Cold weather causing me equipment woes

Ive been doing this set up forever on my boats so they dont freeze but dont want to draw down my house batteries and have the bilge pumps quit while Im away foom the dock. Im too frugal to spend cash for poles and wires for tree trucks to stay warm. Id never tie a solar setup directly to the wiring of any equipment. I use it as a stand alone setup. Think 3 foot by three foot(or better)solar panel with a red and a black 12v lead clamped to a few seriesed batteries sitting in the snow if you want then hooked to a 12v block heater. If it fails then do what your doing now. I also use a solar setup to recharge an electric pump rig for one of my sprayers. Gets the job done and my clients love the "Solar Sprayer".
 
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I've brought the 600tx home and plugged it in overnight. I can brush the snow off of it and it starts right up. I just wish it would start cold like the other motors I have. Looks like I might have to invest in a gas generator or something to allow myself to heat up the equip first.

Also, does anyone use a heater on the hydraulic tank for the boom truck? Mine is pretty sluggish until the oil gets pumped and warmed up for a bit. I am a little afraid that if I don't warm oil first the seals could blow.

Thanks for the advice my cold weather friends.

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I bet you have a bad glow plug on the Kubota. I have the 20 hp and it always starts, even without plugging it in. Sometimes I bump the ignition 2 or 3 times before I turn the motor over.
Give that a shot.
 
So I called the local Webasto dealer like Classic suggested. They had a Davey chipper in the shop at the time installing a fluid heater on it. Quoted me $1075 for the Webasto unit. Said they suggested an Espar heater instead. A little smaller and retails for around $875. These things seem like a decent option.
 
The only problem with those units is they draw a lot of power, they're designed for a tractor trailer with 4 or more batteries, a single battery on a chipper may not start the engine after a cold night, which is why I suggested a stand alone system built on a cart with a couple batteries with a solar panel to recharge the batteries.
 
I have the Vermeer 372 stump grinder and have the same freezing cable problem. The issues are that you cannot shorten the cable because of the way its run and how much flex it needs when you open the hood of the machine. The cable itself isn't sealed, its a flexible cable that is lined with some sort of fiber, the fiber collects any moisture and freezes pretty quickly. I am looking at replacing my cable with a sealed one to resolve this, right now for a short term fix I have been thoroughly soaking the cable with lubricant that has anti-freezing capabilities. I am not at the shop to see what the product is but I can look later. All I do is once the cable is free and moving I soak it from one end to the other with lubricant and hope the this will shed any water from soaking in. So far it seems to be working for the short term fix
 
Chip said:
Ive been doing this set up forever on my boats so they dont freeze but dont want to draw down my house batteries and have the bilge pumps quit while Im away foom the dock. Im too frugal to spend cash for poles and wires for tree trucks to stay warm. Id never tie a solar setup directly to the wiring of any equipment. I use it as a stand alone setup. Think 3 foot by three foot(or better)solar panel manufactured in solar panels factory with a red and a black 12v lead clamped to a few seriesed batteries sitting in the snow if you want then hooked to a 12v block heater. If it fails then do what your doing now. I also use a solar setup to recharge an electric pump rig for one of my sprayers. Gets the job done and my clients love the "Solar Sprayer".
Click to expand...
Never heard about such a heating system..It sounds very effective...I will contact you soon now..
 
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