How Long ...........??

[patrick_g]

With my Kubota, as soon as the engine runs smoothly (hardly any wait except in the coldest weather we get, about 0F) I move out very gently on the HST and also gently exercise the FEL and or 3PH depending on my intended task.

I treat it more like a car where current instruction is to drive it gently to warm it rather than idle it for an extended period. This warms the engine and all the hydraulics more quickly and is still very gentle on them while the fluids are thick with cold.

I do not do real work with the FEL or the 3PH until I have everything warmed up and the fluids thinned. Of course, by this time the engine is toasty and the heater is fully capable of overheating the cab such that I have to shuck some layers or turn the heat way down.

Pat

 

[Soundguy]

I too usually wait longer. I generally do my re-grease and re-fuel with the tractor at idle from the barn after I come in from the pasture.. then i idle over to the canopy to park it.

Soundguy

 

[patrick_g]

The turbo bearings are in contact with the shaft that mounts the impellers which are in the fire coming out the exhaust manifold. The bearing is both cooled and lubricated by the engine's oil flow from the pressure oiling system. When you work the tractor hard the turbo is imersed in fire and the shaft gets really hot. If you shut down before it cools the residual heat with no oil flow through the bearing can fry your turbo's bearings. A lesser event will at least fry some oil and tend to "coke up" the bearing which leads to premature failure. I use an EGT gauge on my diesel truck so I can idle it untill it cools to spec prior to shutting down. My tractor isn't turbo so I just throttle down to idle for a bit prior to shutting it down.

The quickest way to ruin a turbo diesel Mercedes sedan (and many other turbo diesels) is to race up a hill, pull into a scenic overlook and kill it immediately with no cool down. By By turbo. Tractors are the same story. If you work it hard you need to idle a while prior to shutdown. My truck can take over 5 min to cool down in the summer. With a pre/post oiler you can set the timer to shut the engine off after the cool down cycle while you are indoors under the A/C with a cold drink in your hand.

Pat

 

[Doc_Bob]

I too usually wait longer. I generally do my re-grease and re-fuel with the tractor at idle from the barn after I come in from the pasture.. then i idle over to the canopy to park it.

Soundguy

You regrease? Every time? WOW! How much time do you spend in the field?
Bob

 

[Doc_Bob]

The turbo bearings are in contact with the shaft that mounts the impellers which are in the fire coming out the exhaust manifold. The bearing is both cooled and lubricated by the engine's oil flow from the pressure oiling system. When you work the tractor hard the turbo is imersed in fire and the shaft gets really hot. If you shut down before it cools the residual heat with no oil flow through the bearing can fry your turbo's bearings.

I let my turbo idle for the manufacturers suggested 3 minutes. I also pop the hood up to allow more air flow, then leave the hood up after I shut down. Once again, more air flow.
Bob

 

[Doc_Bob]

I treat it more like a car where current instruction is to drive it gently to warm it rather than idle it for an extended period. This warms the engine and all the hydraulics more quickly and is still very gentle on them while the fluids are thick with cold.

I do everything gently as the tractor warms up. I, like you, don't let the tractor sit at idle. I treat it like a car. After 5 minutes of doing light stuff, I start to work it.
Bob

 

[Soundguy]

You regrease? Every time? WOW! How much time do you spend in the field?
Bob

For that instance, I was speaking of my NH 7610s, and jd 1517 batwing.

I guess it takes me about 1h45m to 2h to mow my pasture.

Then I hit the grease fittings. The mower has a handfull of them... all over the place. 3 on each drive shaft (ujoints and shaft ), 10 along the rear of the machine, and 7 on the front... thats 23 zerks on the mower. Tractor only has 8.

I generally only give each zerk a single squeeze, unless it is a pin joint where I can see the grease pop out of. The hubs I don't always grease, though i do pop the caps for inspection periodically.

I think I had made a post on this a few weeks ago.. but i think i was racking up something like 45m of 'servicing post mowing, after only 2hr work. That included brushing the mower off and dumping the tractor pre-air cleaner.. etc.

Soundguy

 

[Doc_Bob]

I generally only give each zerk a single squeeze, unless it is a pin joint where I can see the grease pop out of. The hubs I don't always grease, though i do pop the caps for inspection periodically.

So a little grease all the time (every few hours) then a lot of grease infrequently?
Bob

 

[Soundguy]

Pretty much.. except the hubs don't always get greasing.. as i don't want to blow seals.

Anything that is not sealed.. gets greased at least a squeeze every time.. and then sometimes I clean the joint up.. especially if I wash it.. or it has ben run in the mud/ heavy dirt.. etc. Greasing the joint cleanes it out..

Soundguy

 

[Fishguy]

Not all that sure sure now-a-days, but I have seen some so called block heaters that are nothing more than ciculation pumps. All they do is keep the radiator fluid flowing at all times. Using the theory that running water won't freeze. Had one like that on an old toyota land crusier when I was up in Alaska.(a.k.a. God's country)

Steve