Warm up before driving mini excavator out of garage?

[erlingre]

Hi,

Is it harmful for a mini excavator to be driven carefully out of a garage immediately after startup without a 5 min warm up? Warm up will fill the garage with exhaust or should I use a hose on the exhaust to get the fumes outdoor?

Thanks

Erling

 

[hayden]

I generally start moving mine around right way, but slowly and gently. I don’t really start to work it until it’s warmed up

 

[2manyrocks]

CO poisoning not worth the risk.

 

[steve tym]

You should be fine, just don't put a big load on the engine until it's warm.

 

[newbury]

Keep the hose handy.
Can you idle it out ?

 

[MossRoad]

Hi,

Is it harmful for a mini excavator to be driven carefully out of a garage immediately after startup without a 5 min warm up? Warm up will fill the garage with exhaust or should I use a hose on the exhaust to get the fumes outdoor?

Thanks

Erling

In winter, I let my all hydraulic gas powered machine run in my shed for 10-15 minutes sometimes to get the fluid warmed up. The overhead door is open. Don't know if I'd do that with an attached garage.

 

[Drstrangeglove]

I start moving mine in the first 30 seconds. I wear short sleeves in February because it warm here.

 

[erlingre]

My garage is far from the house, but it is deep with no doors close to the excavator parked rear end towards the rear wall. I may drill a hole in the wall and use a hose to get the exhaust out.
I avoid starting it in very cold weather. To charge the battery I have started it once this winter during a mild period with 2-3 degrees celcius.

 

[RjCorazza]

The best advice is to drive the machine out of your garage and do your short warmup outside. Diesel engines produce significantly LESS carbon monoxide than gasoline engines, but they do still produce some. Plus there's plenty of other bad stuff in diesel exhaust that you don't want to be breathing.

 

[KennyG]

I think we obsess way too much over warm up. I can't imagine there is any difference between sitting and running and driving slowly. I do try to warm my tractor up a bit before I do anything serious, but I drive it around and do light things right away.

 

[orezok]

So all you “warm up” guys start your diesel truck in the garage and warm it up for 10 minutes before hitting the road?

 

[Carl_NH]

Don't have a diesel truck, but the HST tractor used for snow gets warmed up for 5-7 minutes inside the barn with the door open, then driven outside and not worked hard for the next 5 minutes.

The diesel mini ex and gas zero turn, the same way, warm up for 5 min then drive outside - but these are not ran in the cold of winter.

 

[ptsg]

My engine warm up routine consists on starting the engine, let it run as I go open the garage door, then pull the vehicle out and take it easy till it gets up to temp. Once it's up to temp, operate normally.

Tractors, excavator, truck, whatever, that's how I do it.

The point of warming up the engines is to not put heavy loads and RPM on them before getting up to operating temp.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

I have an opinion but heck don't we all.

its a great question especially for guys who live in brutally cold climates.

I would start with a question first:
What does your manual say re: warm-up given your specific temp's?

Then I would ask a second question:
What is your reasoning to not follow the engineers / manufacturers recommendations and is your reason strong enough to overrule their recommendations?


If me a lot depends on what piece of equipment I am using. If an hst style transmission then I respect the engineers recommendations more so than something thats gear driven.
- when temp's above freezing I would idle it outside and run recommended warm up outside.
- if -30 like it was 2 weeks ago I would let it run at least 10 minutes before idling it outside to complete warm-up.

Something else I do not do like you are doing is starting / running my equipment when cold to charge the battery. I use trickle chargers for that.

cheers

 

[Hughman]

So all you “warm up” guys start your diesel truck in the garage and warm it up for 10 minutes before hitting the road?

No, not in the garage... They save that for the campground. Seriously, what's with diesel trucks in campgrounds? (Sorry for the rant)

 

[DarkBlack]

Hi,

Is it harmful for a mini excavator to be driven carefully out of a garage immediately after startup without a 5 min warm up?

Not harmful at all. After your oil pressure is up, just ease it out if the garage, and avoid heavy loads immediately.
You’re not doing your engine or yourself any health favors, leaving it running and polluting in the garage. If the air isn’t good for you to breathe, it’s not good for the engine to be breathing in it’s own exhaust either.

 

[MossRoad]

My garage is far from the house, but it is deep with no doors close to the excavator parked rear end towards the rear wall. I may drill a hole in the wall and use a hose to get the exhaust out.
I avoid starting it in very cold weather. To charge the battery I have started it once this winter during a mild period with 2-3 degrees celcius.

Throw a battery tender on it.

 

[MossRoad]

So all you “warm up” guys start your diesel truck in the garage and warm it up for 10 minutes before hitting the road?

Don't have a diesel truck. My machine is all hydraulic. Three pumps, 4 wheel motors. At -10F the fluid is like molasses. So I start it up and let it run at 1/3 throttle while I shovel the steps and narrow sidewalks.

As for cars, when it's cold, I start it up and let it run for 10-15 minutes so it gets nice and warm inside. It's a luxury.

 

[MossRoad]

No, not in the garage... They save that for the campground. Seriously, what's with diesel trucks in campgrounds? (Sorry for the rant)

Those tents are heavy.

 

[Hughman]

Those tents are heavy.

Just one of my pet peeves. Watch some guys come out around 6:30-7 in the morning, start their trucks and then go back into their 5th wheel trailer for 30-45 minutes to have breakfast while their truck "warms up". How long does it take to warm up an engine in this fridgid California climate?