Block heater on timer?

[Doc_Bob]

. The second timer is for the lower hose heater on the tractor, which is in an unheated garage, and is set to come on two hours before I get home.

Have you been satisfied with the lower hose heater on the tractor? Any suggestions?
Bob

 

[shaley]

I thought my block heater had a thermostat built in or some type of temperature limiting device. I plug my in at night just to be easy on the motor in the morning. But some days it will reach 70 deg and I assuming it is turning off. It got **** near 30 deg last night, had to sleep with my dog.

 

[George2615]

Bob,
Yes I'm satisfied with the lower inline hose heater. Bought it at auto parts store, took about a half hour to install. Heat from bottom up so water circulates through block and radiator. I measured a temp. of 140 deg. F. I thought it was much easier to do than a block heater install.
George

 

[John_Mc]

Make sure the timer you get can handle the wattage you need. too light and they'll just burn up.

The other thing to make sure of is that the timer itself can take the cold. I found this out the hard way when I put a timer in place of two of the outlets in a four outlet box. The idea was to switch the preheater on an airplane engine prior to a planned flight. It worked great... as long as the outside temperature was above about +20 degrees or so. Below that, and the internal relay froze up. Not a nice surprise when I showed up the next morning to a cold engine. After a couple of those experiences, I paid a few more bucks for a good quality industrial timer, programmable for up to 7 days, with an internal battery backup so that a power outage wouldn't throw the time off. It's good to about 20 F below zero... if it's cold enough where that is an issue, I'm probably not going flying (or tractoring) anyway.

 

[Doc_Bob]

Bob,
I thought it was much easier to do than a block heater install.
George

I called around, apparently a block heater on my NH TN70A requires removing the starter motor! I think the radiator hose sounds easier.
Bob

 

[varmint]

I am under the impression that having a "warm" engine upon startup makes for a lot less wear and tear. Not as good as warm, circulating oil, but better than stone cold, anyway. Since the hydralic pump is located in the engine, at least on my tractor, maybe it benifits a bit, too?