Battery Blanket/Cold Weather starting

My understanding is that it is a bag or sleeve that goes around the batter and you plug it in to keep it warm. Kind of like a heating pad.

Sounds like a good idea for January in upstate NY.

How helpful are they if your equipment is in good shape?

Would a dipstick heater be a good idea as well? I have heard they can get too warm though and should be put on timers.

Any general tips on cold weather starting?

TY

Sal

Back in the 40's before the days of the die-hard, my Father would remove the battery of our hard-to-start wornout Plymouth 6-cyl flathead, and keep it warm in the house when temperatures were predicted to be BELOW ZERO in our Colorado mountain mining town (now a semi-famous ski resort) Always started while I scraped the FROST off the windows. Our next door neighbour would fill his drained-out radiator with hotwater from teakettle (too cheap to buy anti-freeze) and as a final flourish, pour the last of the HOTWATER over the carb intake manifold..... .....the frostbite Dell

You're right about the battery blanket - it's really a heating pad you plug in.

I have a '52 Ferguson with a heater on the coolant hose. Below freezing, it won't crank enough to start if it's not plugged in. However, I have started it at -25 deg. C (-15 deg. F) when it's plugged in, and it starts immediately and runs without choke. I was told to keep the clutch depressed until it warms up because you can hear the engine labuor a bit when you try to let the clutch out.

Last weekend, I tried to start it at about -20 C (it hadn't ben plugged in) and I could tell from the first few cranks that it wasn't going to happen. So I plugged it in & waited about 1/2 an hour. It then started, but I needed the choke to keep it running for the first couple of minutes. It really opened my eyes to the effectiveness of the heater.

Gary

Ramrod

One commonly overlooked cold weather starting tip is to always hold the clutch disengaged when cranking so that the starter does not need to overcome the load resulting from turning the transmission input shaft and cluster gear in the cold transmission oil. On Ns not doing this and leaving the PTO engaged would also load the starter with the load required to turn the hydraulic pump.

Dean