Last year was cold, but no so cold that the tractor had any difficulty starting. And my process for starting and warming the engine is sound: Let glow plugs warm the combustion chamber, start engine at idle, after about a minute, bump up throttle to about 1500rpm for 20-30 minutes before working. This, in theory, should be enough to warm the oil and properly lubricate the engine and turbo. The turbo being the most important thing here. Some mornings, the temp drops way down, very cold, and I get concerned about how thick that oil is getting. I thought maybe I should install an engine heater of some sort...
Growing up on the farm, we always plugged in the trucks and tractors over night, ALWAYS. They were block heaters that came installed stock. Pretty sure they were simple freeze plug style heaters.
My new tractor, does not have such a thing, which I think is simply criminal.
I started looking to see what type of heater I should get, what would work best for keeping the engine oil from turning into sludge, and to make life easier on the engine during the first start of the day. At first, I figured I could put a magnetic oil pan heater on the bottom and that would work. Come to find out, these really dont work well. The stick on kind, silicone mats that adhere to the pan, work much better. But there is no large flat surface on my tractors oil pan, it's split to accommodate the front drive shaft. These pads apparently do not conform to that radius. The search continues...
I learned of a lower radiator hose warmer, kinda odd. You cut the lower radiator hose and install this heater in between the radiator and the engine. The heater heats the coolant and it 'naturally' flows through the engine block, keeping it warm. Videos on YouTube show that this works well, for keeping the combustion chamber warm and allowing for easier starts. But does it also keep the oil warm??? The oil that is sitting in a metal pan, with no water jackets surrounding it, hanging below the engine in the cold where the heat that rises cannot get to? I dont know. Plus, if the water is flowing slowly due to the rising heated water, it makes it way through the radiator that is designed to COOL THE WATER... seems like a waste and inefficient.
I looked at the freeze plug kind. These seems simple enough. Pop out a plug without scarring the block, insert the heater, done. But how secure are they? What plug is best for heating the entire engine? Does this also heat the oil in the sump? How much other crap do I need to remove to get to the plug?
Now, I admit, I maybe over thinking this. The oil is synthetic and the proper viscosity for the temps I'm in. The oil should be thin enough to properly lubricate the turbo and the rest of the engine when it is super cold. But wouldn't heating it, just a little, when it is 0ーF, being a good thing?
Here is what I am thinking, bear with me. I am thinking of putting two thinner stick-on heaters on the under side of the oil pan, one on each side of the drive shaft. This should heat the oil sufficiently. Heating the engine block somehow, either by the radiator or the freeze plug (actually leaning toward the radiator hose heater, for it's simplicity in installation) And then a battery heater... might not go with that, but it couldn't hurt either. But thats 4 plugs!! I would also put them on a timer so they are not on 24hrs when the tractor is not in use. Thinking of 2hrs on, 2hrs off type of thing on a timer. Some people say, "simply plug it in, go have your coffee and when your done, the engine isnt frozen anymore." What they are saying is 'plug it in for two hours, start it, and then wait another 30 minutes for the engine to come up to operating temps before working.' Aint nobody got time for that! I'd rather keep the engine warm, run out and start it, go have my coffee and come back out to a tractor ready to work.
My tractor, unfortunately, is not under cover or in a heated shop. It's outside.
I also looked at dipstick type of heaters... nope. Not even entertaining that one.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. What are yours? What do you do?