Block Heaters 24/7

[trueg50]

Echoing what others say, way overkill. Also +1 on the smart plug; it's the only "smart" thing I see a benefit owning. Start the block heater on a timer, before I head home from work, or from my bed in the morning.

One thing not brought up yet, block heaters only help on starting, your friends absolutley aren't "ready to go at a moments notice". You still have to warm the tractor for a while (15-20min) for the trans/hydrolic fluids to get up to proper temp. Old tractors were temperature picky, but the new ones don't have those same restrictions and a block heater just causes bbn less wear and tear and easier starts.

 

[Farmer495]

Sounds like a good way to run the power bill up and risk of fire greatly elevated.

I use heavy duty timer, I program to come on an hour or so before I need it (for daily use for example) For emergency start use, it has to be pretty cold for it not to start with good battery, good starter and working factory cold start assist.

One tractor here has factory ether injector, it will fire up around 0 F if emergency. Another has thermostart, I actually had it going a couple weeks ago, was about 15F out, tractor had not run in a months, fired up first time.

 

[BoylermanCT]

I use a smart plug so all I do is tell Alexa to turn on tractor heater. Then I wait 2 hours and go use the tractor. If it is snowing overnight, and I know I will be plowing at 6am, I tell Alexa to turn on the tractor heater at 4am. Doesn’t get much easier than that.

 

[wolc123]

I keep my snow plowing tractor under a porch on a pole-barn next to our house. I have a 20 amp, duplex outlet in the basement, which is controlled by a switch at the end of our “boat-bar”.

A 12 volt a-c adapter is plugged into one of those outlets, and that powers the bow light on the boat. A 75 ft 12 ga extension cord is plugged into the other outlet, and that runs out to the block heater on the tractor. I also keep the battery on the tractor plugged into a trickle charger, which is plugged into a separate “live” outlet under the porch 24/7 in the winter.

I use that switch to run the block heater at least 1/2 hour, and not more than 3 hours, prior to starting the tractor in the winter. If it snows while I am at work, I phone my wife, before I leave for home, so the tractor is warmed up when I get there.

This system works very well and I always know when the bock heater is on, thanks to that bow light. I think it also minimizes the fire hazard, and this is the 17th year on the block heater, which was put on by the dealer when I bought that JD 4120 new, back in 05.

 

[Hall00]

Bluetooth plugs.

Or go full hotstart!

 

[Williy]

IMHO a lower radiator hose heater is
easier to install or change than a block
heater less chance of messing something
up. Here I don't use one temps don't get
low enough to justify one.

willy

 

[The Deerslayer]

I have always plugged mine in a couple hours before use, or at most, the night before the storm is expected to stop by morning. Never liked the idea of it running continuously during the winter months due to the reasons already stated here.

Never had a block heater on my old tractor. When I bought my current one new at the dealership, it already had one installed. Dealer said that they put them in all the tractors they sell. Glad he did as I probably would not have added it as an option. After using it for several winters, I'm a believer.

Wanted to try a smart plug for convenience, but the signal from the house does not reach the barn.

 

[rScotty]

I don't worry much about block heaters. They are basically just a much smaller version of a water heater element & without the thermostatic switch. Those HWH elements are pretty reliable, and the block heater version draws far less electrical current.

 

[6sunset6]

I have a block heater. Barn is 200ft from the house. 100 ft line of sight. To avoid walking out there twice I rigged up a garage door remote to pick an alternating relay. One momentary press turns on block heater and a light bulb in the barn. 2nd press turns them off. In addition a momentary push button on the unit in the barn in parallel with the remote so I can turn it on and off locally. Needless to say this is 25 years old. After hard wire but before phone apps or signal overlay on power lines. When the heat is on the tractor starts immediately, like 1 rev , after the glow plugs time out. No heat takes a few revs. The tractor also has a port for a transmission heater which I never installed. I found it after the last transmission oil change and do not feel like pulling the plug . Maybe next time .

 

[mike02557a]

My winters are cold. Sometimes way below freezing sometimes well below zero Fahrenheit. A few of my neighbors that have snow plowing routes and those that have farm animals plug in their block heaters for those 6 months. That is, when they are not in the vehicle, using it, the vehicle is plugged in. Their idea is #1 The vehicle is ready at a moment's notice. And #2: there is no stress on parts (expansion and contraction) as the engine goes from 0 degrees to running temp. I'm not saying what they do is not valid... Personally, I nervous about having the Heater plugged in overnight when I'm not around to see or smell a problem. I just don't have confidence in them. What is your opinion.

I would not leave a block heater plugged in all the time.
I don't use block heaters anymore.
I "trick" my tractor into thinking it is Summertime instead.
I have a small, propane rocket heater that I slip behind the tractor and turn it on. The hot air goes under the tractor.
The tractor is in my shed which is open on one end.

I make sure it is not close enough to catch anything on fire.
I leave it on for 10 minutes, while I get the tractor ready.
I don't leave it unattended.

The hot air heats the tractor up, transmission oil and engine.
Starts like it is Summertime.
Easy and safer than leaving a heater plugged in all the time.

 

[Bobrown14]

I live in NYS due west of the OP. I've started my tractor when its -10F no problems. Start her up and let her get warm. Idle her at 1200-1400rpms for 10-15 minutes till I got some heat in the cab and get toit.
We got a lot of snow this year. Last snow I was pushing snow for 6-8 hrs gota nice workout. At start up in that cold temps the engine makes a little clakety clack for a second after that she's humming.

 

[twinotterpilot]

Up here in Canada, we've had a few frosty nights at -30C plus wind chill effect. I, like a few others am retired so need to blow or plow is never right now. The other to whom one must obey is no longer on standby for the expected grandchild arrival, as she arrived two weeks ago.
I have my block hearer equipped TN 75 in a metal sided shed and metal roof. I have a smart plug with a power bar. One of the sockets for the block heater extension cord, and another for a light, situated that I can see from the kitchen window. I tell Alexa to turn on a couple of hours ahead of the need. Light confirms she listened. I have a second WiFi hub a little closer to get the signal thru all the metal. Hasn't failed so far. Used to have a key fob type remote switch, and before that a timer box, but got to admit Alexa's way ahead. I never thought of asking "her" to turn it on a specific time. I've never left on overnight or typically more than a couple of hours. We are paying over 18 cents per kilowatt hour at peak times, plus delivery, other and taxes.

 

[pacosperson]

My winters are cold. Sometimes way below freezing sometimes well below zero Fahrenheit. A few of my neighbors that have snow plowing routes and those that have farm animals plug in their block heaters for those 6 months. That is, when they are not in the vehicle, using it, the vehicle is plugged in. Their idea is #1 The vehicle is ready at a moment's notice. And #2: there is no stress on parts (expansion and contraction) as the engine goes from 0 degrees to running temp. I'm not saying what they do is not valid... Personally, I nervous about having the Heater plugged in overnight when I'm not around to see or smell a problem. I just don't have confidence in them. What is your opinion.

If it's a factory installed block heater it's probably pretty efficient. You need to work from information. I'd wait for one of those zero degree mornings, plug it in, and sit in the seat waiting for the temperature gauge to move. The time involved will give you a good starting point. Maybe you don't need to leave it plugged in all those hours.

 

[prairiegirl]

My winters are cold. Sometimes way below freezing sometimes well below zero Fahrenheit. A few of my neighbors that have snow plowing routes and those that have farm animals plug in their block heaters for those 6 months. That is, when they are not in the vehicle, using it, the vehicle is plugged in. Their idea is #1 The vehicle is ready at a moment's notice. And #2: there is no stress on parts (expansion and contraction) as the engine goes from 0 degrees to running temp. I'm not saying what they do is not valid... Personally, I nervous about having the Heater plugged in overnight when I'm not around to see or smell a problem. I just don't have confidence in them. What is your opinion.

We plug them in at the start of milking (5 AM) to be ready for feeding. Three hours is enough.
But when we expect or have heavy snow we will do it the evening before so it's ready for clearing it.
They are outside though, at some distance from the building. and those are tin-sided and tin-roofed.

 

[prairiegirl]

Up here in Canada, we've had a few frosty nights at -30C plus wind chill effect. I, like a few others am retired so need to blow or plow is never right now. The other to whom one must obey is no longer on standby for the expected grandchild arrival, as she arrived two weeks ago.
I have my block hearer equipped TN 75 in a metal sided shed and metal roof. I have a smart plug with a power bar. One of the sockets for the block heater extension cord, and another for a light, situated that I can see from the kitchen window. I tell Alexa to turn on a couple of hours ahead of the need. Light confirms she listened. I have a second WiFi hub a little closer to get the signal thru all the metal. Hasn't failed so far. Used to have a key fob type remote switch, and before that a timer box, but got to admit Alexa's way ahead. I never thought of asking "her" to turn it on a specific time. I've never left on overnight or typically more than a couple of hours. We are paying over 18 cents per kilowatt hour at peak times, plus delivery, other and taxes.

Wow, it's only 9 cents here. Ontario?

 

[24mph]

My local Kubota dealer told of a customer who left a big, articulated tractor plugged in 24/7. The tractor caught fire and he lost tractor and barn.

 

[rScotty]

My local Kubota dealer told of a customer who left a big, articulated tractor plugged in 24/7. The tractor caught fire and he lost tractor and barn.

Good story, but what it lacks is a connection between the block heater and the fire.

From what qw know about block heaters they are unlikely to cause a fire. They aren't even as hot as a light bulb.

In a barn I'd worry a whole lot more about switches and wiring in the walls. Those are known dangers.
rScotty

 

[Doofy]

Overnight for a 700 watt block heater to warm a 7.3l diesel when the outside temps are below zero.

2 hours for the lower radiator hose heater on the tractor... minimum.

 

[twinotterpilot]

Wow, it's only 9 cents here. Ontario?

Yup, Ontario. Sorry tho. 17 cents , not 18. End of 2020, we were paying 21.7 on peak hours, but with various rebates, and adjustments due to COVID over the last two years. This month they adjusted again to .082 until early February.

 

[oldpilot]

I'm with the twenty-minute guy. Basically, I go out and plug it in, come back to the house and have a cup of coffee, go back out and start Mahindra Baba.

That's only if it's below 10 deg F. Otherwise it starts right up.