Engine Heater for 1010

[Vermont John]

Does anyone know who sells an engine heater for a 1010 or other tractor that does not have heat? All the heaters I see have smalls inlets/outlets for heater hose. I can not see any freeze plugs that can accept a freeze plug heater, so I'm looking for a circulating one. Thanks.

 

[Vermont John]

I found a place that sells heaters that go into a radiator hose. The link is:

http://www.external_link/radiator_hose_heaters_271_ctg.htm

 

[JDemaris]

Those heater-hose heaters are pretty close to useless - unless you're willing to plug it in overnight. Many work by being hooked in series with a large radiator hose - and they waste a lot of engergy heating water that then goes to the radiator and gets cooled back off.

Frost plug heaters OK - again - if you leave them plugged in all night - or run from a timer. Most are low wattage can take hours to warm up an engine.

We had a fleet or rental tractors and crawlers at the last Deere dealership I worked at. We only used tank heaters in all. If you unexpectedly needed a tractor - and it was 25 degrees below zero F - you could plug the tank heater and get going in less then one hour. For those machines in a woods with no electricity - a little portable generator was used to fire up the heater.

All my diesel trucks have tank heaters and frost-plug heaters. One for quick starts when I need a truck unexpectedly, and frost-plugged heaters for planned starts (my wife's diesel Volkswagen gets plugged in every night).

What's wrong with a good-oldfashioned 1500 or 1750 watt tank-heater in your 1010? Both my 1010s have Katz tank-heaters installed. So does my Deere 350, 300, and my AC HD4, HD6, my Case 580CK, Ford 4000, and all my IH farm tractors. I've yet to find a water-cooled engine you can't put a generic tank heater on (except a Subaru Loyale). If hooked up correctly, it circulates fast without sending heat to the radiator, thermostatically controlled, and a 1500 watt heater will heat up a 1010 engine in less than one hour.

 

[Vermont John]

JD, thanks for the info. I did not order the radiator hose heater yet. I can see where circulating the water in the radiator will definitely decrease performance. However, all the tank heaters I have seen are meant to fit the small hoses that run to a heater core. I'm afraid that if I cob one in, it will restrict coolant flow. If there is a way to plumb one into the 1010 block, I would definitely do it.

 

[JDemaris]

It's no different than any other tractor. Tank heaters are only used for a heater-hose connection on automobiles - and even then, it's a short-cut. With auto-engines, it not always easy to find a low source for the bottom connection of a tank heater to hook to. With tractors - there just about always is - usually the block drain.

A tractor - like a 1010 - the top of heater hooks to the thermostat housing. Some are already drilled and tapped, and some you have to drill and tap with pipe-threads yourself. Any port in the top of the cylinderhead will work. Bottom of tank heater hooks to the bottom-side of block where the block-drain is. Usually, you stick in a tee-fitting and that way, retain the drain. When hooked like this, the heater circulates coolant from the bottom of the block to the cylinder head.

 

[Vermont John]

Thanks, jd. I was looking and saw tht the thermostat housing might be the place, but did not think of the block drain. I'm going to order one today.

 

[Grant Walker]

Kat's makes a magnetic heater that just sticks to the bottom of the oil pan. I use one on my 1010 in Idaho and love it.