Warm Up / Cool Down? ? ?

[jezreel]

New to operating a tractor. Preface my questions by saying I haven’t seen anything in my owner‘s manual about this. Though I could have missed it.

I recently read in a thread about letting the engine warm up for (approx) 5mins before operating it. In the actual thread, the OP was asking about moving it a short distance before warming. After reading that thread, I’ve been been allowing the machine to warm up for 5mins before getting to work.

My neighbor also gave me some advice the other day about shutting it off. I had just been out discing my pasture, went over to talk to him, and then shut off the machine. He commented that I should let it run for a little bit on idle to let the turbocharger to cool down.

I‘d appreciate your thoughts on warm up and cool down.

Thanks

 

[K5lwq]

Yes let it warm up before working it and idle for a bit before shutting it down. All good advice.

 

[LittleBill21]

its important on shutdown for turbo's as they are generally oil cooled, and it helps not starve. start up, 30 seconds is good, you have oil pressure in 2.

 

[Thomas]

Indeed let tractor hyd. warm more so in cold regions,than slowly exercise attachment uses hyd.

 

[oosik]

On startup I let it run for five minuets or so. Then raise/lower the 3-point a few times. Raise/lower the FEL a few times. Open/close/tilt the grapple a few times. Then - off I go.

On shutdown - let it idle for five minuets or so before key off.

 

[RjCorazza]

I recall the thread about when to move out of the garage. I personally start at idle and move my tractor outside. Once outside I bump up the throttle to perhaps 1500rpm for a few minutes in moderate weather, then putt out to where I'll be working.
In cold weather I run it a little longer and get the hst fluid moving around. On my snow plow run, that usually means taking an easy drive to my most distant job (about 3/4 mile) before really getting to it.
I don't have a turbo, but I still don't work the tractor hard and immediately shut it down.

 

[Shenandoah MF1760]

On startup I let it run for five minuets or so. Then raise/lower the 3-point a few times. Raise/lower the FEL a few times. Open/close/tilt the grapple a few times. Then - off I go.

On shutdown - let it idle for five minuets or so before key off.

You're not a DD982 sailor by any chance? Fortes fortuna iuvat was the ships motto.

 

[jezreel]

Thanks for the info. Warm up and cool down will be a ritual now.

 

[MoKelly]

Thanks for the info. Warm up and cool down will be a ritual now.

Sounds like what my doctor says I need to do before/after tennis!

MoKelly

 

[RalphVa]

Start and go, just not maximum rpm for a little bit. Stop when finished.

 

[John0829]

You need to give enough time to circulate the oil on startup and that should take only seconds, I usually give it about 15 seconds to a minute at most to stabilize the oil pressure and then use it gently for a few minutes, mostly driving it to where I need to use it, before putting it to hard work. Shutdown whether you have a turbo or not it should be allowed to idle for about a minute before shutting it off, to allow it to idle for 5 minutes is just a waste of fuel and time.

Do you let your car idle for 5 minutes before driving it or shutting it down? Tractor is no different than your car or truck. However ALL vehicles, gas or diesel, with a turbo need to idle for at least a minute before shutdown.

 

[RalphVa]

You need to give enough time to circulate the oil on startup and that should take only seconds, I usually give it about 15 seconds to a minute at most to stabilize the oil pressure and then use it gently for a few minutes, mostly driving it to where I need to use it, before putting it to hard work. Shutdown whether you have a turbo or not it should be allowed to idle for about a minute before shutting it off, to allow it to idle for 5 minutes is just a waste of fuel and time.

Do you let your car idle for 5 minutes before driving it or shutting it down? Tractor is no different than your car or truck. However ALL vehicles, gas or diesel, with a turbo need to idle for at least a minute before shutdown.

Been driving cars and pickups for 50 years and tractors now for 16 years after driving them early in life. Just start and go gently. Shut down when stopped. Have never had an engine failure. (Actually, never a clutch failure either except for the time we allowed a kid to use our Fiat 1100)

 

[70Beee]

The first farm tractor we had with a turbo was an Oliver 1955 back in the early 70’s. On the dash near the shut down pull were instructions to idle at least three minutes to allow the turbo to cool down. You could watch the engine temperature drop and the old Oliver never had an engine or turbo issue. I do it with my MX5100 and diesel Sprinter RV too.

 

[dodge man]

I go by the outside temp. In warmer weather the warm up time I give it is maybe a minute, colder weather about the same I just go slow and easy for a few minutes and gradually bump the throttle up.

Cool down? Usually not, it depends on what I was doing. Mowing and working the tractor hard, a couple of minutes. Driving the tractor around or end loader work, usually none because the last thing I do is drive to the garage and I figure it cools down then.

With a turbo and the example you give, disc work in a field, the turbo probably needed cool down time. If you normally are driving back to your shop for a minute or two, that probably gets most of the cool down time.

 

[SmallChange]

My tractor lives in a barn, and I sometimes pull it out just seconds after starting, because it gets smoky in there! But this means lifting the ballast box (if it's on) and the loader. I always wonder if this is any harder on it.

Also -- do folks let the machine warm up at low or high engine RPMs? I had a car with an automatic transmission that kept RPMs high by staying in low gears until the blue "cold" indicator light went out. Think I remember reading somewhere that low RPMs are harder on the engine when it's not warm yet.

 

[Quickster2]

My Kioti manual says to warm up the engine at "the medium speed" not idle. I take this as 1000 to 1200 RPMs. I always wait until the temp gauge clears the "C" on the gauge before utilizing the tractor for work. Same on shutdown, I wait a couple of minutes after performing work.

 

[crazyal]

I start it and let it idle at about 1300 rpm until the engine starts running smoothly (maybe 15 seconds ish depending how cold it is). Then I bump it up to a little over 1500 and start to use it gently for the first minute or two. Anything more is just burning fuel for no reason IMO.

If you have a turbo you don't need to let it idle at the end of the day unless you are working it hard and are going to park it right where you are working it. Driving it back to the garage easily is more than enough. Maybe if it was a very hot day I could see letting it idle to cool down some but it's only going to cool so much.

 

[Deere Dude]

I really doubt factories idle turbo diesels when test running. Turn the key on right to max throttle. Otherwise I slow - medium idle for a minute or two unless really cold, then longer. When I shut down after working hard, maybe 3-4 minutes. But normally I putz for a half mile to the barn then park and shut down.