Winter Prep

[3930dave]

After starting, allow your hydraulics some time to warm up - cold fluid is not their friend.

Not sure if your's is HST, same applies there - there are some posts on TBN about Kubota's HST warm-up time in cold weather, it is lengthy at low temp. See what your Owner's Manual says about cold temp warm-up time.

If you haven't practiced steering with the rear brakes a bit already, try it before you get on the slippery stuff - it might prevent you from doing a slow-speed slide into something.

You may know all the above from playing on gas tractors, but in case not...... :2cents:

Rgds, D.

 

[DeereMann]

OK, that helps. Assuming this is an indirect injection engine (like most small diesels are), you definitely need to cycle your glow plugs, preferably twice before hitting the starter.

You also should be sure your battery is fully charged & fresh.

At those temperatures, straight No. 2 ASTM D-975 fuel will gel (wax precipitation) so you MUST use a blended fuel and/or an antigel additive. Or you will have a gel-infested fuel filter element and a no-start until replaced. If you have crap fuel cetane like a lot of places, spike with a cetane boost additive also. This will help fuel ignite much better.

Others on TBN know more than I do, but these are the basics of lower temp mechanical injection diesel engine starting. I think fuel gelling starts around mid 20's F. Plugging in an engine block heater does nothing to fix that - only makes the engine easier to turn over and initial fuel to ignite.

Most engine manufactures also recommend a water demulsifier additive all the time, but this is especially important in the winter where condensation can happen much quicker on internal metal surfaces.

 

[MoPops]

Well, it looks like I've been neglecting some of this already. I had it out the other day, in the mid 20s, didn't let it warm up, although I did use the glow plug at length.
I haven't added all these additives yet. Will do. I do have hydrostatic drive, so more warming up will take place. I did notice that when I backed out of the barn, it was running pretty sluggish. I babied it for a while until it felt "normal."
Thanks again.

 

[powerscol]

If you do jell up, this is what I had to do. You will need your wifes hair dryer, and a good long clean paint stick. Pull filter, replace element and fill bowl with the 911 and replace. I have the block heater, so I plugged it in, but was in a hurry to get going. I then added the rest of the 911 to the tank and used the paint stick to stir - took a minute to work.

Now for the fun part. Using the hair dryer I followed all the fuel lines and heated well including the filter and pump - then tried to start after several glow plug cycles. I had tons of white smoke at first, and it took several attempts, repeating the hair dryer along the lines until it fired on all 3 cylinders. I let it warm up running about 10 minutes with the block heater still plugged in. It was still sluggish, but I got us dug out.

Others have put an electric heater under the unit and covered with a tarp, with heater blowing on the engine block. However do not do as my dad once did and use a pan of charcoal under his truck - almost caused a fire. Paint on oil pan bubbled and where oil leaked was smoking. Got it started though. (We were in hunting camp)

The best way is to treat early and keep the battery charged, and I agree at your low temps to fully cycle the glow plugs twice or more. Synthetic or synthetic blend oil will help too.

BTW I see BG has some new products out to treat fuel for this situation too. Expensive, but good products, especially the injector cleaners.

 

[tman1020]

I have never once used a diesel additive and had many diesels. I just make sure that I buy fuel from a supplier that has a high turnover and buy it close to when I need it. I worried about it a lot at first so I always kept a can of fresh diesel in a somewhat heated garage just in case but never had a problem. I believe that the additives needed are already in the fuel in my area. I think using the right grade/weight oil for temp.expected is important. I also like synthetic.

 

[SSdoxie]

MoPops, There are 2 ways to activate the glow plugs. Turn key on and let timer run, or turn and hold key to left will manually run glow plugs. I'm in about same temp area as you. I only drive mine once a week feeding hay and/or cutting a little wood. When I go the shed to get the tractor, I reach over and turn key on letting the glow plug run on timer while I check the engine oil. Then start it, if it does not fire immediately I turn key back to left and hold for another 10-15 seconds then start it. These will start without a lot of glow plug time but tend to give more black smoke when doing so. I prefer to pre-heat it a little more to cut doqn on carbon build up in muffler and soot on the lift arm. Let it run for a couple minutes to warm hydraulics @ about 1200 RPM. You can tell when hydraulics are warm by raising the loader slightly - if engine RPM drops when starting to lift (@1200 RPM) the oil is still a little stiff.

 

[powerscol]

tman1020, you are very correct. Fresh fuel from a high turn over place is the best way to go. However my problem occurred when I had summer fuel in the tank and the temps dropped. Before I started haying with my tractor, a tank of fuel would last several months for me.

 

[Lockport]

OK, that helps. Assuming this is an indirect injection engine (like most small diesels are), you definitely need to cycle your glow plugs, preferably twice before hitting the starter.

You also should be sure your battery is fully charged & fresh.

At those temperatures, straight No. 2 ASTM D-975 fuel will gel (wax precipitation) so you MUST use a blended fuel and/or an antigel additive. Or you will have a gel-infested fuel filter element and a no-start until replaced. If you have crap fuel cetane like a lot of places, spike with a cetane boost additive also. This will help fuel ignite much better.

Others on TBN know more than I do, but these are the basics of lower temp mechanical injection diesel engine starting. I think fuel gelling starts around mid 20's F. Plugging in an engine block heater does nothing to fix that - only makes the engine easier to turn over and initial fuel to ignite.

Most engine manufactures also recommend a water demulsifier additive all the time, but this is especially important in the winter where condensation can happen much quicker on internal metal surfaces.

Great point made here. The vast majority of America's truckers use fuel additives promoting cetane boost and anti gelling properties, while old school fleet mechanics do not approve of additives, fuel or oil. An anti-waxing additive is what you would be looking for and sometimes hard to find and should say Anti-waxing right on the bottle. I recommend going straight to a large diesel manufacturer service center such as Cummins, CAT or Detroit. Oddly, they cost about half the price, maybe $7 then what is stocked addy all the truck stops and travel centers but that tiny bottle will treat about 150 gallons. A quality #1 diesel is also key. Fuel is mixed and distributed with the weather so stock up in a cold snap or Arctic front from a reliable diesel distribution that moves a lot of fuel.

In lieu of a block heater I would recommend a quality synthetic oil such as Mobil1. I use 5W30 which has a pour point of near -50. That eliminates the troubling factor. Dino oil at -20, add some wind, and it's thick as molasses..like drying varnish and, cold enough, it'll fuse the plates on a start attempt on a liquid battery. I had this problem on reefer trailer in extreme cold Canadian winters. AGM batteries and synthetic oil in -40 wind chills pounding that unit overnight and it'd start everytime.

I keep my CT235 in an unheated garage, I use diesel out of my highway truck, no additives, a block heater when really cold, synthetic oil, always allow the glow plug its mandatory 20-30 seconds and in 3 years, I guess this is winter #4, I've never had a problem and I've not hesitated to use it in -30. I allow it a couple minutes idle, then increase rpm to around 1200 and let it warm the hydraulics for up to 15 minutes in extremes.

Happy Holidays

 

[MoPops]

Great point made here. The vast majority of America's truckers use fuel additives promoting cetane boost and anti gelling properties, while old school fleet mechanics do not approve of additives, fuel or oil. An anti-waxing additive is what you would be looking for and sometimes hard to find and should say Anti-waxing right on the bottle. I recommend going straight to a large diesel manufacturer service center such as Cummins, CAT or Detroit. Oddly, they cost about half the price, maybe $7 then what is stocked addy all the truck stops and travel centers but that tiny bottle will treat about 150 gallons. A quality #1 diesel is also key. Fuel is mixed and distributed with the weather so stock up in a cold snap or Arctic front from a reliable diesel distribution that moves a lot of fuel. In lieu of a block heater I would recommend a quality synthetic oil such as Mobil1. I use 5W30 which has a pour point of near -50. That eliminates the troubling factor. Dino oil at -20, add some wind, and it's thick as molasses..like drying varnish and, cold enough, it'll fuse the plates on a start attempt on a liquid battery. I had this problem on reefer trailer in extreme cold Canadian winters. AGM batteries and synthetic oil in -40 wind chills pounding that unit overnight and it'd start everytime. I keep my CT235 in an unheated garage, I use diesel out of my highway truck, no additives, a block heater when really cold, synthetic oil, always allow the glow plug its mandatory 20-30 seconds and in 3 years, I guess this is winter #4, I've never had a problem and I've not hesitated to use it in -30. I allow it a couple minutes idle, then increase rpm to around 1200 and let it warm the hydraulics for up to 15 minutes in extremes. Happy Holidays

Good info! I did a lot of the winter prep last weekend. I have already added the fuel additive recommended earlier. Ran it for 15 minutes or so, after I topped off the diesel.
Fired up instantly. It's the first winter I've had it, but it's a 2012 model. So it's been sitting for a few years.
I'm super happy with the tractor, no issues with it at all. (That I didn't cause.)
Thanks for all the good advice.
Jeff