Glow Plug Use

[gswalter]

GS - Welcome to TBN and nice first post! Sounds like you have a good handle on maintaining your B7300.

You will find a lot of good reading material on here, and also note the highlighted model link - it takes you to a page about your model.

Thanks Carl. I joined TBN in 2012. It took me until 2026 to post! Yikes how the time flew.
I however used the site for considerable research and learning for my B7300 and other topics.

 

[Carl_NH]

Oh GS I didn't notice that you joined 13 years ago! Then, you are well aware of the content here, but welcome anyway! ,

 

[CalG]

I had the same conditions as you describe, but only got to go clear off the drives yesterday.
It was 11 degrees F when I put on my overalls and sat in the tractor seat.
B7200, front mount blower, There is a glow wire visible through a hole in the dash . I turn the key anti-clockwise and count slowly to 30 on these cold days. The visible glow wire is at red heat.
The engine started right up but with some coughing for the first 15 seconds or so. Then it smoothed right out.

The B2601 starts up fine with less than 10 seconds of heater time.
The Hurlimann might start with five cycles of the auto heat, but likely not. I plug her in when I want to use that tractor in winter (Mitsubishi engine)

What is right, is what works ;-)

 

[Jeff Lary]

Either someone I asked told me this or maybe, I read it in my manual. I have an L2950 and I hold my key to the count of 30. I have owned this since 2009 and right now I have about 3,000 hours on it.
If I know I am going to use it let's say tomorrow morning, I will plug in the block heater tonight about 6pm or so. If the weather will be close to 15* or less. That negates the use of glow plugs for me. It is also so much easier on the tractor to have a nice warm block to begin with. I have no indicator light on my dash or maybe I do and the bulb is burned out?

 

[JRH02]

I really dislike glow plug circuits on a timer. I want to control the operation. But I know my equipment well and, depending on the ambient temperature, can estimate the amount of time needed. I'd rather error on too little time and have to repeat than too much time.

So if your glow plugs OR if an intake manifold heater are on a timer, never engage the starter until you KNOW that the timer has finished its cycle. Just because the dash light goes out doesn't mean the cycle has finished.

 

[dodge man]

My JD 2025r has a Yanmar engine automatically cycles the glow plugs off. I’ve never counted the time but about 10 seconds. If it’s really cold I just turn the key off and back on for a second cycle. It’ll start without the glow plugs but it’s really smoky and very rough without them.

 

[mmaliga]

It's a strange combination of things. My Case 255 will almost always start with 20 seconds of Glow Plug heating. However, when below 10 degrees, I need to open the throttle as well.

 

[rbrown225]

Best bet is to find what works best for each machine. My 1965 D4 takes 1-2 min. 1983 F250 with 6.9 - 15 sec. 580K that had a grid heater added from a 5.9 Cummins needed 10 sec above freezing & 20 sec below. Some of the ones that auto cycle take between 5-20 sec.

 

[outdoorsman123]

On my Kubotas I would run the glow plugs 3 times to help it start easier.
Same on my case. But I started to have problems with getting it to start. That's when I checked the glow plugs and realized that they half weren't functioning any more. Like others have noted, I recommend checking them.

My John Deere has a grid heater on a auto timer. It definitely doesn't work as well and is much harder to get started than my Kubotas and case.

 

[HAR]

While I do not think that my glow plugs are an issue right now, I did a search on the part number, and as they are not that expensive, I will purchase a set now and at least have them on hand, as they say, just in case. Might also pick up a set of injectors at the same time, again JIC.