Is keeping a tractor in a heated garage in wintertime bad for it?

[sweep]

Do you notice the diesel fuel smell in the house when you start the tractor in the basement.

I have never smelled the fumes upstairs nor has my wife. I do have a wall between the basment "garage" and the rest of the basment which probably helps.

As soon as the tractor starts, I give it maybe 15-20 seconds of run time then I slowly move it outside at the slowest idle and then continue to let it warm up for 3-5 minutes on a pad right outside the garage door so it's moved at most 15 feet. I have a gear tractor and it does not take much power to get it going.

When I bring it back in it's only running maybe 20 seconds at most in the house. I back it in at the lowest idle speed and as soon as it's in place it get's shut off.

I also park the tractor close to the garage door to help keep diesel fumes minimal.

What little fumes there are go away very quickly as I leave the garage door open for a short while to let it air out. My tractor is still "new" as it only has 100 hrs on it and there is just a short puff of smoke at startup and very little diesel smell.

Maybe this will change as it get's older.

 

[rayikeo2]

I keep my 1700 in the basement garage all winter with no problems. The advantage is it is easier to start, no snow on the seat, electric power if the battery needs a charged and power for the block heater. I keep the tank topped up to prevent condensation in the fuel. No problems with condensation. However my advantage is I have turned the exhaust pipe 1/4 turn pointed to the rear instead of up for clearance through the door and always raise the door before starting up. All the exhaust goes outside and when returning I shut down the tractor before closing the door. I have no fume problems by doing this.

 

[king1]

the only problem that i have seen with a heated building is if the floor is not concrete and does not have a vapor barrier under the concrete. the moisture will come up from the floor and the heat will make the humidity in the building very high. i have seen vehicles and equipment kept in those type of environments and look much worse then if they had been kept outside. everything just rusts away like you would not believe. all that mosture is very hard on the electrical components, connections as well as the lubericants. other then that it is best to keep it nice and warm in a heated building with a good floor. everything gets a chance to dry off and as others mentioned its easier to keep it clean. good luck to you.

 

[thcri]

If bringing it in from the cold your block would be warm unless you pushed it in. I doubt you have anything to worry about. jmo

 

[JB4310]

I don't think your doing anything wrong, condensation can occur anywhere, inside or out.

I thought this thread was going to be about bringing a warm machine out into subfreezing temps and working with snow removal equipment like plows and blowers, where the snow starts melting on the warmer metal surfaces then starts refreezing.

(WOW! just watched the colts come from behind win) Sorry for sidetrack.

... It's better to keep the snow removal attachments cold. I don't always do that myself and it has caused problems with snow/ice sticking to plows, buckets and blower chutes.

JB.