Extreme cold

[Bob64]

Wind chill is a sensation on bare skin, not actual temperature. If the temperature is 33° and the windchill is 20°, water will not freeze.
Wind will make your body lose heat faster so the risk of hypothermia increases but the freezing point is still 32°.
In Wyoming, we use plug in block heaters all night without problems. I have the dealer install them when I buy a truck. Some places have parking meters with plug ins for block heaters. And don't forget a poorly charged battery can freeze also.
For the investment you have in your equipment, a few gallons of antifreeze is a rediculously small amount to scrimp on. Keep antifreeze in your equipment and spend your time worrying about your water pipes.
And I have seen it freeze a steaming hot cup of coffee here so fast that the ice was still warm.

I agree regarding the affect on skin. The fast the wind blows the faster water evaporates from your skin which cools the skin down. Just what Mother Natures designed it to do. I still remember 65 plus years ago in some school class first spinning a thermometer above our heads and then putting a tiny patch of cloth on the bulb of the thermometer and repeating the spinning. The difference in temperature was the "Wind Chill" factor caused by evaporation. Oh, BTW, -17 here this a.m. but no wind.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

There was a show "Mister Wizard" staring Don Herbert that started in 1951 and he demonstrated scientific principles. One I remember was centrifical force so he filled a pail with water and swung it around in a big overhead arc to show how water would stay in the pail. The pail hit a beam overhead and he got soaked.

 

[1Mech]

I don't advise it with the red long life anti-freeze, but with the green stuff, dip your finger into the coolant and taste it with the tip of your tongue. It should taste sweet. Now you guys before you flame me for that routine I KNOW anti-freeze is poison but I have been doing that for 60 years and I am still here. It is not like cyanide. You don't need to drink it, ONLY taste it. Rinse your mouth out with wateer or whatever your favourite beverage is, spit that out and check the other one. Use a different finger for the other tractor. Another way is to put some in a clear glass container, then look at, it the greener it is the better concentration of A-freeze to water. The concentrated green anti-freeze (Prestone) looks like neon green right from the jug.

I have tasted antifreeze inadvertently quite a few times and never have acquired a taste for it! Don't know what dogs see in the taste, but I am told they like it, but it doesn't like them!
11 degrees here in Sand Springs with about 2.5 inches of snow. The "experts" say we were to get upwards of a foot here, not yet.

 

[big bubba]

unless you're making a living at it, why start a tractor in the above described temps unless you have an access problem and need to blow snow?

 

[Flogger]

I keep a couple of magnetic heaters on hand. When the temps get below zero I turn them on an hour or two before startup. Warms the oil allowing the engine to turn faster which is a major factor when cold starting a diesel. In the day when I was on a service truck magnetic heaters, A space heater and blankets usually made pretty fast turnaround on no starts.

 

[ultrarunner]

Many of the block heaters don't do well being plugged in 24/7. I burned one up in a previous tractor. The one in my current tractor needs only 1/2 hour or so to help my tractor start. I rarely use it. But that's not your issue.

An inexpensive hydrometer will allow you to test your system. They can by picked up for less than 10 bucks at Runings or similar places.

The Freeze Plug Heaters only last a few years for me but the inline heaters go about 10 years…

 

[olenjohn]

I will do that when it warms up!

It may be too late by then.

 

[walnutman]

I scratch my head thinking about living in places that get cold alot.
Moved from SEPA to East Texas 5 years ago.
And in the next couple of days we're seeing single digits LOL.

 

[RayIN]

You are joking, I'm sure. But the coldest temperatures at the "Pole of Cold" in Antarctica have actually gone a little below the freezing point of carbon dioxide, a minor component of VW coolant.

Old VW engines are air-cooled.

 

[dnw64]

Old VW engines are air-cooled.

...of which CO2 is a minor component.

 

[CH4Ohio]

I still remember 65 plus years ago in some school class first spinning a thermometer above our heads and then putting a tiny patch of cloth on the bulb of the thermometer and repeating the spinning. The difference in temperature was the "Wind Chill" factor caused by evaporation. Oh, BTW, -17 here this a.m. but no wind.

The instrument you were replicating is a "sling psychrometer". Used to determine dew point and relative humidity.

 

[D'oh]

Fair
-35°F
-37°C

Humidity	NA
Wind Speed	Calm
Barometer	30.33 in (1032.7 mb)
Dewpoint	N/A
Visibility	10.00 mi
Last update	25 Jan 7:54 am CST

Day 5

 

[Dennis Mohn]

you might want to consider something to warm the engine oil more than the coolant.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I have a blanket and tarp over tractor at end of driveway with a 60 watt trouble light under it.
If I plug light in an hour or two before starting it warms everything quite a bit.

 

[RayIN]

...of which CO2 is a minor component.

CO2 is carbon dioxide

 

[dnw64]

CO2 is carbon dioxide

Yes.

?

 

[CalG]

So it's still snowing
and the high today was 3 degrees F.

At 4:00 I went out to blow snow, 'cause I need to be out at 6:15 tomorrow morning (There is snow skiing to be done! ;-)

Though I had the battery on the charger yesterday, the trusty B7200 with the front mount blower wouldn't go. And I tried! Urr.., Urr.. click click.
So I hooked up the charger again, put a 1500 watt space heater under the engine, drapped an old moving blanket over the works, and went over to the B2601 to move snow with the bucket.

That tractor started right up with only a count of ten on the glow plugs.

It must have taken 10 minutes for the hydro fluid to warm up though.

So after about an hour of messing around with the bucket trying to clear cold snow, I put the B2601 under it's cover and tried the B7200 again.

Started right up!

Cleaned up my messes all around the place with the blower, and even blew some of the piles over the bank and into the woods.

We are supposed to get an additional 8 inches. It will have to wait until I get home again tommorrow night.

Blowing snow in the dark is a pain.....

 

[Yander]

You could just buy a tractor with a Yanmar engine. Barely need to glow them and they start right up in cold cold weather. I think the manual says glow for 3 seconds, 5 if it's really cold.

 

[boatmoter]

When I farmed in central MN always checked anti-freeze in the fall and never worried about them. Coldest I remember was two weeks where hi temp was minus 20 and low was minus 44 with chill around minus 100.

If you are concerned Heaters will prevent block from freezing.

Brrrrrrrr... Im a 70 yr old thats never seen snow.. whewww. thats cold.

 

[areid]

it gets so cold in thd Prairies that we need to prevent our propane from Liquifing. I use my L5240 in this weather sparingly. I wahted til it was -25C to plow the driveway. Its hard on them for sure. I feel sorry for you folk that don't usually get this cold. Be prepared and stay warm.