Surprised how much block heater helps starting diesel

[LouNY]

I used one for a few years.
Not sure how much help it was.
It did get some baked on oil residue at the point of the surface level of the oil,
as I never parked in exactly the same area that point was always a bit different,
so it had about a half inch area that built up a bit of residue.

 

[Egon]

Is this a trick question?

Nope.

 

[not2old]

I have an inline coolant heater that I run for 20 minutes before start and the vehicle pops right off and is ready to work much sooner than a cold start.

The engine only has a 100 hrs on it since overhaul and will start cold but a little heat much reduces the engine wear on start so I routinely use the heater. I have it plugged into a Bluetooth enabled switch so I can activate the heater with the phone.

Are you able to supply information on the bluetooth switch? I've been unable to find anything on them and refuse to hook up my house or shop to the internet for these things.

 

[Bavarian]

That was on Monday morning and I needed the tractor. Plugged it in for about 3 hours and she fired right up with block heater and transmission heater.

 

[Reb954]

I have an inline coolant heater that I run for 20 minutes before start and the vehicle pops right off and is ready to work much sooner than a cold start.

The engine only has a 100 hrs on it since overhaul and will start cold but a little heat much reduces the engine wear on start so I routinely use the heater. I have it plugged into a Bluetooth enabled switch so I can activate the heater with the phone.

I also would like info on the Bluetooth switch if you have it.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

I use a block heater, a stick on heater on the lower side of the oil pan sump, and a stick on heater on the lower side of the hydro trans casing.

Just the block heater alone would start the tractor at -40F with some squabbling. I would use the glow plug cycle for one full cycle before starting, and it would start. But adding the oil pan sump heater helped it to start "more better". And adding the hydro trans heater meant that I could use the tractor in a couple of minutes of run time, instead of starting it up and going back in the house for 15-20 min to get the hydro to warm up (it wouldn't move the tractor when that cold).

Now I have all 3 plugged into a short 3-way pigtail that I leave tied to the side of the loader frame. I connect my extension cord to that, and the other end plugs into an outdoor timer. I think I have it set to come on at 5am, and I think it turns off at 10am. But by the time I'm ready to use it in the morning (if needed-no snow this year), it's warm enough that it fires right up without issues.

I did replace my OEM battery, which was a cheaper grade Interstate brand wet cell battery. It died the first winter I had the tractor, and on the first overnight low that hit -30F. Yup, dead as a hammer. Can't be having that now. Up here, we call -30F "Tuesday". So, if it won't survive our "normal" temps, it's gotta go. I replaced it with a red top Optima, and it's never given me a lick of trouble. Even at -45F, battery is ready to party.

 

[SylvainG]

That was on Monday morning and I needed the tractor. Plugged it in for about 3 hours and she fired right up with block heater and transmission heater.View attachment 686087

We have the same weather station. Luckily there was no wind, or was the manometer frozen solid?

 

[MHarryE]

We are going on 14 days without the temperature reaching 0°F. Most days have ranged from -30° to -45° low to -12° to -5° high. One of the local farmers I sell grain to told me he has had one tractor running day and night going on 8 days now because of difficulty starting. My nephew needs one loader tractor daily and a tractor for his grinder mixer every other day. He doesn't want to leave his loader tractor idling continuously because it is DPF equipped. Block heater alone is not enough - he needs to heat the oil so an hour with a propane heater on the oil pan and no starting problems. His tractor for the grinder mixer is a NH Workmaster 75. It needs block heater, oil pan heat, plus jump from another vehicle to start. He did buy a magnetic oil pan heater but its only 200 watts and isn't confident it will heat enough. Now that he is certain the propane heater will do the job he uses it to heat whichever tractor he needs to use. I read mixed reviews on this heater size. One person put 4 on his 100 hp tractor, 3 on the block, 1 on the oil pan, and he still couldn't start. Customer in Alberta with one heater glued to the pan of his 1.6 liter car engine had good luck in temps to -50°. Our forecast now is that we will actually have +3° for a high Monday - a heat wave.

 

[Bavarian]

We are going on 14 days without the temperature reaching 0°F. Most days have ranged from -30° to -45° low to -12° to -5° high. One of the local farmers I sell grain to told me he has had one tractor running day and night going on 8 days now because of difficulty starting. My nephew needs one loader tractor daily and a tractor for his grinder mixer every other day. He doesn't want to leave his loader tractor idling continuously because it is DPF equipped. Block heater alone is not enough - he needs to heat the oil so an hour with a propane heater on the oil pan and no starting problems. His tractor for the grinder mixer is a NH Workmaster 75. It needs block heater, oil pan heat, plus jump from another vehicle to start. He did buy a magnetic oil pan heater but its only 200 watts and isn't confident it will heat enough. Now that he is certain the propane heater will do the job he uses it to heat whichever tractor he needs to use. I read mixed reviews on this heater size. One person put 4 on his 100 hp tractor, 3 on the block, 1 on the oil pan, and he still couldn't start. Customer in Alberta with one heater glued to the pan of his 1.6 liter car engine had good luck in temps to -50°. Our forecast now is that we will actually have +3° for a high Monday - a heat wave.

I have a heater at the transmission, JD call it pen heater. It's got the shape of a pen and it's attached to the outdide. I do see an increase of temperature in the transmission. I don't know how many watts it has.
At the newer tractors without the mechanical clutch, oil viscosity in the transmission is crucial. It has to be turned with the engine and can't be disconnected.

 

[LouNY]

Makes for a long day when you have to fight with every thing to get them started before you can get started working