Wintertime hydraulics not working and related maintenance question

[Hman0217]

Did you use UDT or UDT2?

It sounds like the first thing to do is get the tractor in a warm place (aka shop), get it thawed out by running the tractor for a while and see if things start moving. If there is a lot of water in the system, this is not ideal, so I would only do it enough to test. For larger hydraulic systems, I would pull a sample and have it tested for % water. Based on testing after things warm up, yours is likely small enough to just go ahead and fully drain and reservice with New or fluid and filter. Yes, if it was my tractor I would do a flush with a cheaper hydraulic fluid that meets the API first. Definitely a 'pay now or pay mor later' scenario.

No offense intended, but it astonishes me how many small tractor owners try to do things on the cheap then get upset when things go sideways.

No offense taken. And I did use udt2. The cheap stuff would just be for the flush

 

[Hman0217]

It takes a long time to thaw out any ice inside a tractor. A few hours at 35 degrees is not going to be enough to completely thaw out all the inside of your tractor and get it all drained out properly.

That's reasonable. I was thinking I would supplement that by blowing heat on it but actually they moved the forecast down again and I don't see any thaw happening in the next two weeks. (This is more like what our winters uses to be once upon a time and it's strangely refreshing.)

Does anybody see any issues in just leaving this parked until it thaws out? I can't imagine we won't have a break in the cold in the next month or so.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

...I don't have a warm garage but Sunday it's supposed to hit 35. Tomorrow I'm getting fluid and extra filters and...

I'm in Wisconsin where some days -10F is the high...

1. Get 12-mil vapor barrier plastic at the home store, or at least a big plastic tarp that covers the whole tractor with room to spare. Plastic lets light in, tarps last longer.
2. Get a milkroom space heater or two (on-sale during Summer is the best time to buy them, they're durable steel and generally cheap).
3. Get a 12-gauge extension cord long enough to go from a 15-amp outdoor outlet or indoor if you have to, though preferably two 20-amp circuits.
4. Get some bricks or rocks or round steel rods, or... just something to hold the plastic (or tarp) down.
5. Put the ROPS up and drape the tarp over the ROPS. Secure it to the ground to make it "air tight."
6. Point the space heater(s) so they swirl air somewhat under but more "around" the tractor. This avoids hot-spots in the "tractor tent." Turn on the space heaters.
7. Plan to take what you need inside the "tent" quickly, because getting in/out sucks.
8. You might need a bit of framing for convenience, poplar branches are strong, light, and easily tied together with parachute cord. 2"x3"s are used between sheets of steel and given away for free at steel service centers.

There are ways of making this work where there's not electricity, but you need clear plastic instead of a tarp to make a tent, and on the windblown side put a "solar blanket" inside the plastic so it doesn't blow off. Then build a fire on the other side with just the plastic about 6-8' away from the "tent." The fire radiates heat into the tent, the solar blanket reflects the heat on the windy side so the radiant heat isn't "lost," and the wind keeps the fire from blowing onto the plastic (hopefully, sometimes the wind direction changes and you're screwed).

Generally someone who's good at this can sometimes get the temperature up to about 85°F inside if it's 15F outside (within an hour), but at 0°F things are a lot harder to get right--however 65F is still really nice. The humidity builds up though, so there's no "free lunch."