Engine/Hydraulic Heater(s) for JD 4600?

[rmonio]

Living in MN, we're subject to quite a bit of extreme cold. According to some of the local farmers, it is a good idea to have an engine block heater installed. According to the manual, there is also a hydraulic heater available too.

Anyone have any comments on these at all?

Thanks!

-Bob

 

[dmccarty]

rmonio,

I don't have one on my tractor and I have not had a problem
starting the tractor when the temps where in the teens.

But it does take awhile for the hydraulics and engine temps
to warm up. If I lived in the Great White North I would have
the heaters on the tractors.

On my diesel trucks I hook up the engine block heater that
is on a timer anytime the temps go into the 30s. The truck
will start without a problem but I don't like the sound of the
cold engine and its nice to have a truck that warms up just
a bit faster. So when the temps go into the 30s the truck
gets hooked up.

I have heard that SOME engine block heaters pull quite a few
amps/watts. So I bought a timer that I use to turn on the
power about two hours before I leave.

Later,
Dan McCarty

 

[cowboydoc]

Where you live it's a good idea to have. I would definitely do the engine heater. If you can leave the engine warm up the hydraulics will warm up without the heater. If you have to start and go right away with no warmup time then the hydraulic heater is a good idea.

 

[hermit]

rmonio

I had both of the heaters put on my 4300 and I would have to say that the hydraulic heater was the more worthwhile. We haven't had much below zero weather the last couple of winters but when it was cold you tell a definite difference in the response of the hydraulics when it was plugged in
. The tractor would always start right up even when it was 5 or 10 below without any heat.
I remember reading a study someone had done on cold weather equipment use and the results indicated that there was a lot less wear on the engine and other mechanicals when they were preheated this way. I use a timer and set it to run for about 3 hours which seems to be enough.
If I remember correctly the cost for both heaters was about $140.00 installed. Both can run off the same outlet without any problem.

 

[rmonio]

Sounds like everyone concurs that this is the right idea. I'll look into this weekend (there's a JD dealer near our cabin where I'll be moving dirt, etc., this weekend) and see what kind of pricing they have on them.

Thanks for the help, folks!

-Bob