Has anyone used a Kats magnetic heater ?

Dick Calland · Aug 17, 2009

I have both a BX24 and a 9N. Neither has any kind of heater for cold weather starting. I am considering a Kats magnetic heater because it could be attached to either tractor and no installation is required. Has anyone have experience (good or bad) with this kind of heater ?

mswlogo · Aug 18, 2009

Yes, they are junk.

Oil pan is too small for big one.

And breathing hot air onto it would warm it up more than the small one. Ran small one the whole night and it did absolutely nothing.

TripleR · Aug 18, 2009

Yeah, I had one and threw it away. I know this may sound low tech or maybe silly, but on gas engines, I have used a hair dryer to preheat the carb and then bow warm air into the intake while cranking. I have also used an electric heater to warm the engine and oil.

billbill1 · Aug 18, 2009

GregG uses the magnetic heaters and thinks they work fine. I have never used them so I can't comment on how they work. I use an in-line lower radiator hose heater that I bought from NAPA for around $25 and it does the trick for me. Just take the inside diameter of your lower radiator hose (they come in several sizes) and tell them what you need. Cut out about a 2" chunk of hose and install with clamps, plug it in when you need to use the tractor, 30 minutes is all I need and the engine is warm enough to start with easy. Hopefully Greg will post on how he likes the Kats magnetic heater.

alkabo · Aug 19, 2009

I had a Ford 8n before my Kubota and used a magnetic heater for several years and it worked fine. I would put it on in the morning before work and the tractor would start right up when I got home. I put it on the flattest spot I could find on the bottom of the oil pan.

Ductape · Aug 19, 2009

TripleR said:
Yeah, I had one and threw it away. I know this may sound low tech or maybe silly, but on gas engines, I have used a hair dryer to preheat the carb and then bow warm air into the intake while cranking.

I believe that if you used a small inverter connected to your tractor's battery to power the hairdryer, this would actually work as a turbocharger !

fih25 · Aug 19, 2009

I have used one for about 4 years now. The one I have is approx. 3 1/2" by 2 1/2". I mount it on the side of the oil pan near the bottom. If I know it is going to snow(especially overnight) I plug it in before going to bed. The tractor starts like it is spring/summer(I preheat the glow plug for 10 seconds) My tractor is kept in an unheated garage. Before I started using the Katz heater the tractor started a lot"harder" especially if the outside tempature dropped below 20 degrees.
If I forget to plug it in overnight, I can still plug it in and let it heat for about 2 hours, it doesn't start quite as easy as it does if left plugged in overnight but it still starts a lot easier than if it wasn't at all.
I also like that the heater doesn't get "red" hot, I don't see any witness marks on the side of the oil pan where I mount it.