Winter Tractor Tips – How Do You Handle Snow, Storage, and Maintenance?

[Slowpoke Slim]

The high today is supposed to be +8 F. And we don't consider this "winter" yet. We regularly see temps that stay -30 F and below sometimes for a month or more straight. That's with none of this lying @zz "wind chill" garbage. That's ambient air temps.

My tractor sits in an unheated steel building "the shed" all year. I run synthetic engine oil, hydro oil and front diff oil. Once it starts getting down to around 0 F, I start plugging in my tractor to it's timer. I have it set to come on at 5am, and turn off at 10 or 11am. It stays plugged in for the duration of winter, so that it's ready if I need it. I have a block heater, an oil pan heater and a hydro sump heater all tied to that timer with a 3 way pig tail that stays lashed to my front loader mast.

The tractor will start without being plugged in with one cycle of the glow plugs, even at -40 F. But it has to sit and warm up for 20-30 minutes before I can use it, and I really don't like doing that unless I have no choice (for instance if we got "pounded" with snow while I was at work and I need to clear the driveway when I get home - so timer has been off all day).

But if it's been able to run on the timer for at least 30 min to an hour, I can start it up and move it within a few minutes. Everything works, hydro, hydraulics run just fine.

Since my tractor sits in an unheated building, nothing sticks when I'm moving snow. The blower, or blade and the bucket are already colder than the snow so it doesn't stick.

I just cleared snow yesterday for the first time this year. When I was done I plugged the timer in for the first time this year.

 

[grsthegreat]

The high today is supposed to be +8 F. And we don't consider this "winter" yet. We regularly see temps that stay -30 F and below sometimes for a month or more straight. That's with none of this lying @zz "wind chill" garbage. That's ambient air temps.

My tractor sits in an unheated steel building "the shed" all year. I run synthetic engine oil, hydro oil and front diff oil. Once it starts getting down to around 0 F, I start plugging in my tractor to it's timer. I have it set to come on at 5am, and turn off at 10 or 11am. It stays plugged in for the duration of winter, so that it's ready if I need it. I have a block heater, an oil pan heater and a hydro sump heater all tied to that timer with a 3 way pig tail that stays lashed to my front loader mast.

The tractor will start without being plugged in with one cycle of the glow plugs, even at -40 F. But it has to sit and warm up for 20-30 minutes before I can use it, and I really don't like doing that unless I have no choice (for instance if we got "pounded" with snow while I was at work and I need to clear the driveway when I get home - so timer has been off all day).

But if it's been able to run on the timer for at least 30 min to an hour, I can start it up and move it within a few minutes. Everything works, hydro, hydraulics run just fine.

Since my tractor sits in an unheated building, nothing sticks when I'm moving snow. The blower, or blade and the bucket are already colder than the snow so it doesn't stick.

I just cleared snow yesterday for the first time this year. When I was done I plugged the timer in for the first time this year.

Naaa… you can have those cold temps. I lived in northern Montana for a few years, and the cold drove me out. -60°F is for Eskimos. At least here in North Idaho our winters are cold (22° today), but there not brutal.