Battery Hard Wire

[klw_pitt]

Looking to add an aftermarket heater onto my tractor but never wired anything before. Says that it needs to be hard wired to the battery not sure where to start or if this is something that I can even do with no experience. Any tips?

 

[5030]

Think I'd buy a hot coolant one, not an electric one unless you have a substantial alternator and a large CCA battery as the resistance heaters pull a ton of amps.

If you are set on one (resistance heater), I'd use welding cable and Tweco crimp on cable ends to feed it.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Looking to add an aftermarket heater onto my tractor but never wired anything before. Says that it needs to be hard wired to the battery not sure where to start or if this is something that I can even do with no experience. Any tips?

Im guessing you have a 20 or 30Amp alternator. Thats 360Watts of heat max before you start depleting the batt. Not much. You can get real heat by plumbing a heater core into your coolant circuit.

 

[seville009]

Looking to add an aftermarket heater onto my tractor but never wired anything before. Says that it needs to be hard wired to the battery not sure where to start or if this is something that I can even do with no experience. Any tips?

Think they mean to connect the powered wire from the heater directly to the battery terminal (vs tapping into a fused line).

 

[Tinhack]

I would NOT wire anything directly to the battery without an inline fuse or circuit breaker. Unless, of course, you would like to watch your tractor and perhaps your barn go up in fiery blaze. If the unit or the wiring shorts to ground, the fuse blows instead of having a fire.

 

[i7win7]

Electric heaters pull a lot of amps. You may have to put in a 60amp or bigger alternator. 2nd the suggestion to go with water based heater, the fan would need power, current dynamo or alternator should handle it.

Adding electrical stuff, some of mt posts

Adding electrical devices to tractor

Purpose of post: to provide general ideas to fellow tractor owners wishing to add lights, electric sprayers, even some high current accessories for short term intermittent use (think winches, jump starts). I'll start with the high power preparations. #1 good heavy duty wire, at Walmart you...

www.tractorbynet.com

1 Cool ROPS accessory

Flex-a-Lite model 116 radiator fan 2,215 CFM and 11 amp draw. Stirs up quite a breeze. May help with bugs a night when running lights. Ground speed in reverse slightly faster? :unsure:

www.orangetractortalks.com

 

[cqaigy2]

Do you have a url or link to the product you ordered?

 

[Roadworthy]

You need to know the power rating of your heater in order to select an appropriate wire size. Of course you'll want to add a fuse or circuit breaker as well for protection. You may want a contactor or relay to ensure it only has power when your tractor is on and even then it will probably put quite a drain on the battery.

 

[klw_pitt]

Do you have a url or link to the product you ordered?

 

[klw_pitt]

Im guessing you have a 20 or 30Amp alternator. Thats 360Watts of heat max before you start depleting the batt. Not much. You can get real heat by plumbing a heater core into your coolant circuit.

Think I have a 50 amp from my research I’ve found. Just wanna give it a shot it’s a rather cheap option I know it’s the crappy way but figured worth a shot and could be better than nothing.

 

[sandman2234]

I added a heater to a forklift years ago. Plumbed it into the heater hose size hoses that ran to the propane regulator. I used a car heater core that I built a wooden box around and added a 12 volt fan to push air thru it.
My forklift hours increased dramatically because everybody kept grabbing my forklift when I wasn't at work. I made the stipulation that if they used it, they better fuel it, or I would start taking my keys home with me!
That ended the issue of coming in to an empty tank of fuel every morning!
Heat is nice in the winter, even in Florida!
David from jax

 

[klw_pitt]

Im guessing you have a 20 or 30Amp alternator. Thats 360Watts of heat max before you start depleting the batt. Not much. You can get real heat by plumbing a heater core into your coolant circuit.

How much something like that cost? It’s also a soft cab

 

[sandman2234]

Heat off of your engine is the best way to go! 12v electric heat is kind of wimpy (bunk in the truck I drive uses 12v heater ran off an APU. Never warm enough!!
The electric issues you are looking at, versus the better heat from engine coolant, says it all.
Batteries aren't as powerful in the cold and you need it to start the engine, and pulling the battery down by adding a 12v heater is asking for issues out in the freezing cold when you stall the tractor and the battery doesn't have the strength to restart the engine.
David from jax

 

[sandman2234]

How much something like that cost? It’s also a soft cab

Pull a heater core from a junk car, build a wooden box around it, and plumb it into the coolant system. Wire a 12v fan in and mount it to the wooden box blowing thru the heater core. Probably cheaper than a store bought electric heater and you don't have to worry about upgrading your alternator or the huge demands on your tractor electric system!
David from jax

 

[klw_pitt]

You need to know the power rating of your heater in order to select an appropriate wire size. Of course you'll want to add a fuse or circuit breaker as well for protection. You may want a contactor or relay to ensure it only has power when your tractor is on and even then it will probably put quite a drain on the battery.

Couldn’t get a better battery to help reduce the drainage worry or trickle charge?

 

[grsthegreat]

This is a 300 watt heater. Why bother. I recall having a 600 watt heater years aho under my desk. Nearly worthless, and it was 120 volts

 

[grsthegreat]

Did you look at the reviews

Reviews: RoadPro-RPSL681-12V-Direct-Hook-up-Ceramic-Heater-with-Swivel-Base-Black | eBay

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[rontaki]

There is also the issue of burning more fuel to power an electric heater vs. using heat already generated by just running the motor.

That is, electric heater costs money to run.
Heat from coolant costs no extra.
In either case, an electric fan is needed so that cost is moot.

 

[Tinhack]

Just as a side note. I remember when heaters in automobiles were optional. Many car ads would specify, "Radio, heater, WW tires". That would be considered "Loaded"--All options included.

 

[tomplum]

Back when I lived in the frozen tundra, I used to have a small disc plug in heater just to warm the inside of the rig before I headed out. Made it more bearable when it was -20. Any heater in small cab tractor I would think that it would depend on how long you used the tractor to make it worth your while to try and warm it up. My 2 cents.