Block Heater

[waycoolmarine]

john deere also offers a trans heater, the problem with block heaters is operator forgets that 9 gallons of cold oil in the trans , if you let the engine warm normally it also warms the trans ,I use to plow snow with wheel loaders , and we had block heaters so the loaders would start , it would take a long time for that 30 gallons of oil and all that steel to warm up ,

 

[PILOON]

Generally 1-2 hours of heat will do the trick.

A timer can be used or like I did I have an outside outlet that is switched from inside my house.
Some folks leave the heater on 24/24 as well but most heaters draw 200-400 watts and that cost U.

Hardware stores and many auto parts will have suitable timers which run in the $20-25 range.

Presently I have a remote that is operated via a key fob device like for garage doors and remote car starters.

 

[LouNY]

I have a block heater in my Branson 8050, it uses a manifold heater for cold starting. I found out that it will not run the manifold heat
if I have the block well warmed up (2 - 4 hours) I can cycle the key several times and get some heat into the intake or unplug the temp
sensor for the heater, what I am going to do one day this winter is measure the resistance when its cold and wire in a resistor so the
heater will run better. I would like to add an hydraulic oil heater to it one of these days.