Starting a tractor in extreme cold temperatures

[Quebecguy]

For my International I recently replaced a burned out 1,000 Watt cooling hose heater with a 750 Watt one and found I have to leave it plugged in for at least 2 hours and more like 4 hours when it is really cold. The 1,000 Watt one I would use for a maximum of 2 hours. I use a 5W-30 oil. 300 Watts is not enough for Québec.

 

[5030]

OP, what viscosity of engine oil are you using?

I struggled with the same problem and recently made the switch to synthetic 5w-40 to help with cold starts. It made enough of an improvement that I felt compelled to make a short video showing the differences.

Don't mean to steal the spotlight, just a thought.

With conventional 15w-40 in temps below 10*F I would have to run the block heater for a minimum of 2-3 hours before the tractor would start. By simply changing the engine oil to synthetic 5w-40 my tractor will now easily start below 0*F without being plugged in.

Sent you a private message....

 

[LHF2019]

Maybe a picture of your heating setup. Should not need glow plugs when plugging in. May need longer plug in time or higher wattage for shorter plug in.

 

[SylvainG]

Thanks all.

Being just 300W, I'll let it plugged in longer and I'll try wrapping the engine in a tarp.

The oil was changed last fall and it was just standard 10W30. I'll try synthetic next year.

 

[dodge man]

They also make oil pan heaters that are magnetic, one of those might help. Diesels require heat and high compression to fire. When it’s that cold the heat part of the equation is missing. I’d also load test your battery to make sure it’s good.

 

[Buppies]

Our Kubota 5240 sits in shop that is unheated. We have seen it as low as 11 below not as cold as you but run 5w40 synthetic oil always starts on first or second turn. As mentioned before synthetic might help some heater even better and the more wattage the better

 

[Username Taken]

I think direct as opposed to indirect injection matters a bit. Maybe not. Just a theory

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

OP,

I have no problems starting my tractor at -40 F. I have an engine block heater (NOT a radiator hose heater), a stick on pad heater on the side of the oil pan, and a stick on pad heater on the side of the hydro sump casting. I have all 3 plugged into a timer that turns on at 430am and runs until about 10am. I'm also running synthetic engine oil.

Any time after about 530 (1 hour heat time) I can go out and start it up and it's warmed up already enough to just go do work. It starts right up with only a single cycle of the glow plugs. If I need it after the heaters have been off and it's at ambient temp, it will still start on the first glow plug cycle, but I have to let it warm up before I can use it. If it's cold out (-30 F or colder) I do high idle my tractor's engine. Keeping it at 1500-1600 rpms or higher. Idling it when it's that cold outside will cause the tractor to lose heat while idling and the temp gauge will actually drop to the "cold" peg on the temp gauge.

My opinion, as one that regularly uses my tractor at temps down to -45 F, you need all of these things to have a harmonious outcome.

1. Engine block heater. I won't say that a radiator hose heater is "worthless", but it's pretty close to it. For *real* cold, it's like holding a candle under your oil pan. Sure it heats the coolant in the hose, but that coolant isn't being circulated. A block heater heats the coolant inside the engine block, which in turn warms the entire engine block casting.

2. Oil pan heater. I prefer the stick on pad heaters, the larger of the pad size area heaters. The magnet style heater, and the small pad heater don't have enough surface area to transfer heat into the oil pan as well as the large pad does.

3. Hydro sump heater. If you're running a hydrostat transmission, you need to warm up the hydro oil as well. A large pad stick on pad heater on the side of the sump casting works very well for this.

4. Synthetic engine oil. I run the same oil year round.

If you do these things, you will see a night and day difference in how easy your tractor starts, and how soon you can get it into action.

As a side note, I think there may be something wrong with your glow plugs. Possibly one or more are not working. Even when my tractor is *cold* (if I start it late in the day or long after the timer has shut off), it will still start on the first glow plug cycle. It just takes it a while to warm up enough to actually use it.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

just as a FYI, around here we only pay 7 1/2 cents per kwh for electricity. So about 2 cents per hour to run your coolant heater.

I suspect QC not much different so I say run it more as coolant heaters are much less efficient than block heaters as 1/2 the heat if it goes towards the rad. is lost.

fresh winter fuel, tendered battery, lightest oil allowed by your engine spec's, more coolant heater time, if outside cover engine with tarp or quilt while warming up and hopefully after start your should be good to go after 1/2hr of warm-up at 1/2 throttle.

Works for me here in MB.

 

[Oaktree]

They also make oil pan heaters that are magnetic, one of those might help.

Not sure that would help. Dunno about the OP's, but my LK3054 has an aluminum (or some other non-ferrous metal) pan.

I wonder why they have an 8 second timer on the glow plugs. I let mine run for a couple :15 or so cycles in weather that cold.