Running The Tractor In A Closed Space

npalen · Jul 1, 2018

Wondering if any of you fellas run an exhaust hose out the door when working on your tractor in a closed space?
My garage workspace stays about 80F degrees even when 100 degrees outdoors and would like to keep the doors closed so wondering about exhausting outside. I also have a large exhaust fan that can pull cool air from the house thru the garage and exhaust outdoors.
I realize that blow-by could be an issue especially on an older engine. I'm sure this question will alert the safety police and that's okay. I'm all in favor of safety.

TheMan419 · Jul 1, 2018

Just keep a carbon monoxide sensor near by once you get all set up. They do this in auto mechanic garages all the time.

Jstpssng · Jul 1, 2018

npalen said:
Wondering if any of you fellas run an exhaust hose out the door when working on your tractor in a closed space?
My garage workspace stays about 80F degrees even when 100 degrees outdoors and would like to keep the doors closed so wondering about exhausting outside. I also have a large exhaust fan that can pull cool air from the house thru the garage and exhaust outdoors.
I realize that blow-by could be an issue especially on an older engine. I'm sure this question will alert the safety police and that's okay. I'm all in favor of safety.

I got CO poisoning years ago while working in an apple storage building with a forklift running and the doors closed. And again last year at the company camp with the wind blowing the generator fumes in all night. I won't even take the chance now.

ericm979 · Jul 1, 2018

CO poisoning is bad but even if you don't feel the effects from the CO diesel exhaust has a lot of other stuff that's bad for you, just on a longer term basis.

I see a lot of city fire houses have exhaust fans with large diameter hoses inside. They can be fitted to the exhaust outlet so the exhaust gasses are sucked out of the building.
The choice: 3 systems to remove engine exhaust Fire Station Exhaust Systems | Fire Truck Exhaust Removal System

You could rig up something similar. I've made low buck exhaust systems like that for a home paint booth. If you have a house attached to the garage the tractor is in you'll definitely want that exhaust fan running so the house does not get fumes. That was a problem with my paint booth. Probably needed a larger fan.

Pete O · Jul 2, 2018

Please don't take the chance with the machine running in a closed space; there have been many deaths caused this way. CO poisoning does not have one constant pathway, i.e. it can have different sequence of symptoms between individuals, and the first thing you may know is when your wife finds your corpse after you don't come in for dinner. Next thing is when someone finds your wife's corpse after she comes to your assistance.
One of the buildings that I work from is a recently-disused fire station. The exhaust extraction system in the roof is a serious affair, an inverted funnel on the end of a 6-inch hose that can be lowered directly onto the truck exhaust and is coupled to a huge fan system that is ducted well away from the building. Even then, I don't think trucks would be permitted to be kept running with both the doors down.