I ran in 0 temps a while back only because I was forced to. Usually set a lower limit at 25. Having lived in the past in North Alaska have seen too much damage to machines to run mine in real cold stuff. I know there you will see quite a few trucks and cars with transmission replacements and the vehicle is not even that old. A pro tranny mechanic told me if it's O he runs his pickup around the block slow before he takes it out on the road.
Whats the coldest temps outside you will run your Kubota?
- Thread starter Trev450r
- Start date
Anything can happen to machines when it is that cold. I know I used to leave guns outside the cabin in AK as condensation when brought outside to hunt never was a good idea for reliability even if using powered graphite instead of gun oil, no matter how light a coat.
I normally don't use it when it gets that cold but i had to quickly move some stuff around. I also figured that was going to happen in those temperatures
May be cold up there but some pretty unbelievable views!
Icefields Parkway - very early AM
Icefields Parkway - very early AM
Most beautiful park in North America. Bannf-Jasper. Alberta, Canada
You will pay eventually!!!
The operator is the limiting factor on my open station machine. I have winter clothes that keep me warm down to 25* F with no wind.
Ha! Never gets much below -10 (for very short stretches) here anyways. -40 is not fit for man, beast or machine.
Did you mean MINUS 25°?
+25° is borderline “shorts and t-shirt” weather here! Not REALLY but close!
bmblank
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-40° is pretty harsh. But a few years ago we had quite the stretch of -20° and... Well, you do what you gotta do. What, am I just not going to go to work for a few weeks? That's not exactly an option, unfortunately. Just bundle up and try to make it quick.
fried1765
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mcmxi
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North Idaho Wolfman
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I don't think the temp has ever been a factor on use or no use.
If I need it I use it, may take a little longer to get it going, but I do.
If I need it I use it, may take a little longer to get it going, but I do.
There is a story in Fairbanks Alaska about a guy who went to start his truck at -40 F or lower and never did a warm up. When he let up the manual trans clutch it snaped the drive shaft in the trans in two. Metal gets hard and brittle in really cold weather.
mcmxi
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Without knowing more it's purely conjecture to make such a connection. Carbon steels typically used in engines and transmissions are more than good down to -100C (-150F). Additionally, how do you warm up the oil in a manual transmission other than through conduction, radiation and convection from heat generated from the engine?
With the tranny in neutral and the clutch out the main shaft would stir up the tranny fluid. Some.
With my old Farmall M at extremely low temps I would have to start it in neutral, with the clutch in. Then hold the clutch in for 3-6 minutes before letting the clutch out. Letting out too soon would bog or even stall the engine. After another while I could engage the PTO (which drove the pump for the Farmhand loader) and let that stir for awhile before trying to lift the loader. Since the loader had to be lifted to move the tractor (and I had a dog-food bag strapped across the grill), the engine itself would be plenty warm by then.
I often wouldn't open the barn until I was sure it would start, and then worried it wouldn't start twice, so I ended up sitting in the closed up barn holding the clutch in for the first part, wondering if this would be the time I asphyxiated myself and how stupid my friends would think I was if I did.
My JD 3020 was basically a hydraulic pump on wheels. I installed a destoker so I could start it w/out the starter having to stir the fluid. I'd warm it up a bit and then unscrew that stop screw (which was right next to the fan. I won't tell you whether I was smart enough to do turn the engine off first...)
Yep, I've got an open station tractor and I consider the wear and tear on the equipment before my own aching bod. The other night I got home and the road grader had plowed in my mailbox. The tractor was not plugged in and I had a few more minutes of dusk. I hand shoveled about two loader buckets of snow rather than start the tractor and do it the easy way with lights.
mcmxi
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But that's not going to do a whole lot in warming up transmission fluid. My first Super Duty was an F350 7.3L Crew Cab dually with a 6-speed ZF transmission and I installed a temp sender into the case and that trans barely got warm, and that was in Hawaii.
