cold weather starting

[woodchipper]

If things are so stiff at start-up, then by all means let your engine rev up a bit for a good five minutes before putting the tractor to work. This way, your hydraulic pump has a chance to warm up a bit (as well as the engine). Check your owners manual, to see if you do have the recommended oil viscosity in.

 

[GManBart]

What are you talking about. Are you saying that the 15 minutes affects the engine and not the transmission?

I'm saying you didn't read his question. He's ONLY talking about the FEL hydraulics. He says the engine starts fine, and he makes no mention of transmission problems when cold.

He said: "I start my tractor up with no issues but the hydraulic pressue to lift my bucket seems to take at least 15-20 minutes before it can go through its motions.Is this normal and do I just have to be patient"

 

[GManBart]

This thread has a .pdf of Kioti's recommendations (last post) for how long to run the engine at various temperatures for a CK30...probably similar to what they recommend for the CK20S. You'll note that 10-20 minutes is recommended for the kind of temps the OP is talking about...even though it disagrees with what some posters here have suggested.

It's worth noting that the hydraulic system, power steering, and HST transmission use a common case, and one pump, so heating will help all of those systems, but it's a fairly large volume of fluid, so it'll take some time to heat up when cold.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/218837-hydrostatic-drive-slow-respond-cold.html

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Going through a cold snap here in nova scotia,canada along with lots of snow which means lots of tractor use.I have owned my Kioti CK20 HST for close to 2 years and it has done a great job.Just wondering if anyone out there knows if you can add anything to hydraulics to speed up the warming process during cold prolonged weather.I start my tractor up with no issues but the hydraulic pressue to lift my bucket seems to take at least 15-20 minutes before it can go through its motions. Is this normal and do I just have to be patient,lol.

On my tractor, I've two restrictions in the hydraulic circuit that add 10 degrees F to the hydraulic fluid at wide open throttle. The excess heat is pulled back out of the system by the hydraulic's oil cooler. At any-rate, my hydros warm up relatively fast.

The only thing I can suggest is putting a bit of cardboard in front go your oil cooler to make it less efficient as you do with the engine's radiator.

 

[kevin maclaughlin]

Thanks for the advice everyone.One thing I am going to do for sure is have a block heater installed on my tractor before next winter hits.