How Long ...........??

[NATTYBUMPO]

.. do you warm up a diesel CUT before putting it to work in the winter??

We have K GL3010 which does winter duty FEL/snowblower chores. Its stored in the pole barn (unheated) and usually has an engine block heater plugged in if we know a big storm is on the way.

I usually run it about 10 minutes at 1500RPM but wonder if thats enough??
Thanks.

Natty B.

 

[RoyJackson]

If your tractor has a temperature gage, just idle long enough (1500 RPM is good) for the needle to get to your normal operating temperature. For my Deere 790, 10 minutes is more then adequate.
If I need to move quicker, I'll idle for about 5 minutes, then operate the tractor with minimal load until fully warmed up. I'll give the hydraulics a no load work out as well.

Since your Kubota has a block heater, a 5 minute warm up should be quite adequate.

So, how's the weather in Traverse City? I looked into a job there (Tower Automotive) a few years ago.

 

[RobJ]

With a block plugged in...you are ready to go in minutes. Besides the way to heat up a diesel is to put some load on it. A little FEL work isn't to much load, anything more and you are just wasting diesel...IMO.

 

[jbrumberg]

NATTYBUMPO:

I have a TC29DA with an engine block heater. I will plug the heater in for a couple of hours before anticipated use when temperatures go below 32. The colder it is the longer I run the heater. Once I start the tractor I let it idle for 5 minutes @ 1500 RPM's before starting to work the tractor. Jay

 

[chrisjbell]

I usually warm mine up for about 5 minutes, although where I live we don't have any need for block heaters. I used to let it warm longer, but at work we have a bunch of diesel machines (tractors and big mowers) and those don't get warmed at all. Just fired up and run - and most of them have thousands of hours on them.

But I treat mine a bit more gently, since it is mine ;-)...

 

[NATTYBUMPO]

Thanks for the replys, guys. We were getting things re-arranged in the pole barn today getting ready for winter Up North. And just got to musing re my query.

Roy, TC is booming. Lots of new folks moving here from all over for the lifestyle here. We had a little October Surprise in the form of a few inches of snow this week- but nothing like BUFFALO-YIKES!
But as you probably know, the auto business is not in good shape- either with the Big Three downstate or their suppliers up here. Delphi, Visteon, et al are all in dire straits. Proally a good thing ya didnt take a job with Tower.

NB

 

[john_bud]

Natty,

Is that Kubota a gear unit or HST? Your 5-10 minutes with block heater are ok for the engine, but if it's an HST, you should plan on 20 minutes at 0F. 15 minutes at 15F. 10 minutes at 20F. Below 0F, 20-30 minutes, the first 10 minutes with the clutch dogged down.

In all cases you want the engine speed to be moderate. When putting it away, I usually run the engine at exactly 1600 rpm then shut it off. Then when starting, I don't have to worry about where to put the throttle. At low temperatures, the rpms will be down around 12-1400 cold and then come up to 15-1600 as it warms up. I try not to move the tractor until the rpms have come up to 1400 (150-200 less than the hot shut off speed). It's probably overkill, but those transmissions are spendy to fix!

TIP: ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS, check under the tractor when you un-dog the clutch and look behind you for an oil slik during the first 10 minutes of cold weather operation. Thick oil can blow out the HST filter. I havn't blown out the latest rev of the filters but have blown out 2 prior revs a total of 3 times. Once blown, you HAVE to put on a new filter or it will continue to leak. They are the expen$ive ones, too.

jb L3410 HST

 

[LoneCowboy]

I always fire it up and wait til it's bubbling along happily.
That means oil is moving and it's not going to stall.
Done many many many midnight snow runs with skidsteers and that's what we did.
10 minutes is probably too long, but depends on how cold it is. It has been so cold that once was trenching and started teh trencher in the garage, loaded it and kept it running while we took it out to the job site. IT never shut down that day. Seemed to work.

 

[Soundguy]

I can't help but think the 15m is more than fine.. however check your owners manual for info. My NH tractor has a decal on the dash. Clearly states to idle the tractor for 5m before using at over half throttle, in order to let components warm up. Also states to idle for 1 minute after working at full throttle, to allow some components to cool down.

Soundguy

.. do you warm up a diesel CUT before putting it to work in the winter??

We have K GL3010 which does winter duty FEL/snowblower chores. Its stored in the pole barn (unheated) and usually has an engine block heater plugged in if we know a big storm is on the way.

I usually run it about 10 minutes at 1500RPM but wonder if thats enough??
Thanks.

Natty B.

 

[Doc_Bob]

Also states to idle for 1 minute after working at full throttle, to allow some components to cool down.

Soundguy

With the Turbo on my NH TN70, I am supposed to wait 3 minutes at idle.
Bob