Dealer Why do NE dealers not recommend block heaters?

44trxfun · Mar 14, 2004

As one who experienced this, I too asked myself this question. I bought from a 3rd-generation dealer who persuaded me I didn't need a block heater. I did not insist I needed one because I just moved here. I figured he knew regional weather better than I did, and I'd still back him on that.

So that leaves the question, how unusual was this winter in the NE? Enough off the charts to have made a lot of us who listened to our dealers wish we hadn't?

Henro · Mar 14, 2004

My tractors might not need their block heaters...but I sure do!

Like has been said above, if you start your tractor once at zero degree F or below without using the block heater, and you do it again after the heater has been on a half hour or an hour...you sure will not feel the same!

I don't plan on passing my tractors on to someone else after a couple years. As a matter of fact, I do plan on passing my tractors on to my kids in the distant future. For me the block heater makes me feel good each time I start my tractors in winter.

So...who is a dealer to tell me what I don't need?

I personally need a block heater, even though my tractor may not, in the short run...short = ten or twenty years...

Tractor dealers...well they are like everyone else...some really good, some really bad, and the rest everywhere in between... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif... Just like everything else in life...

Junkman · Mar 14, 2004

( Junkman, Just so I understand your point. What your telling me is every single tractor dealer in NE falls into this category?

Don )

No Don..... I am not saying that every tractor dealer in NE falls into this category and I never mentioned NE in my post. I was generalizing about all tractor dealers of every type and every brand of every color and every shape of every country of origin sold in every state in the entire United States, its Territories, and Possessions, including, but not limited to Guam, Virgin Islands, Allusion Islands, Puerto Rico, Marshal Islands, American Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau............... Bet you didn't know that there were so many places in the United States you never heard of! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
It was a pathetic, sarcastic, dig at a wonderful bunch of sweet old men that closely resemble father time, that have long outlived their useful purpose on Gods beautiful green earth and have nothing more to do with their lives but to deny us poor yuppie compact tractor owners of our life long desire to own a engine block heater while they patiently wait for the grim reaper to call their number to come to heaven to sell tractors.
I hope that this answers your question about what I meant by my comment. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

PS.... this isn't a flame, but a feeble attempt at satire.... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

spencer200 · Mar 14, 2004

Not fair Junkman not all dealers are like that. We give our customers whatever they ask for. We even include block heaters in all tractors we sell you dont even have to ask.

Junkman · Mar 14, 2004

I knew that I didn't want to go into this just for this reason. I know that there are a lot of good dealers out there that put in the block heaters and you are one of them. The dealer that I purchased my tractor from is also one of them. One of the dealers that visits this site, that sent me a private message that agreed with me that dealers should install them when a customer wants them is also one of them. There are lots of great dealers out there. More of them than we realize, but there are also a fair number of dealers that play ostrich and put their head in the sand when asked to do something that they just don't want to do. They just are stubborn and will expend more energy trying to get out of doing it, then it would take to accommodate the customer. I will never understand this type of dealership. Possibly you as a dealer can educate us as to their logic? Certainly you have heard of them from customers and have read about them here on the forums? Help me and others to understand their way of thinking. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Spencer200...... one thing that I will ask you, if you are a dealer, why don't you fill out your profile and let the world know more about yourself and what brand of tractor you sell? You never know, you might get some sales as a result and it would be good for business. Especially now that we know that you install block heaters in all tractors that you sell. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

spencer200 · Mar 14, 2004

Well most people in the New Holland forum know that we sell them. I don't not wish to advertise on here that is not what this forum is about. Plus many of the things I tell the guys in the New Holland forum would get me in hot water with New Holland and with other dealers that monitor this site on a regular basis. This is why I stay anonymous.

Bob_In_MN · Mar 15, 2004

Spencer200,

Same as my dealer--block heaters are standard on every tractor--it's part of the pre-delivery prep work.

I'll say 2 things about my block heater.

1. I'll never know if I really needed it or not because I use prior to every cold weather start.

2. My tractor when plugged in on a zero degree day starts easier (easier is defined by me as firing quickly and short a time before running smooth) than on a 50 or 60 degree day when not plugged in.

Bob

rbarker · Mar 15, 2004

( So that leaves the question, how unusual was this winter in the NE? Enough off the charts to have made a lot of us who listened to our dealers wish we hadn't? )

This winter in Massachusetts was exceptionally cold in January. Matched records set in the 1800's. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Junkman · Mar 15, 2004

The vote is in folks...... All of you that have been calling me mean names behind my back must be correct! My wife has just officially called me a "crothedy, grumpy old man", so that must account for something! Those of you that agree with her, and there must be quite a few from the comments that I have had to defend myself from recently, can sit back and smile. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif I am going to apply for a tractor salesmans job in the morning and I will be practicing saying "NO"! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Youare · Mar 15, 2004

The dealer I purchased my Kubota from in New Hampshire installs block heaters on all the tractors he sells. I use mine when the temps get below 20. There have been a few times when I wasn't able to plug the heater in before I needed to start the tractor and it started okay.

However, the difference in the sound of the starter between a cold start and a block heater start is very noticeable. I would think the engine wear would be greater in a cold start than in a heated start, that would be a big reason for wanting a block heater no matter what the dealer said.

Randy