Snow Warm Up Time -tractor not you.

[BruceMc]

It's beyond me how a Canadian Kubota dealer would omit the heater when ordering his inventory but it shouldn't be too bad. If it's below 10 below you could throw a tarp over the tractor and put a 500watt work light under the tractor for a couple hours to heat the block a bit.

Part of the dealer winterization package here included both the block heater and a pad heater on the hydraulic reservoir. The tractor is new and the coldest it's been at my place so far this winter is -10º F, but plugging in for even an hour or two makes a huge difference.

 

[skyhook]

Plug mine in about an hour before I start it ( anything more than -10)
Then, start er up and let it warm up until "I" get warmed up, usually takes a good cup of tea,
couple of cigarettes and a trip to the can
All in all, about 30 minutes after start-up. Sometimes I say "the heck with it" shut er down and go back to bed....lol

 

[boggen]

one thing i hate about winter, is how gooey oil gets when cold. it goes from liquid hot butter in summer, to a snail pace jelly in winter. causing me to triple check oil levels if i had to add some oil.

viscosity = lamen terms = how runny something is... kinda like pancake batter. not enough water and you have lumps and it is like gum. to much water and it becomes like water. for engine oil and hyd oil. we want liquid hyd oil. and that means raising the temperature up.

most folks on the forum own a open center hydraulic tractor setup = hyd pump continually pumps hyd oil through all the valves all the time when tractor is on. if you can get that initially warmed up. then make thought to when you start using 3pt hitch and other hyd cylinders. they may act slow. due to oil in them still has not been moving or has chance to warm up. you may need to operate the hyd cylinders "fully retracting / fully extending" a few times to remove the cold hyd oil in them and put in warmer hyd oil into them. the fully extending / fully re-tracting the cylinders, should expel all the cold hyd oil. in them, but it going to take a couple times to also get that cold hyd oil pushed through the hoses that connect from the hyd cylinders to the valves.

hyd pumps should not put a huge amount of force on an engine. when starting up cold. or less you are using hyd oil not rated for a warmer climate. and you are trying to use something, just setting there letting it warm up should be fairly easy on the engine.

your power steering may be a slight sluggish as well. when starting up in cold. you may need to crank wheel both ways a couple times to the stops, after warm up, to clear out the cold hyd oil in the hyd cylinders for power steering.

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a reminder for diesel fuel, it can GEL up. in cold times. if you have old fuel setting in tractor since a couple months ago. (have not ran tractor enough to refuel it yet), you might want to see about adding something to the fuel.

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i live up on a hill and fields all around me, and i swear it is like a wind tunnel through this place in winter. keep an eye on your temperature gauge. old school farmers, have placed cardboard or like in front of the radiator with some bungee straps. to help reduce wind chill and keep the engine warm. and/or simply keep the colder wind off the engine. during start up.

 

[Thomas]

Good 15 mins plug in or not,than rise loader cure bucket couple times my game plan.

 

[DHD]

Cold starts for my Kubota B7800 (in unheated garage) are usually just before snow blowing.
I plug in my block heater 30 mins before starting engine. After starting engine and at idle, I engage the pto for my rm snow blower, and raise the operator seat, (so pto will operate without passenger in seat) and let the tractor run for 5-15 min depending on outside temp.
For the first 10-15mins. of snow blowing I run the snow blower at a reduced amount of about 60% of the 540 pto rmp and use very slow ground speed.
After 10-15mins. I'm run my 540 pto at about 75% and occasionally at 100%.

Al Mac ..... I highly recommend getting a block heater for your B2920.
I've started my B7800 with the pre-heating and without the pre-heating on similiarly cold days.
When you witness how much better your engine reacts to the pre-heated start vs non-pre-heated start, you'll always pre-heat on those colder days.

 

[bigbull338]

i crank my tractor and let it warm up while i check things over on it.usually about 5 mins.also let it cool down 5mins.

 

[tcreeley]

I never add anything to the diesel fuel. I buy at the same pump in town that sells diesel for the semis and diesel cars/trucks on the road. If they adjust the fuel for winter use (probably do around here) then good - but never had a problem with jelling. Home heating oil is adjusted automatically by the sellers. Friend of mine with a Kubota says his tractor likes to warmup before use. I tend to get going faster than he does. I try never to use the bucket until after it is warmed up.

 

[tcartwri]

1200 rpm idle, wait until the pump stops whining, and then give er.

 

[Tractor Tom]

I just can't see a downside to a warm up idle before use or plugging in the block heater on real cold days. These toys are to expensive to mess with, and diesels don't like the cold. The colder the day the longer the warm up. Usually 10 to 15 min for the Kioti.

 

[tcartwri]

I just can't see a downside to a warm up idle before use or plugging in the block heater on real cold days. These toys are to expensive to mess with, and diesels don't like the cold. The colder the day the longer the warm up. Usually 10 to 15 min for the Kioti.

That's fine except that the engine will not warm up significantly without a load.