Do you regularly start your diesel tractor as maintenance?

[RPW]

Tom, 1200lb rolls last my 7 horses a little over a week in mild weather. If its cold say less than 30 degrees it will go up. They also graze on about 20 acres.

 

[DeereMann]

Quick answer: no. From an engineer for a major diesel engine manufacturer, the worst thing you can do is start diesel engines & run for short periods under no loads. Such treatment will promote wet stacking of piston rings, fuel dilution of the oil, condensate deposits on the valve train.

It is better not to run the engine at all than to promote regular starts for short periods at low load (< 1/3 max. load). You need to use a good fuel additive first that has corrosion inhibitor & fuel stability conditioner if you don't run often. Maybe a biocide too. Diesel engines are meant to run hard for a long time.

Full authority electronic high pressure common rail engines are far less sensitive to these issues, but most of us do not have those expensive automotive engines.

Perhaps consider selling and renting if not needing that much? I consider myself a 'low hour' user, yet have 250 hours in 1.5 years.

 

[Billrog]

Thank you for the good post DeerMann I tend to under emphasis with my posts as to reasoning when it comes to whys or why nots.

 

[cormier]

That is almost the absolute worst-case scenario. To take care of the engine, you need to get the oil temperature high enough to boil off any moisture, and keep it there for probably 20min or more. You're barely getting the water up to temp in 10-15min....that can actually cause condensation when you shut down and everything cools off that little bit.

I think the same way as you, if you cant get the oil temp up its just bad for it due to condensation. A good battery wont go dead that fast. If you cant work it in the winter especially don't start it let it sit.

 

[Mace Canute]

Ask your local fire dept. if they start their diesels and run them everyday, ask your local Coast Guard Station if they start their boats and warm and check them everyday, if you want it to run when you need it you'll do start ups and checks. No engine ever wore out from start ups. It's about keeping it reliable when you need it, not crossing your fingers. My guess the guy who is concerned and starts his equipment and does checks will have his equipment much longer then the guy who looks for the key once a year. HS

Up to 75% of engine wear occurs during warm up.

 

[houstonscott]

Up to 75% of engine wear occurs during warm up.

You ever wear out a diesel engine from start ups? I think that's a theoretic risk, sounds good, must be true, in reality it's not an issue. My experience would say putting engine under load before warm and high RPM before warm up might be way more harmful, and improperly breaking in engine might shorten life significantly. HS

 

[DarkBlack]

Start it only when needed. If it's an extended time >3 months, then start it on a warm day and after a brief warm up, load it at least as hard and long, to the point of your thermostat opening. When you smell the dust burning off your engine, your close to fully heated.

 

[Mace Canute]

You ever wear out a diesel engine from start ups? I think that's a theoretic risk, sounds good, must be true, in reality it's not an issue. My experience would say putting engine under load before warm and high RPM before warm up might be way more harmful, and improperly breaking in engine might shorten life significantly. HS

Go argue with the engineers at Castrol if you don't believe me.

 

[houstonscott]

Go argue with the engineers at Castrol if you don't believe me.

So your answer is no. HS

 

[fieldman12]

It is true they claim the most wear is during start up. Still though if a guy gets it up to operating temp and drives it around a while I see no issues. Just don't let it idle. Idling for extended periods creates slobbering. People in town drive cars and trucks and barley get them up to operating temp. That scares me more than anything and they don't even let them warm up one bit. I think on this issue everyone is right to extent. Yes idea is to start and work the machine. Letting a machine sit may not harm the engine but allot of times seals get bad, tires crack,clutches stick and so on. So in a way a either way causes issues.