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Do you plug your diesel in?

B

BANDITFARMER

Well-known Member
An earler post got me to wondering how many of you guys plug your diesel tractors and pick up trucks in during the winter for easer start ups. My Olivers dont like to start in the winter unless there pluged in overnite and my Powerstrock runs better if its pluged in at nite. It will start really good cold just takes awhile to warm up and run right so it better to plug it in at nite plus it uses a lot more fuel when its started cold. So do you plug yours in? Bandit
 
When it gets into the teens I will plug my truck in.I don't run my diesel tractor in the winter.It does have a block heater just in case I need it.

Vito
 
If it is cold I plug my tractor in. 2000 watt tank heater doesn't take too long and it will fire. If I need it right away, stove pipe with the weed burner cranking out the btu's and it will start and run nice.
Bud
 
My little 1720 NH does nothave a heater, it will start down to around zero.

My Ford 5000 and 7700 fire right up after being plugged in an hour, can get them running in 1/2 hour if it"s above zero. An hour gets the heads warm to the touch.

The TW-20 I don"t run much in winter, he needs a little bit longer and is a little colder tractor, but should be going in 2 hours.

I would only see plugging in for 8-10 hours as a waste of electricity "here". Of course if I had a diesel pickup and needed to roll iwth it in the wee hours of the morning.... But I"d look to a timer if that was a normal thing for me.

My brother in law plugged his pickup in and left it plugged in for 34 days parked outside. "Just in case", he never started it as he had other vehicles. My sister was not happy with the electric bill that month.....

Paul
 
Allis 185 and 200 get plugged in below 15C(60F) because of their old worn out cold blooded on a good day 301. The Kubota gets plugged in sometimes above -5 and always gets plugged in below -5. It will still start, but it's doing it no good to start it that cold.
 
Anything below +10F for the JD4600. I understand they will start well below 0F without any heat but I don't feel it's good for them. On our Chevy truck it doesn't do any good to plug it in unless it's below 0, there is a thermostat in the cord. I feel its cheaper to warm them up with electricity than fuel.
 
I plug mine in about 11.30pm after the news gose off and gets unpluged about 6.30am and costs me about $46 a month to do this. I figuar its cheeper than an extra gallon a day at $4.10 a gallon or $123 a month. So why not plug it in, Its there for a reason so I use it. Bandit
 
Have a MF 180, and a GMC 6.2 diesel. Both benefit greatly when it gets down to mid 20's or lower. I don't even know if they will go on their own at those temperatures. Have block heaters on both, and keep a battery trickle charger on both. Nothing helps a cold tired diesel as much as a fully charged battery. Neither of them sees regular use in the winter, so I can't count on residual heat from "running yesterday." A hour or more on each heater will help tremendously. MF doesn't have glow plugs, and the GMC only has 5 active glow plugs. Tried to change the bad ones, only to have them break off at the heads, leaving plug in the block with no chance of getting them out without the services of a machine shop.
 
I agree! Batteries, cables and starters aint cheep to replace anymore. I had to replace the starter on my 7.3 a month ago, $170 was bad enough but laying on the driveway in the snow and wind was worse. Starters seam to allways go out when it snowing and cold or raining cats and dogs in a parking lot! It never fails! Bandit
 
Been having to plug in my 85 Ford 6.9. Pretty sure it's got a few bad glow plugs. The tractors start alright without plugging them in.
 
I just hate using ether on anything. So everything I own has a heater on it, even Mrs Animals car. They start like it is July and you have heat at the heater in minutes.
 

180 and 1105 are on timers, the heaters run 5am to 8am and 2pm to 5pm so they are ready to run when I want to chore and I don't have to worry about fires and wasted energy.
 
never plugged in my 2002 powerstroke, i always ran synthetic 15-50 Mobil-1 in it during the winter months. even when we left it parked for a week while snowmobiling in Canada and it was 20 degrees below zeroF it started right up after cycling the glow plugs a couple of times. Chuck
 
I bought a magnet heater that sticks right to the oil pan. A few hours later and the little diesel starts right up, most of the time.
 
Growing up here with no garage for my car I told myself, "Self, if you ever buy a home here it will have a large heated garage". And true to my word, the first building on my new place was a 40x60 heated insulated running water shop.
So nothing gets plugged in It's at 40 degrees or warmer at all times.
 
A warm engine burns less fuel and wears less on engine components which more than offsets electric costs uless you have several pluged up 24/7 and only use some once a month. Having cab heat right-a-way is just the cherry on top.
I have 2 jackets w/8 20ga conductors in each jacket buried from house to shop I use to control several items in shop including some 120v outlets where block heaters are plugged in. Most circuits controled by timer are hooked to an irigation timer in mudroom. Sure is handy not leaving the house to turn a block heater on unexpectedly at 9pm when I relize the need for next morning and I'm in my pjs ready for bed. Or conversly,cancelling a scedualed heat cycle if need arrises.
Along with shop air compressor,fridge and a couple of welcome mats for uninvited late night guests,the outlets have red piolit lights in case I am wondering about status while in shop.
 
I try to plan ahead I do must of my feeding chores with the skid loader I try to plug it in a couple hours before I need it. We plug what ever trucks or tractors we need the next a.m. in just before bed.Everything will start with out the heater but the old 4020 but I don't like to wait on stuff to warm up and it's just better for them I think.
 
Yes if it's below 30 degrees or so. The loader tractor (1086)will start cold at 15 degrees with about five seconds of cranking if it's in the shed but there's nothing better than having it pop right off and warm up fast. I've only had the starter out once in 16,000 hours and it was to replace the brushes and drive. Nuff said. Jim
 
1994 Ford f250 7.3(not powerstroke)gets plugged in every morning during winter even with all good glow plugs.It cranks SOOOO much easier and the heater is ready when I get in to go.
 
My daily user chore tractor, a kubota, I just use the preheater. My Massey 231 will start with just the pre-heater too. But I added a radiator heater on the Massey which I plug in a couple hours before use just to make it a little easier on it. My other kubota I don't use in the winter but it would start good too with just the pre-heater. I have had a couple of other kubotas that would always start good in the winter too. The funny thing about them kubotas though I have to pre-heat them in the summer too. The perkins in the Massey starts good without the pre-heater above about 35 degrees.
 
i do too, it will start without it, but plugged in, it starts imeaditly and much easier, which will prolong battery life and the starters life as well as even a semi warm engine will circulate the oil faster as its the same temp as the engine
 
A week or so ago it was down in the teens and the neighbor who had just bought a powerstroke last fall knocked on the door one morning because his truck would not start. I was ready to leave myself and told him come on lets go get it started. Went out to my truck unpluged it got in hit the key and it started right up. He said you have it running allready? No thats why I plug it in. Took about 15 min to recharge his batteries enough to get it started with a jump. I told him plug it in tonight when you get home and you wont have any more problems with starting it. He stoped by last light and said that he will be keeping it pluged in from now on and it sure runs better in the mornings now and using less fuel. I told him they put it on there for a reason, Us it. He is a city slicker that pulls a boat. Bandit
 
Definitely plug in, even the gas burners. They all start and run far better with a little pre heating. The old diesels simply will not start without pre heating. I found that out yesterday at 30 degrees. The Super 90 perkins just cranked over without firing. Had to put the battery booster on to get it going. Normally it gets an hour or two with the 1500 watt coolant heater and starts on the first turn of the starter. I know some like ether starting fluid but I'm not comfortable with it. Couple hours of electricity is well worth it.
Even the old gas engine Cockshutts need it. Without pre heating the carburetor will ice up a few minutes after starting. Never a problem as long as I have pre heated it with the coolant heater .
 
Mt Freightliner gets plugged in any time I know I've got to head out the next morning. I've started it without plugging in down to about 37 degrees, but that takes a hit, or two, of the ether start button to get her going that way. While I know that ether, properly supplied, doesn't hurt it, I still much preffer having it warmed and starting that way when possible.
 
Yup, no plug in on my Kubota, starts on the glowplugs down to -35 C so far. Have to let it run for a while to warm up the hydraulic fluid though at that temp.
 
(quoted from post at 20:30:04 03/03/13) We hadda plug the Mack in, that thing wouldn't start in the middle of July in Florida :)
Click to expand...
I believe anything you say about Macks and admit I can still learn a thing or two. Friend parked his Mack in the peanut field to be loaded. We finished that field and moved down the road. The old Mack refused to start up so I called him. First thing he said was "did you check the coolant"? Yea right! I thought he was pulling my chain. After he convinced me he was serious,I poured 2 gallons of elc in it and it busted right off. Said it had been doing that for quite a while when coolant was low.
 
JD 2950 gets plugged in when it's below 0F
JD 4020 gets plugged in when it's below 30F
Chevy 6.5L gets plugged in when it's 60F and still probably won't start (LOL).
 
I only have one diesel, a DB990. Below 20F I usually have to plug it in for about 2 hours. I also don't use ether. The DB has a good sized plug in the intake where an ether starter system is supposed to go. I use an electric hot air gun. Fill the intake with HOT air and it starts right up. On real cold days I also use the hot air to warm the filters, injector lines and fuel pump just to make things easier.

The sounds that engine makes on ether scare the crap out of me. :shock:
 
JD 2130 and 2550 get plugged in at 32 degrees for about 15 min. and at -30 get plugged in for 2 to 3 hours. I use 1500 watt recirculating heaters on them. The pickups, both gas get plugged in overnight at about 0. At -20 they won't go for sure. I also use 0w40 in my tractors for easy starting.
 
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