Cold engine starting

[adirondacker]

Is there any sort of engine heater that I can install on a 24 HP Briggs and Stratton twin. Anything like inserting in to dipstick tube or magnetic. Anybody out there have something they have used with experience.
Thanks

[D6c]

Don't know of anything like an oil heater but might try a torpedo heater pointed at it for a while.

[47sawdust]

Assuming you have electricity. Magnetic pan heater or a quartz work light ( the kind that puts out heat).
I have used the latter with good success.

[firefighter ontheside]

Assuming you have electricity. Magnetic pan heater or a quartz work light ( the kind that puts out heat).
I have used the latter with good success.

I may have to do that with my tractor tomorrow so I can plow the driveway.  My glow plugs do not work.  It will start fairly well at about 20 deg, but when its this cold, I think I"m gonna need some help.

[Percy]

My first mill(LT40) had a 35hp Wisconsin gas motor....Hard starting cold blooded....I bought 10 feet of exhaust flexpipe at muffler shop and would slip one end over the idling pickup exhaust pipe and the other end at the oil pan of the Wisconsin. Sit in pickup drinking coffee and listening to music for mabey 15 miniutes...Worked well...Cant do it indoors without dying...other than that, it worked well.

[farmfromkansas]

I have a tractor that has glow plugs, and no block heater.  It is stored in a 4000 sf steel building, and what I do when it is cold like now, is put my 75000 btu diesel space heater in front of the tractor, plug it in and let the heat flow up under the tractor.  Warms not only the engine, but the drive line as well, with a little benefit to warming the fuel tank. 

[Tom the Sawyer]

I bought this at least 25 years ago, when I needed to get an 8N started to clear snow.  Now that I am retired, I don't use it very often since I prefer to stay inside when it gets this cold (0 degrees today).  When I have had to use it, it works very well.  


 

[Resonator]

When I was searching online I saw a heater pad that wraps around the oil filter, never tried it, but might work. Otherwise I've used propane or kerosene heaters under engines with a tarp tent over it to preheat before starting. Always keep the flame far enough away to not burn anything, and I'd keep an eye on it too.

[firefighter ontheside]

 @Tom the Sawyer I just searched and found the same heat magnet on Amazon for $60.  That would probably do just fine for me if I got it.  Lots of reviews complained that it was only heating the oil pan to 26deg.  My tractor will start just fine at 26deg.  I don't know what that guy expected, but all I need to do is start the thing.

[sawguy21]

Throw a tarp over the engine and duct vehicle exhaust heat under it then go have coffee. If using a propane or diesel tiger torch a piece of stve pipe with a 90 elbow works well. Don't stick the torch under the engine or bad things will happen.

[Tom the Sawyer]

FFOTS,  mine gets very hot, to the point that you have to be careful with it when you remove it from the pan/tank.  Seems odd that more than one would have come up with 26 degrees, that means it wouldn't even defrost the pan, much less warm the oil.  Mine gets hot and works, perhaps they meant 26C.

[offrink]

I use an oil pan heater for my '54 farmall cub. I put on a battery maintainer to keep it warm and topped off. At 6 volts and 5*f it started on the third rotation. Best plow tractor ever because it's light in the front (600 lbs total) but heavy in the back with double wheel weights, loaded tires, chains, the machine and me (2000+ on the back end). 

The sawmill is diesel an I run a buddy heater under the cover while I get out my tools and set up for sawing. Let the glow plugs go until the light turns off and it starts well. Cougars and sputters and smokes for 20-30 seconds like a diesel does and then levels out and purrs. 

[thecfarm]

I use a magnetic heater on my wood splitter. I have some felt I put over the top to keep the heat in. A moving blanket would work too. When it's cold out -10, I put a halogen light under the truck and some of that felt over the hood. Both of these ideas make them start up like summer time temps.

[Southside]

I can recall a guy placing a bucket of red hot coals either under, on into the engine bay of his skidder to get it warmed up enough to start in brutal cold.  Of course this same gent once tossed a can of kerosene and gas mix down his chimney to clean out the cresote --- which it did --- but.....

[Dana Stanley]

I have used the 200w magnetic heater on my kabota and use it on the filter of the fuel oil tank for my work shop furnace , when it gets into the low teens. Never gels or freezes with that on it. I an sure it would keep a small motor warm. Plug  it in 10 hours or so before you need it.

[Remle]

Assuming you have electricity. Magnetic pan heater or a quartz work light ( the kind that puts out heat).
I have used the latter with good success.

I may have to do that with my tractor tomorrow so I can plow the driveway.  My glow plugs do not work.  It will start fairly well at about 20 deg, but when its this cold, I think I"m gonna need some help.

I have an older 4 wheel drive Jimna tractor, 2 cylinder diesel, it does not have glow plugs. So i installed a coolant heater in the bottom hose to the radiator, within a couple of hours after turning it on it starts all most instantly . You could even put it on a timer if you are going to use the tractor on a regular basis.. of course you should fix the glow plugs to.

[richhiway]

On a air cooled engine warming the oil could help it turn over easier but won't warm the cyls much. If you use a good quality full synthetic oil like 0W-30 that would be unnecessary. If it is turning a hydraulic pump you need to have winter grade oil and warm that up also as it puts a heavy load on the starter.
A little shot of starting fluid could help in very low temps also. 

As above put a tarp over it and warm it with a heat source.

[farmfromkansas]

A neighbor was telling me the other day about an old neighbor of his, was a real tight wad, and did not want to build any sheds, because of property tax, and the guy would just gather up a bunch of sticks, and build a little fire under his diesel tractor, sitting outside, so he could get it started up.  Am sure he stayed close by to keep the fire from getting out of control.

[mike_belben]

Man up. 

[Walnut Beast]

NICE 👍 👍

[S-M]

Mabey something like this? Sorry can't figure how to post a photo                            https://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/kat-s-90-watt-120v-dipstick-style-oil-heater/0000000047516?Ntt=engine%20heater

[sawguy21]

That is fine as long as power is available. @mike_belben more than one piece of equipment has gone down doing that!

[Corley5]

I've used a hair dryer to heat the carb on Honda GX670s.  While heating the carb the generator running the hair dryer had it's exhaust blowing on the 5hp Honda.  Makes all the difference    Machines are now under a roof with electricity and a Milwaukee heat gun has replaced the hair dryer.  Care is needed not to melt plastic ;) ;D  Best to wait out the cold 

[Runningalucas]

I've got a couple of those magnetic heaters; they work well, but are bulky.  My dad got me on "KAT's" silicone stick on heaters.  They come in different dimensional sizes, as well as wattage choices.  They're flat overall, so can go between skid plate, and such with ease. 

I've got them on most of the things I run, and they last; we've had one on a Suzuki Samarui for about a decade, and never came off, and still heats well; it's accidentally been left on many a long night, and day.  

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/b/kat-s-by-five-star-4040/accessories-16449/winter-accessories-16523/engine-heater---block---universal-17928/35028326caa3/kat-s-by-five-star-50-watt-hot-pad-heater/24050/4398124?q=Kat%27s+atv+pan+heater&pos=1

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/b/kat-s-by-five-star-4040/accessories-16449/winter-accessories-16523/engine-heater---block---universal-17928/35028326caa3/kat-s-by-five-star-75-watt-hot-pad-heater/24075a/4398125?q=Kat%27s+atv+pan+heater&pos=2

A word of caution, in reading on the use of these, even in the most extreme climates they recommend not leaving them on for more than 4 hours; there's no reason for more.  Usually in my case, just pluggin in for a little over an hour, usually around 28 degrees, and stuff will fire right up.

If you leave it on for too long, it'll be hot on the bottom, and cold up in your valve train; thus creating a path for condensation on the upper.

[doc henderson]

on a college ski trip to Colorado with diesel vans, the physics professor/adult on the trip, went to the store and got a bag of charcoal and 3 aluminum foil pans, got them lit, and placed them under the engines, with a blanket on the hoods.  I was not on the trip.