B7100 All snug in a blanky

[MLD]

Well here's an idea that maybe really dumb or brilliant depending if it works and how well. I've been thinking about block heaters and such for my B7100 and came up with the idea of wrapping my tractor in a blanket with some sort of a safe heating device under it. I've looked at the debates pro and con of different heaters here at TBN and it seems Ergon has been there before me with just putting a tarp over it.
My B7100 is small and compact, even with the FELL and 3 pt hitch measures about 4' wide by 10' and 53" at the top of the exhaust pipe. That is not a lot of volume, about the size of a three man tent. I also store my Baby in a barn so there is less wind to rob or infiltrate some sort of tarp / blanket set up I may come up with. The idea is not to have the tractor basking in summertime warmth but to get the ambient temperature inside the "Kubota Kakoon" to above freezing. I've read that igloos are at about 40 + - degrees with body heat and a seal oil lamp when the outside temp is below zero. In my car here in New Hampshire I not only keep blankets and additional clothing I have a plumbers candle in case of break downs on back roads. The candle is supposed to not only give light but in a confined space create some warmth. I hope I never get to use my emergency kit and put that one to the test. The other reason for the blanket instead of a block heater is it should heat all the workings elements of the tractor not just the oil and or the coolant but the hydraulics and all the gears oils.

I don't think that this would work in a larger tractor but in this size it may do the trick and maybe better than a single system block heater. I would not use just a tarp but more of an insulated blanket like a couple of moving pads. The down side is removing the covering and storing it out of the way when I'm working the tractor. The other question is what would the source of heat be? Electric lights or a small blower heater or a oil contained space heater. I'm wary of the blower heater of course.

I'm looking for your wit, comments and advice on this brilliantly dumb idea.

MLD

 

[kuboman]

Well here's an idea that maybe really dumb or brilliant depending if it works and how well. I've been thinking about block heaters and such for my B7100 and came up with the idea of wrapping my tractor in a blanket with some sort of a safe heating device under it. I've looked at the debates pro and con of different heaters here at TBN and it seems Ergon has been there before me with just putting a tarp over it.
My B7100 is small and compact, even with the FELL and 3 pt hitch measures about 4' wide by 10' and 53" at the top of the exhaust pipe. That is not a lot of volume, about the size of a three man tent. I also store my Baby in a barn so there is less wind to rob or infiltrate some sort of tarp / blanket set up I may come up with. The idea is not to have the tractor basking in summertime warmth but to get the ambient temperature inside the "Kubota Kakoon" to above freezing. I've read that igloos are at about 40 + - degrees with body heat and a seal oil lamp when the outside temp is below zero. In my car here in New Hampshire I not only keep blankets and additional clothing I have a plumbers candle in case of break downs on back roads. The candle is supposed to not only give light but in a confined space create some warmth. I hope I never get to use my emergency kit and put that one to the test. The other reason for the blanket instead of a block heater is it should heat all the workings elements of the tractor not just the oil and or the coolant but the hydraulics and all the gears oils.

I don't think that this would work in a larger tractor but in this size it may do the trick and maybe better than a single system block heater. I would not use just a tarp but more of an insulated blanket like a couple of moving pads. The down side is removing the covering and storing it out of the way when I'm working the tractor. The other question is what would the source of heat be? Electric lights or a small blower heater or a oil contained space heater. I'm wary of the blower heater of course.

I'm looking for your wit, comments and advice on this brilliantly dumb idea.

MLD

Yep that will work and it has the advantage of keeping the whole tractor warm. My concern is with the heater, they seem to be a fire starter some times.

 

[Ductape]

Definitely a good old trick, covering a cold vehicle and running a heater of some sort to get it started in the dead of winter. No good suggestion on what to use for heat ...... but a lightbulb would be better than alot of others. I've heard of many folks using a lightbulb to keep their well houses from freezing. Perhaps a lamp with a $12 heat lamp bulb in it?

 

[Baby Grand]

I would think just a 100 watt bulb, somewhere under the oil pan, with a warm fuzzy thrown over your friend at night might be all you need to get easy starts. Or how about an electric blanket?

 

[Egon]

All kinds of small electric heaters with fans on the market.

 

[jakell2010]

I use to have an oil truck that was in another life, a box truck in Louisiana ,,,,it had a cummins B motor in it, with no cold start mechanism, I tried putting an electric blanket on it when it got below 32,,,, didn't do much other than run up the electric,,,,,those magnetic pan heater TSC work best

The other option ,,,when the fuel gelled, was to set up a salamander close by

 

[638]

100 watt light bulb under the oil pan and a tarp over the top will do wonders.

 

[herringchoker]

Years ago I had a Belarus 250 (air cooled engine) that wasn't a great winter starter but had to be left outdoors. I had an electric oil pan heater strapped to the base pan, with 4" fibreglass batt insulation tied under that and an old piece of carpet and a tarp over the hood. Kind of a pain to wrap and unwrap, but it worked like a champ for 2 winters until I got a garage built.

Years before that, my father used a 100W light bulb at the end of a 100 ft. extension cord to get the family sedan's engine warm enough to start so he could get to work on bitterly cold winter mornings.

It doesn't take a lot of heat if you can keep the wind off the engine.