At what tempature does your tractor start having issues starting?

[Fallon]

My L4060 seems to be a bit more cold-blooded than it used to be. It's 10 years old wth 1,100 hours now. I remember my previous L3200 starting around 0f after several hits of the glow plugs. I thought the L4060 was starting okish in the teens, but my memory is getting fuzzy. I remember not bothering with the block heater in years past because it started good enough.

Today it started okish after 5 minutes of block heater (not long enough to do much) in the 20s up in the unheated barn. Parked it in front of the house after minimal usage & tried to start it 4+ hours later in the low 20s. It wasn't wanting to start after 2-3 tries & starting to throw P6060 codes or something. Just a low voltage warning, which it does if you crank it hard,especially in the cold & the battery is older, possibly even the original. No real need to move it & no motivation to get a 20' extenson for the block heater. It will be in the 60s tomorrow & im sure will start right up. Not a gelled fuel issue, just starting hard due to a lack of heat.

My 2014 F350 Powertroke went down with gelled fuel a few years back at -15f. I used the car for a couple days & it started when it wasnt nearly so arctic. Generally it started a little slower in the cold, but never more than a few seconds of craking & I never bothered with the block heater. I know some of those sucessfull starts were in the low teens.

I'm sure a new battery would help, or any minimal planning with the block heater. At what tempatures are you guys able to start your machines easily or at all? Kind of curious if my memory is off & its always been this cold blooded, or I need to stop playing chicken with an old battery & possibly do some diagnostics on the intake heater.

 

[LHF2019]

I plug mine in under 40 for about half hour(4cylinders) hour(6 cylinders) if I know I'm going to use them. Takes the stress off starting. Since replacing the starter my most used tractor will start at 0 plus if needed but still plug in under 40 if I know I will use it.

 

[RjCorazza]

My L4060 is of similar age and hours. I generally run the block heater for 3-4 hours on a wifi outlet when I know I'm going to use it at temps below 20 deg f or so. On the occasion that it gets started without heat, it has usually started ok, although the rpm's will jump up more than usually.
Last winter I noted it being a little slower to start, requiring longer than usual cranking, and out of muscle memory I would release the key too early. It was also spinning slower, but tolerable.
Anyway, I read a post here on TBN where a guy fried the ECM, and the dealer diagnosis was low voltage / high amperage from cranking with a battery at the end of its life. May or may not have be the cause, but it was enough to convince me to just replace the battery.

 

[Sprinkler Fitter]

My 2032R has started when it was -20°, although it helps that I keep it in a 70° garage.

 

[EddieWalker]

When my Massey 4707 was less than a year old it had trouble starting in 20F temps. When it got down even lower, I had to jump it from my truck to get it to start. That happened every winter for three years. Then the battery totally died on me.

I replaced it with a bigger one from Walmart with higher amps. I also put a trickle charger on it when I parked it for winter. When temps where in the teens, it fired right up. It's started for me instantly every time I've wanted to use it since changing the battery and using the trickle charger

 

[SDT]

My L4060 seems to be a bit more cold-blooded than it used to be. It's 10 years old wth 1,100 hours now. I remember my previous L3200 starting around 0f after several hits of the glow plugs. I thought the L4060 was starting okish in the teens, but my memory is getting fuzzy. I remember not bothering with the block heater in years past because it started good enough.

Today it started okish after 5 minutes of block heater (not long enough to do much) in the 20s up in the unheated barn. Parked it in front of the house after minimal usage & tried to start it 4+ hours later in the low 20s. It wasn't wanting to start after 2-3 tries & starting to throw P6060 codes or something. Just a low voltage warning, which it does if you crank it hard,especially in the cold & the battery is older, possibly even the original. No real need to move it & no motivation to get a 20' extenson for the block heater. It will be in the 60s tomorrow & im sure will start right up. Not a gelled fuel issue, just starting hard due to a lack of heat.

My 2014 F350 Powertroke went down with gelled fuel a few years back at -15f. I used the car for a couple days & it started when it wasnt nearly so arctic. Generally it started a little slower in the cold, but never more than a few seconds of craking & I never bothered with the block heater. I know some of those sucessfull starts were in the low teens.

I'm sure a new battery would help, or any minimal planning with the block heater. At what tempatures are you guys able to start your machines easily or at all? Kind of curious if my memory is off & its always been this cold blooded, or I need to stop playing chicken with an old battery & possibly do some diagnostics on the intake heater.

Cranking speed is imperative.

Yes, a new battery would almost certainly help.

 

[SDT]

When my Massey 4707 was less than a year old it had trouble starting in 20F temps. When it got down even lower, I had to jump it from my truck to get it to start. That happened every winter for three years. Then the battery totally died on me.

I replaced it with a bigger one from Walmart with higher amps. I also put a trickle charger on it when I parked it for winter. When temps where in the teens, it fired right up. It's started for me instantly every time I've wanted to use it since changing the battery and using the trickle charger

Dealers often (nearly always) ignore batteries while new machines sit on the lot for months. Worse, they occasionally start them to move them around but rarely if ever run them long enough to fully charge the batteries. Accordingly, the batteries become discharged and may remain so for months. This significantly shortens the life of the batteries.

Twice, when shopping, I noticed slow cranking (or the need of a jump) when initially looking at a new tractor, and told the dealers that I would not buy the tractor unless they replaced the battery with a new, identical one.

 

[nybirdman]

Battery tender and block heater for mine.Tender stays on all winter,heater one hour before use;never a problem.
Kubota L4240 HSTC with 1500 hours.
+winter fuel and treated.

 

[masseyrider]

Best starting tractors I ever had were the 2 MF563s.
-20F hardly fazed them. Maybe an extra half crank without glow plugs. They could stand months in the winter and start like a warm car.
Their replacements, MF2607s, are also good but not quit the 563s.
The GCs I've had don't like cool/cold at all. Great little tractors but you have to know their foibles when starting them cold. You have to know where they like their throttle to be set. It's never at the setting you shut them down at. And both of mine like at least a count of 20 with the glow plugs.
I've never bothered with block heaters or trickle chargers.

 

[chim]

This is my fourth diesel tractor since 1991. Never used heaters. Always started. Lowest temp was single digits below zero F.

 

[Fallon]

39ish degrees this morning & it failed to start. Dash would blink off after a few seconds, but it continued to crank ok but not great before eventually slowing down. I assume the computer was shutting off due to low voltage, but there is enough juice to keep spinning the starter. Put the charger on for a couple hours & it started, but had to crank for 8 seconds maybe, which is way longer than normal. Definitely need a new battery at a minimum.

 

[greenie]

My Kubota L4760 has never lit the glow plugs (stored in a heated garage) but even sitting outside in the teens for hours the GPs never light. My John Deere 790 sits outside and easily starts without glowplugs.

 

[scootr]

32º. Anything under that and I can't get the operator out of the house

 

[masseyrider]

32º. Anything under that and I can't get the operator out of the house

You tell that wife to get her lazy sensitive behind out there.

 

[scootr]

You tell that wife to get her lazy sensitive behind out there.

When you live where the average temperature is 75º, 32 is freezing-ass cold and if you wait 2-3 hrs it will be near 50º.
Yeah we're spoiled...

 

[tacticalturnip]

I've only had it for 4 years now, but at this point with glow plugs it never gives me a headache.

 

[RayIN]

Mine starts at 5° in my unheated garage–reluctantly.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

So far, 2013 L3800 has always started just fine at down to -15, and it's on the OE battery. That's with minimal glow plug use, by the way.

 

[big bubba]

i see no mention of ether starting fluid which is a good thing

 

[Too many Kubotas]

i see no mention of ether starting fluid which is a good thing

No need for it on the L3800 or CK2620. They just start. But my 6.2 (in an M1008) needs starting fluid even in the summer.

On cold days I often use the factory ether injection on the Unimogs.