Better to idle the tractor or turn it off?

[Don87]

Good post.

My only question is where do you find an overnight low of only 75 degrees? Around here, summertime low temps are often well above that.

Actually I meant that as a daytime high, but with that said...........

These are examples of temps where most people have in their head that it is ok to shut a truck off, but in reality..........those temps can and have actually led to the deaths of children and pets left in cars while parents go into casinos and bars.

I mean...........every week we hear of another toddler or animal dying, in a car, in those 'mild conditions' yet people with no common sense whatsoever think it's ok for a trucker to try to endure the same thing that is killing others.

WTF?????

And just to clarify..........I have been driving for over 11 years. At one time or other...........I have serviced almost everyone on TBN..........whether you know it or not. I've hauled the steel that makes your cars/tractors/implements, the food that you eat, the bottled water you drink, the sodas you drink, the food you eat, the shingles, styrofoam, the lumber for your houses, fertilizer for your fields.............fishing poles, reels,tents, sleeping bags.......solo cups, coolers..............if you got it.............it may have been delivered by me!

EDIT: and if I offended anyone.........deal with it!

I am out there on the road, delivering the garbage you want to buy on a daily basis while you sit in the comfort of your home(with heat/air) telling me to go without heat or air.

If it were up to me..........I would let every one of ya go without for at least 1 solid month(or better yet 3) til ya understood what real life is all about!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[HiValley]

This is a very interesting paper prepared by NTS for the US DoD titled:
THE EFFECTS OF LONG TERM HIGH IDLE OPERATION ON DIESEL ENGINES.
38 pages but worth the read.
Here is the link if your interested:
http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA151273

 

[rsewill]

Actually I meant that as a daytime high, but with that said...........

These are examples of temps where most people have in their head that it is ok to shut a truck off, but in reality..........those temps can and have actually led to the deaths of children and pets left in cars while parents go into casinos and bars.

I mean...........every week we hear of another toddler or animal dying, in a car, in those 'mild conditions' yet people with no common sense whatsoever think it's ok for a trucker to try to endure the same thing that is killing others.

I'm a trucker who couldn't sleep with the truck running. I shut it off at +100 or at -40. Used a fan for cooling and lots of sleeping bags to keep warm, with a foam pad on top of the mattress to keep the cold from coming up. I carried enough extension cords to plug in the block heater when needed. Mosquitos were the worst thing I had to deal with.

 

[Don87]

This is a very interesting paper prepared by NTS for the US DoD titled:
THE EFFECTS OF LONG TERM HIGH IDLE OPERATION ON DIESEL ENGINES.
38 pages but worth the read.
Here is the link if your interested:
http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA151273

That was a very interesting and informative read, thanks for posting it.

 

[Don87]

I'm a trucker who couldn't sleep with the truck running. I shut it off at +100 or at -40. Used a fan for cooling and lots of sleeping bags to keep warm, with a foam pad on top of the mattress to keep the cold from coming up. I carried enough extension cords to plug in the block heater when needed. Mosquitos were the worst thing I had to deal with.

sleeping with the truck running does take some getting accustomed to.

Your chemistry may be different than most, but ther's a secondary factor to my previous posts that most aren't aware of:

If it's too hot or cold, most people can't get into REM sleep mode. Without the benefit of REM sleep, you now have a 'sleepy driver' traveling down the highway in a 70 foot long vehicle that weighs 80,000 lbs.

Not entering REM sleep mode is also caused by 'sleep apnea', a condition that can cost a driver his CDL.

 

[Reg]

Good points. Some oil remains on the surfaces indefinitely. There is even an oil film between surfaces that have settled against one another while stationary. Good hydrodynamics relies on more than a residual film tho, so there is ~some~ accelerated wear as relative motion commences and liftoff occurs using sparse residual oil while fresh oil is slightly delayed. ... I would really like to see a well thot out and presented study gauging this phenom. - Then I would like to see a 2nd, independent of the 1st, that gives similar indications. ... I suspect that the proportional rate and duration of the hi wear event causes the stop start issue to be down in the noise in normal use circumstances. After all, there may a wear rate of 10x normal during 1/2sec startup, but that only shortens life by 5 seconds. ... Now, if its on/off every minute or so that could be an issue. :confused3:
larry

I think the only thing that "running it" adds is the cooling effect of circulating oil, but once switched off you don't need the cooling effect of circulating oil anyway.
Heat soak is temporary and it is just an internal movement of heat anyway, i.e. there is not a net heat gain just a heat distribution.

I do believe in quantum theory, but I doubt that (m)any of us are going to save ourselves a whole unit of starter motor repair/replacement by leaving a tractor running, or save a boat load of money by switching it off - so it is probably awash, or 5c one way vs a nickle the other way.

 

[Soundguy]

. At one time or other...........I have serviced almost everyone on TBN..........whether you know it or not. I've hauled the steel that makes your cars/tractors/implements, ............it may have been delivered by me!

Thank you!

. EDIT: and if I offended anyone.........deal with it!

Hey, I've heard it said that if what you say / do doesn't offend at least 1 person somewhere along the way.. you may not be saying or doing enough!

soundguy

 

[jonyyuma]

Thank you!



Hey, I've heard it said that if what you say / do doesn't offend at least 1 person somewhere along the way.. you may not be saying or doing enough!

soundguy

Very Possably so..Offended, not in any-way... trucking over the road was not my style, so Thanks here too...I did learn not to rent a motel next to a Big truck stop.. before the new regulations.. It is againest the law to leave the truck engine running for sleepers, in this area..Supposedly because we are the Crossroads for the south here, and air smog.?. The solution was to install a small pony motor on the truck to power the cab air or heat. Now the truck stops in West Mem. have the window units for the cabs..

 

[Soundguy]

i've seen rigs with a small gasser or propane(whisper / honda) genny on back to power a low wattage unit as well.

 

[PapaPerk]

I live on about 3 acres and we had two huge mulch piles dumped. I take the bucket and get a scoop and haul it to the back yard to spread around the plants to prevent weeds. Now when I have to park the tractor and manually unload the stuff my hand so I can better spread it.(takes around 10 minutes) should I slow the RPMs and idle the tractor, or turn it off?

It's an older tractor. Maybe the later 80s

Shut it down. You are just wasting fuel (money) and adding hours (more money).