farm tractors. At least one got a cat. Then rear mounted and finally front mounted snow blowers.

Great story.. We truck raw milk and I can remember standing on the back of an old D4 dozer while my grandfather plowed the drifts, with the singing Detroit milk truck right behind us.. They didn't have very powerful snow plows back in the 60's !!

 

[Ken45101]

Not only will it start quicker, it will be all warmed up and ready to work, no waiting. And it has to be better for the engine. Mine is at running temp. in an hour.

NOT really "ready for work." You are only warming the engine oil, not the transmission fluid. In very cold weather with an HST, it may be even more important to let it idle for a while and warm up the transmission fluid.

I only have a block heater on my M5040. I only plug it in if the temps are going to be below 20 and I rarely use it at those temps. It would probably be good to have something on the RTV900 though since it gets used every day no matter what the temp. The M5040 is a gear transmission so warming the hydraulic fluid isn't as much of an issue.

As for equipment used for clearing roads, the book "Denison's Ice Road" mentions how they start the equipment at the beginning of the season and never shut it down: starting big dozers at -50F is near impossible.

 

[kuboman]

Short answer is yes it is a good idea and it will help. Do Not use Kubota's freeze plug heater. They are an incredibly stupid, poor design in that the heating element does not even protrude into the block. In fact it is encased in a steel cylinder. It reaches super hot temperatures and burns out rapidly and barley adds any heat to the block. I installed a circulating heater on mine. The unfortunate part of the lower rad hose heater is that there is virtually no circulation with it either. The thermostat stops the water from circulating.