B 2650 Block Heater

[pauly]

I recently purchased a B2650, a great machine.
Anyway I did not get a block heater. Now I am having some remorse. It does get cold here,Southern Wisconsin.
How hard is it to install an OEM block heater?
Thanks
Pauly

 

[zbhover]

On my b2620 it was a very easy job. See my post at: http://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16175

 

[Stubbyie]

Hey, ZBHover:

Tell us about that ORANGE thing you're driving in your member identification block to the left of the text box.

Looks interesting.

But does seem to be missing the front loader.

And tires! R1, R4, or R-zero?

-Stubbyie

 

[Stubbyie]

Pauly:

I get great service out of a Kats by 5 Star Mfg lower radiator hose heater.

Run several of the things in different pieces of eqpt and trucks.

Had one fail years ago and when called they kicked out a new one same day.

If you've got the room to install it, it's the way to go.

Stay with Kats and their red plastic-covered 'T'; some parts houses cross Kats to another brand that looks like a silver baseball with two short pipes sticking out. It's a lower wattage heat output and larger physical size (difficult to fit). The Kats 'T' was a simple install.

On the Kubotas it was simpler to access the lower radiator hose than to get up to the block through all the jungle.

35-hp range requires 2-hrs heating (use a timer if needed) at 0-deg F and they'll fire off with just a click of the glow plugs as I turn the key.

Consider also a Schumacher or equal (not HF) battery maintainer. Really makes a difference---warm fully charged battery and warm engine and you're ready to go at a moment's notice.

Please post back your continuing experiences so we may all learn.

 

[BAP]

You are better off with a block heater so you are putting the heat where you need, in the block. Radiator hose heaters are fine if you have no other choice, but in the block heaters are more efficient.

 

[pauly]

I went ahead and bought the block heater.
ZB, your thread and photos helped with my decision. Thanks for posting.
Thanks to everyone that replyed.

 

[zbhover]

Here is a picture with some r4's, but no fel

Those would be a couple hovercrafts we've built, unfortunately they've been setting for a couple years and need some work, but I'm hoping to get the small one working this winter so I can play in the snow with it a bit.

If you don't know much about hovercrafts, the black "tube" around the bottom is the skirt. There is a fan which blows air under the hovercraft, and some of it inflates this skirt to make a seal with the ground, the rest of the air is dump inside the skirt creating a cushion of air that the hovercraft floats on, pretty much eliminating all the friction with the ground. Then you usually have a prop to push it, rudders to steer it.

I got into building them from plans from Universal Hovercraft (http://www.hovercraft.com) with my dad when I was in high school. We built a small 10hp single person hovercraft, then a large subaru powered 6 person hovercraft that would do 70mph or so, and you could also build wings for it and fly it (we were never that brave).

We ended up selling that larger hovercraft for a nice chunk of change and tried to start up a hovercraft business. We built the two red hovers as prototypes. I designed every part of them (well minus the engine), and we built both of them, hopping to one day sell plans and maybe kits. In the mean time I sold parts and components (along with woodworked) to work my way through college, but then I got a "real" job, married, etc and life got in the way and we never got any further than that. Then the recession took a big hit on the hobby and we stopped selling parts, and didn't have the money to hover for a while, then we didn't have the time....... Now they need some work to get them going again.....

The larger one has a 27hp engine to push it and a 10hp to lift it and will do about 55mph, and the smaller one has a single 14hp engine with a direct drive lift fan, and belt driven thrust prop, I built the fan and prop on this one our of foam and glass to save some weight.....

You can see more pictures and info at my website: http://www.zbcreations.com/

Sorry for taking over your post pauly, but I'm glad my block heater post helped you out!

Hey, ZBHover:

Tell us about that ORANGE thing you're driving in your member identification block to the left of the text box.

Looks interesting.

But does seem to be missing the front loader.

And tires! R1, R4, or R-zero?

-Stubbyie