starting in cold

[fluffhead31]

I need to move my tractor (2005 35hp NH) today from an off-grid location to my home. The high today is 19 F. Obviously, it hasn't been plugged in. I suppose i could fire a generator up and plug it in for an hour or two prior to starting...or i could just start her up, let her run for a while and load onto the trailer. Do i risk doing any significant damage starting a cold tractor?

 

[rmorey]

Cycle the glow plugs and fire it up. I'd let it run for 20 minutes before I moved it too much. I'll probably rattle a bit while its cold, but it definately shouldn't hurt it any.

 

[pat32rf]

What rmorey said...except I'd let it warm up before PUTTING ANY LOAD on it. I don't think just creeping around the yard at 1500rpm qualifies as a load. If it has hydro, then it is more important to let it warm up, but a "gentle" load will help it warm quicker and more evenly than just idling.
I often start my JD 4300HST and as soon as the idle smooths out I head accross the yard at about 2mph to the fuel tank or wherever..If I am in a hurry. Worked fine for me for 5000hrs during the past 10 years or so.

 

[4310]

Did you just say that you have 5000 hours on your 4300?

 

[RalphVa]

19 degrees isn't very cold. Just start it up and move it. Glow it, give it about 1/2 throttle and start and then move it.

Ralph

 

[PILOON]

Crawling at low RPM's under no load will not bother a tractor, in fact it will help as fluids will circulate and warm up evenly.
Operating hydraulics under no load also helps.
With hydrostatic I might want to wait a bit so as not to strain the pump.
In my case I preheat about 1 hr during colder days and 2+ when real cold so that helps.
I am at about 1350 hrs and no issues with 0 oil consumption to speak of.
I do use 5W30 winter oil so maybe that helps.
But, lessons learned, I always use an anti gelling additive as well and filter twice.

 

[vtdan]

I agree with the others, I used mine all last winter with no issues. I just start er up and go a little off idle for a few min then I move gently until the temps are up. I've found that the dynamic warm up of moving gently rather than just sitting there works very well for trucks and tractors.

 

[pat32rf]

Bought it to plow my snow, skid my firewood, landscape my wife's flower garden. The first summer I had it I stumbled into a job where I put over 1000 hrs on it. Pretty well paid for itself ..... That was about 2002. Things have slowed down since then but I still do the odd paying job.
The gas gauge quit at the end of the first year so the dealer replaced the dash under warranttee, that included a new hour meter so now it only shows 44xxhrs.

Replaced the front tires a couple years back with a no-name brand, then again this summer with Goodyears. Rears are original.

 

[Dan W]

Gents,
We cold weather people up here have done this for years, interestingly, the warm-up issue is more important for the hydrostatic components than kt is for the engine, light load (very light) warms up the engine better, but driving a hydro at any speed with super cold oil is a risk. This is why Cat and other bid manufacturers insist on hydro oil heaters. So, when at 0degree F or lower outdoors, I would advise to let your tractor stand at 1100 or 1200 RPM for at least 20 minutes... My 2 cents worth

Dan

 

[kevin37b]

I have run heavy equip . for years , I know who cares . Every book and the mechanics Ihave been around say stall the hyd . to warm up . That means pull theboom and stick back until it goes to relief . Works quite well . You folks are a little paranoid . A hydro is not going to warm up sitting idling . I know you have spent lot's on these little tractors , but they will take a cold start . As for the engine , get it running ,give it half throttle get the juices flowing .

 

[Dan W]

I have run heavy equip . for years , I know who cares . Every book and the mechanics Ihave been around say stall the hyd . to warm up . That means pull theboom and stick back until it goes to relief . Works quite well . You folks are a little paranoid . A hydro is not going to warm up sitting idling . I know you have spent lot's on these little tractors , but they will take a cold start . As for the engine , get it running ,give it half throttle get the juices flowing .

Kevin,
I guess you are correct in a manner of speaking, things do heat up quick when you stall the hydralics.
It is all about who pays for the equipment.
In my experience, (having to fix equipment out on the job site) whether it was trucks, loaders or dozers, we had people start all the equipment and let everything run for an hour before any operators or drivers started their shift.

 

[MHarryE]

Think about how cold. Below zero F can be tough on hydraulics due to filters and high oil viscosity. Tractors with suction filters - pumps can cavitate if the engine speed is higher than low idle for the first several minutes. Hydro charge filters can create high back pressure that even the filter bypass cannot handle. My machines with several pumps - I had long warming times based on 10 degree C increments - extending out as far as 30 minutes at low idle before speeding up. High idle immediately on startup and risk blowing the hydro charge filter seal. We only use fine mesh strainers for the gear pump inlets because our experience was suction filters create so many early hour failures due to operators trying to run hard before the oil is warm. Some makers compensate - I see that John Deere has a low viscosity oil for their hydro tractors. Kubota has their Super UDT2 that has better cold flow to prevent problems. A neighbor blew the rear crankshaft seal on his one year old New a Holland due to high speed cold engine operation. New holland said they would give him one but from now on use a 0W or 5W synthetic and let it warm up a long time before going to high idle. So now he is running 5W-40 Mobil 1 heavy duty Diesel engine oil and goes back inside to drink a cup of coffee after starting. No problems so far this year - our coldest this month has been -34.

 

[Dan W]

Think about how cold. Below zero F can be tough on hydraulics due to filters and high oil viscosity. Tractors with suction filters - pumps can cavitate if the engine speed is higher than low idle for the first several minutes. Hydro charge filters can create high back pressure that even the filter bypass cannot handle. My machines with several pumps - I had long warming times based on 10 degree C increments - extending out as far as 30 minutes at low idle before speeding up. High idle immediately on startup and risk blowing the hydro charge filter seal. We only use fine mesh strainers for the gear pump inlets because our experience was suction filters create so many early hour failures due to operators trying to run hard before the oil is warm. Some makers compensate - I see that John Deere has a low viscosity oil for their hydro tractors. Kubota has their Super UDT2 that has better cold flow to prevent problems. A neighbor blew the rear crankshaft seal on his one year old New a Holland due to high speed cold engine operation. New holland said they would give him one but from now on use a 0W or 5W synthetic and let it warm up a long time before going to high idle. So now he is running 5W-40 Mobil 1 heavy duty Diesel engine oil and goes back inside to drink a cup of coffee after starting. No problems so far this year - our coldest this month has been -34.

all of your comments are very well said MHarry,
The cause of failure (due to cold start) becomes obvious when you pull a pump off for tear-down. The metallic damage is serious and damaged parts are usually not reusable . The Labour is high as well because the complete hydro system needs to be disassembled to flush out metalic contamination. So a wee bit of low idle warming-up is not such a bad idea.
Dan