just letting tractor idle - probably a dumb question

[RichM752]

Get an EA grapple. Save time and your back.

 

[TheMadOne]

You guys have too much stuff

Nah, we just enjoy spending other people's money. Get a grapple and you'll be good.

 

[Jstpssng]

You guys have too much stuff

No, it's just that my storage shed is too small.
Plus what TheMadOne said. :thumbsup:

 

[George the Beagle]

Your tractor has no DPF, nor a turbocharger. It has a tad bigger alternator than the ones some years ago. The engine is tough as nails. Once you're through the break-in period, use it any way you want. You will NEVER wear it out.

 

[john reeder]

Your tractor has no DPF, nor a turbocharger. It has a tad bigger alternator than the ones some years ago. The engine is tough as nails. Once you're through the break-in period, use it any way you want. You will NEVER wear it out.

Exactly why I bought it


Now if it will only dry out around here

 

[Oldoak]

Dump trailer and second tractor?

And a grapple while you're at it.

Only manual effort would be moving between tractors.

You might "need" a third tractor at the dump site for finish handling.

Live the dream!

Don't forget the bigger building to store it all in.

The only thing I regret is not purchasing a dump trailer earlier in life. I don't feel I have enough need for one at this point. I no longer burn wood and don't haul dirt and stone as much as I did in the past.

 

[JWR]

Let it idle, no harm and very minimal fuel consumption.

Ever notice highway haulers never shut down and those rigs go many 100,000's miles.

The question is "How long?" I agree that in the context of this thread, let the thing run. With the diesel tractors both small and large that most of us ever encounter I say let it run if the idle time is just a few minutes. It is very much an individual thing (i.e. there are no solid rules or guidelines.) I certainly develop a relationship with the equipment I run and if it seems wasteful/unreasonable/bothers me then I shut the thing off.
--------------------------------------------------------

"Ever Notice the highway haulers?" Boy have I ! There are the big rig truckers and worse yet the police and EMS people. You have triggered my soapbox and here it comes. I will stand ground on this with any cop or big trucker or first responder mafia. I have listened scores of times to "reasons" and highly opinionated "idling fans." Will listen carefully to any more that are offered but so far NONE make any sense.

The EMS and police have good logical reason to keep their vehicles running and ready to leap without a startup for a few minutes.. I have a very strong opinion that (UNLESS there is some immediate known crisis) these people are whizzing away taxpayers fuel and life of the vehicle completely without any justification in most cases. Realistically it IS a statistical thing. Think bell shaped curve. I claim that in the 95th percentile of cases, or even more, there is NO JUSTIFIABLE REASON for those vehicles to be left running. It is in fact hideously wasteful. Period. The end.
Sure there are the 5% exceptions but I NEVER EVER see an EMS or police unit exercising reasonable judgement on this topic. All of them have been "taught" that it is a great idea to leave the motor running -- blasted near all the time. The duration of meals. The duration of 1 or 2 hour stops regardless of purpose. Flat stupid. In the case of truckers it includes literally overnight and 10 or 12 hours at a time (VERY RARELY ever justified by extreme cold. They act as if it is 40 below every hour and day of the year.)

A few things are universal in all these "leave the motor running for hours" foolish habits:
1) Almost NEVER are the drivers paying for the fuel. I guarantee you if they had a monthly allotment -- above that amount it came out of their pockets and below that they get to keep the change -- H ! you'd never ever see one left running !
2) Almost never are the drivers paying for the replacement of the vehicles.
3) All engines (and I do not care type or application) have a limited lifetime in numbers of revolutions before they croak or need overhaul. Whizzing away those revolutions for utterly no purpose is, in my view, stupid.
4) Wasted fuel compounds the issue a bunch ... and let's just ignore "pollution" for purposes of this discussion but that too is obvious and far from negligible.
5) The number of engine revs per mile or per hour of productive use is just foolishly high compared to actual need.

Enough. I've gone on too long.

I know I'm in the very distinct small minority on this, and 'frankly my dear' ... I am not at all impressed. I have yet to hear any argument or solid reasoning to justify "hours of idle running" behavior. I've heard scores of supposed reasons, NONE of which hold water.

 

[4570Man]

Loading a trailer manually on one end then unloading it manually on the other, versus loading the bucket manually on one end and dumping it on the other is not working smarter. We're talking the pieces of tree trunk here. Be it dirt or gravel and the tractor/bucket does the work on both ends. Don't raise your load so high while using the bucket and you won't have the balance issues. Use your trailer if you like I'm going to use the fel on the tractor I just bought.

I’d use my dump truck for that and load it with the tractor but if ground conditions don’t allow that that I’m going to use the tractor bucket. Hooking and unhooking a trailer and unloading trailer by hand is way too much work. There’s a rare occasion where the trailer is better but not very often.

 

[JWR]

Your tractor has no DPF, nor a turbocharger. It has a tad bigger alternator than the ones some years ago. The engine is tough as nails. Once you're through the break-in period, use it any way you want. You will NEVER wear it out.

Very true !

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

The question is "How long?" I agree that in the context of this thread, let the thing run. With the diesel tractors both small and large that most of us ever encounter I say let it run if the idle time is just a few minutes. It is very much an individual thing (i.e. there are no solid rules or guidelines.) I certainly develop a relationship with the equipment I run and if it seems wasteful/unreasonable/bothers me then I shut the thing off.
--------------------------------------------------------

"Ever Notice the highway haulers?" Boy have I ! There are the big rig truckers and worse yet the police and EMS people. You have triggered my soapbox and here it comes. I will stand ground on this with any cop or big trucker or first responder mafia. I have listened scores of times to "reasons" and highly opinionated "idling fans." Will listen carefully to any more that are offered but so far NONE make any sense.

The EMS and police have good logical reason to keep their vehicles running and ready to leap without a startup for a few minutes.. I have a very strong opinion that (UNLESS there is some immediate known crisis) these people are whizzing away taxpayers fuel and life of the vehicle completely without any justification in most cases. Realistically it IS a statistical thing. Think bell shaped curve. I claim that in the 95th percentile of cases, or even more, there is NO JUSTIFIABLE REASON for those vehicles to be left running. It is in fact hideously wasteful. Period. The end.
Sure there are the 5% exceptions but I NEVER EVER see an EMS or police unit exercising reasonable judgement on this topic. All of them have been "taught" that it is a great idea to leave the motor running -- blasted near all the time. The duration of meals. The duration of 1 or 2 hour stops regardless of purpose. Flat stupid. In the case of truckers it includes literally overnight and 10 or 12 hours at a time (VERY RARELY ever justified by extreme cold. They act as if it is 40 below every hour and day of the year.)

A few things are universal in all these "leave the motor running for hours" foolish habits:
1) Almost NEVER are the drivers paying for the fuel. I guarantee you if they had a monthly allotment -- above that amount it came out of their pockets and below that they get to keep the change -- H ! you'd never ever see one left running !
2) Almost never are the drivers paying for the replacement of the vehicles.
3) All engines (and I do not care type or application) have a limited lifetime in numbers of revolutions before they croak or need overhaul. Whizzing away those revolutions for utterly no purpose is, in my view, stupid.
4) Wasted fuel compounds the issue a bunch ... and let's just ignore "pollution" for purposes of this discussion but that too is obvious and far from negligible.
5) The number of engine revs per mile or per hour of productive use is just foolishly high compared to actual need.

Enough. I've gone on too long.

I know I'm in the very distinct small minority on this, and 'frankly my dear' ... I am not at all impressed. I have yet to hear any argument or solid reasoning to justify "hours of idle running" behavior. I've heard scores of supposed reasons, NONE of which hold water.

I'm with you. The reason is comfort of the driver at someone elses expense. During cold weather they can jump into a already warm vehicle and during hot weather they can jump into a already cool vehicle, that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it