let her idle or shut her down

[gumper48]

in the course of a project if ya'll need to get off and do some grunt work do you shut the tractor off and restart or let it idle ?
Some times what looks like a 2 minute task off the tractor to pick up limbs or rocks, etc, it turns into 5 - 10 minutes or longer.
those minutes add up over the life of the tractor.
What are ya'lls thoughts.
rack up the time or wear out the starter ?

 

[MossRoad]

Any time I get off the tractor, I set the brake and shut it off.

 

[john_bud]

At $3.24 a gallon, shut er off. No sense giving "them" any more of our money.

jb

 

[dieselsmoke1]

At $3.24 a gallon, shut er off. No sense giving "them" any more of our money.

jb

I agree......don't like it worth a flip but must agree. We all should conserve fuel when the opportunity presents.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

If it's got a turbo, and you've been running it hard, let it idle and cool down a bit before shutting it off, be it for a few minutes or a few days. Otherwise, one of the worst things you can do for a diesel is let it sit and idle. It won't kill it, at least not right away, but over the long haul, idling does 'em wrong. I own one diesel that's been with me for 35 years now, and that's the way I've treated it. Still runs like a new one 35 years later.

 

[PineRidge]

Not sure that it matters one way or another since an idling diesel uses minimal amounts of fuel. Normally if I jump off the tractor for a couple of minutes I'll leave it running. If it's going to be more than say a few minutes then it will get shut down, just to conserve hours on the clock.

 

[HGM]

Diesels dont produce the nescessary heat at an idle.. They become inefficient and will build up soot and carbon in the engine from excessive idling.. My recomendation is like the others, in particular Farmwithjunk's, idle to cool down,if its been run hard, then shut it down.. The fuel thing is a bonus..

 

[RalphVa]

Idling uses very little fuel; whereas, using the starter can use more. So, when it's safe to park with just the brake on, I just jump off and do my thing and then get back on with it idling all the time. If pointing up or down a slope, I'll shut it off, set the parking brake and stop it with it in Low range.

Ralph

 

[Volfandt]

Depends

If all I'm doing is jumping off for a minute or 2 I'll leave it fast idleing. (The sweet spot where the engine produces very little vibration just above idle).

If I'm going to be off over a minute or so then I'll idle down then shut it down. Both to conserve fuel and also to reduce needless hr's on it.

Theres a happy medium where the fuel consumption cancels out the unneccessary wear and tear on the starter/battery and shutting down an engine when it's too hot....

Volfandt

 

[wilkesland]

Same answer as Volfandt - it depends.

If I'm jumping off and on the tractor to adjust an implement - like my backblade, I leave it running. If I'm getting off to do a task that is not specifically related to an adjustment on the tractor, I tend to shut it off, knowing my penchant for getting carried away/distracted or otherwise getting off task.

Barry