How long do you leave your tractor plugged in?

[tcreeley]

How long do you leave your tractor plugged in? Just when it really is cold, or all the time?
I've been wondering what's the best way to go. I'd like to leave it in all the time. It's handy but that constant heating makes me wonder about the gaskets and the need to rebuild the engine. I had a Nissan that I left plugged in and later it needed a head gasket. The Nissan that was not plugged in, never needed a head gasket.
Anybody leave their tractor plugged in all the time?
I have a 2003 NH TC30 - 829 hours.

 

[Buckgnarly]

There is no way a block heater is going to stress a head gasket anymore than running the engine....MAYBE if you are using one that is WAY more watts than rated for engine block size or if you run it when it's hot out. Even if your coolant gets hot, there is still huge heat sink in the block itself plus the radiator. I can't imagine an engine makes less watts running than what your heater makes. Even with no coolant flow due to water pump I find it really hard to beleive you will ever overheat an engine using a block heater.

That said, My 89 F250 7.3 IDI I plug in a minimum of 3 hrs before use, but I have noticed the tractor only takes about 2hrs. The 7.3 is MUCH more block to heat, but it's also over 3x the watts.....tractor is 400 while the big old diesel is 1500 watts!

 

[D7E]

Several of our tractors stay plugged in for days on end and one is plugged in solid virtually all winter for morning snow clearing and loading semi's that turn up unanounced .

 

[MIKE R]

I usually plug it in about a hour before I need it. I have never had a issue starting it even without the block heater, just need to cycle the glow plugs more.

 

[jones6780]

Are there any that have a temp sensor? Say it automatically comes on @ 35 degrees, kinda like heat tape for your water pipes. I am in Georgia so I never have to worry about that much cold.

 

[Clint S]

I think my lower hose heater has a auto shut off at a certain temp. It cycles on an off. I once left it plugged in for 4 or 5 hours and took a before and after temp and it only rose about 40 degrees from the ambient temp from 20 degrees to 60

 

[xring100]

down to about 5F i only plug in for about 30 - 40 minutes this gets the block warm enough to where the coolant is warm enough that the glow plugs don't even cycle and it fires right up. Only problem is i still have to let the tractor warm up for a several minutes to get the hydraulic to warm up. I'm sure your power company would love you to leave it plugged in all the time.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I think my lower hose heater has a auto shut off at a certain temp. It cycles on an off. I once left it plugged in for 4 or 5 hours and took a before and after temp and it only rose about 40 degrees from the ambient temp from 20 degrees to 60

That is good logic. It does not waste energy. Our diesels start just as fast/easy at 60F as 120F.

 

[wdchyd]

I plug mine in a few minutes to an hour before (depending on how cold).......but I'm considering putting a timer similar to this to use for the am

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[Jerry/MT]

How long do you leave your tractor plugged in? Just when it really is cold, or all the time?
I've been wondering what's the best way to go. I'd like to leave it in all the time. It's handy but that constant heating makes me wonder about the gaskets and the need to rebuild the engine. I had a Nissan that I left plugged in and later it needed a head gasket. The Nissan that was not plugged in, never needed a head gasket.
Anybody leave their tractor plugged in all the time?
I have a 2003 NH TC30 - 829 hours.

Our diesel tractors are on a timer that turns the block heater on two hours before I feed. Otherwise I manually plug them in two hours before I need them.