Oil pan heater for hydraulic sump

[Kioti Dave]

As a Canadian, we have to put up with months of below zero weather. I push lots of snow, and am thinking of adding an adhesive oil pan heater to my hydraulic sump near the rear axle. I already have a block heater that does well to heat the engine and engine oil, but it takes some time to heat the hydraulic oil. Has anyone else done this and how well did it work for you? Thanks. Also, the tractor is stored in garage, but not heated.

 

[ericm979]

Synthetic tractor fluid has a wider viscosity range and flows better at cold temps. It's often roughly the equivalent of 5w motor oil while normal premium tractor fluid is more like 10w. If you're not already running it, I'd switch to that as it will allow you to operate the hydraulics with the oil at lower temps. With ~10 gallons in a long 'pan' (the transmission) in contact with a much larger amount of metal than an engine oil pan, it's going to take a lot more heat to warm it up.

 

[CobyRupert]

Some say that upon start up in winter turn on the PTO, or turn steering wheel to limit so hydraulics go into relief for quicker warming of hyd. oil.

 

[LouNY]

Many of the larger tractors have heaters in the transmission/hydraulics,
these are actually wired together so only one cord is necessary.
Some of the higher wattage units do require separate cords.
The worst problem I have seen with the stick on or glue on types is getting them to stay tightly adhered to the case,
any gap and the heat transfer becomes minimal.

 

[Kioti Dave]

Synthetic tractor fluid has a wider viscosity range and flows better at cold temps. It's often roughly the equivalent of 5w motor oil while normal premium tractor fluid is more like 10w. If you're not already running it, I'd switch to that as it will allow you to operate the hydraulics with the oil at lower temps. With ~10 gallons in a long 'pan' (the transmission) in contact with a much larger amount of metal than an engine oil pan, it's going to take a lot more heat to warm it up.

Thanks for the input. Yes, am running synthetic oil. Some of the pads I'm looking at are rated for sumps up to 25 gallons. Will probably try this winter and see.

 

[RjCorazza]

I have tried two methods. (2) 250w magnetic heaters, and an infrared heater at 1000w.
The magnetic heaters seemed to raise the case temp overnight by a few degrees. I suspect they would work to maintain a slightly raised temperature if left on. Definitely not a 3 hour warm up solution.
The 1000w infrared heater worked much better and substantially raised the hydraulic oil temp after a much shorter time. I didn't take many measurements, but in 3 hours I felt that temp increase was beneficial. The downside is that there are components that can be damaged by the infrared heat, so the correct area must be targeted.

 

[Bavarian]

Adding heat to the transmission is a good thing. My tractor has three heaters, coolant, transmission and pump sump heater. It makes starts in the cold way easier.
If your tractor is equipped with a hydraulic shuttle type transmission, during the startup, the starter has to crank the cold transmission as well. Stepping on the clutch is useles since it's hydraulic operated and the required pressure is sitting as a honey like gel at the bottom of the sump.
Go ahead, just a few degrees will make a difference even with a low viscosity oil. Loader operation will improve as well due to the thinner oil.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

As a Canadian, we have to put up with months of below zero weather. I push lots of snow, and am thinking of adding an adhesive oil pan heater to my hydraulic sump near the rear axle. I already have a block heater that does well to heat the engine and engine oil, but it takes some time to heat the hydraulic oil. Has anyone else done this and how well did it work for you? Thanks. Also, the tractor is stored in garage, but not heated.

I have done the exact thing you're asking about. It works perfectly. I have a stick on pad heater on my oil pan, one on my hydro sump, and a block heater for my engine block. I can start my tractor at -40F after the heaters have been running for a couple of hours (I have them on an outside timer), and I can immediately start running my tractor without having to wait for it to warm up further. Without the hydro sump heater, I would have to start my tractor and go back in the house for 20 minutes until the hyrdro warmed up enough I could get the tractor to move and the hydraulics to work.

I have my timer set to come on a couple hours before I get up, so when I go out to start it, I just hit the glow plugs for one cycle, then start the tractor and go. Glad I did it. Would recommend to anyone in cold country.

 

[ray66v]

For what it's worth, I have had a pad heater on my transaxle for many years.

I chose a low wattage pad, running for long periods of time, rather than a high powered one, right before use.

140 watts heating probably 4 gallons of oil, and the axle, takes a day or two in an insulated building to make the lower part of the housing slightly warm to the touch. You only need to keep the oil from getting cold soaked, you do not need to bring it to operating temperature.

I plug it in when snow is forecast, and sometimes I leave it running for a week or two, if the weather suggests snow accumulation.

Just running synthetic oil, doesn't mean you don't have to do a warm up. (I run Amsoil ATH). If you compare the actual viscosity's of regular hydraulic oil, and synthetic oil, there really isn't much difference until you get to -30 or -40F.

 

[troverman]

As a Canadian, we have to put up with months of below zero weather. I push lots of snow, and am thinking of adding an adhesive oil pan heater to my hydraulic sump near the rear axle. I already have a block heater that does well to heat the engine and engine oil, but it takes some time to heat the hydraulic oil. Has anyone else done this and how well did it work for you? Thanks. Also, the tractor is stored in garage, but not heated.

Boy, I'd think with all this global warming talk you'd be down to maybe only a month or so of below zero weather...lol.

I'm assuming the Kioti NX in your signature is the tractor in question?

There may be an additional port on your loader valve block that is unused, or a plug in the side of the transmission casing somewhere. In that case, you can measure the bolt that comes out and purchase a frost heater that fits the opening. Often, these are 500W and the advantage is that they are heating the fluid directly rather than heating thriugh the casing.