Kubota RTV Block Heater ?

[DianneInVA]

How about a jump starter. I have a GOOLOO power bank. Or a trickle charge? I have one of those around here, too! Maybe I just need to buy a shed heater.

 

[Peter 315]

How about a jump starter. I have a GOOLOO power bank. Or a trickle charge? I have one of those around here, too! Maybe I just need to buy a shed heater. View attachment 533565

Battery minder would not hurt, about 50$ on amazon

 

[DianneInVA]

Thanks, Battery minder looks a lot like the trickle charge I have; I will hook it up tomorrow.. It is just a COLD winter. Appreciate the feedback

 

[John_Mc]

I have a RTV 900, no heater. Its been -20 and below. Will an electric blanket or heating pad help at all? Thanks

Yes, that trick is often used to preheat air-cooled piston-engine aircraft engines. A common one is to put an incandescent trouble light inside the cowling, and throw an old blanket or sleeping bag over it to help hold in the heat. The incandescent light alone would take several hours to preheat the engine. A heavy blanket or sleeping bag over it would cut the time significantly, and help with more uniform heating. If you can't fit it inside your engine cowling, putting it underneath and draping the blanket to hold in the heat in will work.

Really, any source of heat will help, but you need to be aware of not overheating - it can damage the paint (or coke the oil if applied to the oil pan). An electric blanket will also work as a heat source, but you may want to throw something insulating over it to help keep the heat in, rather than radiating it out into the air. I've seen people rig ducting to electric heaters or gas heaters to blow warm air into the engine compartment. Many rural airports have an engine preheater available. The better aircraft preheating systems have a heat pad that glues on to the oil pan, and a method for preheating each cylinder - that allows faster preheating, but may be overkill in your situation.

 

[rtv9001]

I'm looking to get a block heater for my rtv900 as well. Mine will start, but it is darn tough when it's teens or lower and I just hate cranking it forever.
I had an older rtv in the past with a block heater and it worked magic. Now I can't remember if it pushed into a freeze plug or threaded in.

 

[DianneInVA]

I got it started yesterday, it was +6F/-14.4C. Probably wont start again today, as it is around -20F today. I have a block heater on the tractor: This is the first year I have had to use it. Cold every day... and very cold at night.