[suz]

dammit i did it again.
i'm so good at letting her warm up before taking off but once again i drove away before unplugging her. my arms were full in my defense and i dumped it all in the back seat and climbed aboard and into a toasty warm cab, just itching to go,lol.
oops.
seems i do it once every year just when it gets cold enough to have to plug them in for the night.
that poor extension cord's gonna need a new plug again.

[CDE Driver]

Yep, you are not the only one :/

[Grataan]

I've never done anything like that especially not this morning...cough cough.

[sk_pacer]

Not me..........at least since I finally learned to unplug the fool thing before I start it. My record with the tractor is far less than stellar however and even after unplugging it, yesterday I STILL managed to drag the cord away a bit - it froze to the bucket

[alabama]

Not me..........at least since I finally learned to unplug the fool thing before I start it. My record with the tractor is far less than stellar however and even after unplugging it, yesterday I STILL managed to drag the cord away a bit - it froze to the bucket

Wait, what? Tractors have plugs? I haven't seen one on my L3400 Kubota. Does it have one????

But, luckily, I don't live in a place where I generally need to plug my truck or tractor up. I hate being cold. I don't think I could live any farther up north.

[airhorse]

Longer extension cord looped over driver's side mirror will put an end to that.

Or...

http://www.kussmaul.com/091-18wp.html

[sk_pacer]

Wait, what? Tractors have plugs? I haven't seen one on my L3400 Kubota. Does it have one????

But, luckily, I don't live in a place where I generally need to plug my truck or tractor up. I hate being cold. I don't think I could live any farther up north.

Yep, tractors have block heaters. In fact, every vehicle sold here in the west comes equipped with a block heater and farther north, some have not only a block heater but a recirculating heater in the coolant system. I forget now what the latitude set by the automotive industry is, but every single vehicle, including tractors, combines, certain high clearance sprayers and self-propelled swathers all have block heaters now. I was also informed the other day by GM that on older diesel trucks, they should really be plugged in at 35°F to save battery power. One should also have a winter front on it below 15°F and if colder, adding a battery warmer is a good thing. Winter fronts on tractors don't happen but like most people here, I cover the motor with tarps to keep wind off and snow out.

[alabama]

Yep, tractors have block heaters. In fact, every vehicle sold here in the west comes equipped with a block heater and farther north, some have not only a block heater but a recirculating heater in the coolant system. I forget now what the latitude set by the automotive industry is, but every single vehicle, including tractors, combines, certain high clearance sprayers and self-propelled swathers all have block heaters now. I was also informed the other day by GM that on older diesel trucks, they should really be plugged in at 35°F to save battery power. One should also have a winter front on it below 15°F and if colder, adding a battery warmer is a good thing. Winter fronts on tractors don't happen but like most people here, I cover the motor with tarps to keep wind off and snow out.

Interesting! I'll go out and examine my tractor in a minute since I have to put a bale of hay out anyway. Maybe I should plug my old truck up even though I don't live in an area that gets really cold and it hardly ever snows. The truck doesn't like to start in the winter, though. I usually put a trickle charger on it if I haven't used it in a while (it's a farm truck - not used daily).

Thanks for the info!

[rider25]

Yep, I'm one of the guilty ones too. The extension cord strung all the way out to the road is a dead give away when I get home.

[NorthwoodsRider]

Saw this thread and said, "oh, No... not yet!" From the frozen north (Canada) so plugging in the car (and unplugging it) are 2nd nature, but the last thing I want to think about in November! We don't usually hit "plugging in" season until mid-December at the earliest. (-25 deg C is when I usually start).

Wondering what percentage of the board actually knows what we are talking about....

[sk_pacer]

Saw this thread and said, "oh, No... not yet!" From the frozen north (Canada) so plugging in the car (and unplugging it) are 2nd nature, but the last thing I want to think about in November! We don't usually hit "plugging in" season until mid-December at the earliest. (-25 deg C is when I usually start).

Wondering what percentage of the board actually knows what we are talking about....

Those of us with diesel trucks do have to start plugging in at much warmer temps than -25°C. If you don't, particularly with older diesels, they will just go rrrrrrr-rrrrrrrr-rrrrrrrrrrrr which is diesel for f you, human!!!LOL

Being from an even colder place than you, and being old, I still sometimes miss unplugging........hey wait!!! THAT'S it!!! I am old and forgetful!!!!LOL

[MeghanDACVA]

Having 2 diesel trucks and 3 diesel tractors, as soon as it gets chilly we start having to plug them in. To keep from driving off with them plugged in we run the extension cord over the driver's side mirror on the trucks and over the steering wheels on the tractors. We too are old and forgetfull so we just figure we just have to make it super obvious right at the git-go. So far so good but I won't jinx it with saying how many years.

[wildlifer]

ROFL, ok, that's funny. I have to admit, I've always wondered if anyone actually did this. My first vehicle was a diesel suburban so I think unplugging is just habit. Plus I have to step over the extension cord to get to the door and it's bright orange. Thanks for the mental pics though -- I have no doubt I will do it someday.

[ChocoMare]

Yup, learned the hard way. ALWAYS go directly to the front of the vehicle

My new-to-me Chevy 3500 HD doesn't have a plug, tho. So far, even on the cold mornings, she'll start fine and if she's stubborn, we just push the prime button a few times and it'll start.

Should I have a block heater installed tho, just in case?

[merrygoround]

We only plug in the tractor. We run the cord over the steering wheel, if we had a cab we'd probably hook it on the steps. You need a reminder technique!

[jess h]

Nope, never! (Nose growing ... pants on fire ...)

[goodhors]

We don't usually leave the trucks plugged in all night, unless it is going way down below zero. I plug truck in about an hour before depart time, let it warm up with the heater and he started every time, over MANY years. Saves on electricity, though you do have to get up, go out in the cold, to plug it in that early to be ready on early departures. Truck gets used sometimes daily, other times only every couple weeks in winter. But the plug-in time of an hour, seemed to be enough to get it started either way. Always have good batteries in it.

After a Fire Safety At The Farm clinic, I REALLY don't like leaving things plugged in very long. They had numerous fires in their list that had started with plugged-in electrical issues on vehicles.

We also drape the cord over the mirror, so you KNOW you have to unplug truck before starting it, tuck the truck's covered plug back behind the grill. No chance of driving off with cord on.

Make sure your extension cord is HEAVY DUTY, has a low gauge number size on the wires, like 12 or 14. The lower the number, the heavier the wires to transfer electricity easily to the truck, so it can warm up easier. They are BIG suckers for electric power, need those big wires in a cord. You can cause problems using light duty, long cords, that are not up to the job. I LIKE the cords with a lighted end, to show power is in the cord. Saves time to know it is working when you go to plug things into it. AND lighted end is easy to find in the dark!!

With the last winter being rather warm, we never did a check for the tractor heater cord on our new-to-us purchase. It started right up for use anyway, all winter. Stored in a walled shed, but no doors on the ends for warmth. Love my Katy Kabota!! I do plan to see if there is a cord hidden in there for a heater. "Just in case" we get some real cold this winter.

[cssutton]

I have e a 2012 F350 which they say will start without heat at temps way below what we get in NC.

However, on really cold mornings I plug it up anyway so the oil will be warm. Warm oil good...cold oil bad.

Even multi-viscosity oil is better for the engine when warm. And the heater works more quickly.

I also have a 1980 John Deere 2440. It has the tube on the panel that is meant for starter fluid to go straight to the cylinders. Works great but sounds terrible for several minutes.

So I have a heater on it.

Now as for the fire hazard and other dislikes of all night heating.

I don't run the heaters all night.

Go to Lowe's or whoever is the big box in your area and get a heavy duty timer.

I set mine to turn on at 5:30 AM and off at 9:00.

That heats the block up at the most likely time for me to use it. If it does not get used that day, no harm done.

Block heaters use a lot of juice. Running one all night is expensive. My tractor shed has its own meter and to test the cost, I left it on every night for a month.

I forget the amount of the bill, as I did it several years ago, but it was a number that was impressive enough that I use the timer exclusively.

A timer for the truck also means that you don't have to go out in the cold before breakfast just to plug it in. Eat breakfast, drink coffee and go out when you are ready to leave.

By the way, have you ever noticed that all gust locks and pitot covers on aircraft have red flags on them?

That is because more than one pilot has been killed trying to take off with gust locks still on the controls.

A red rag on the steering wheel or the side mirror will serve as a reminder if you don't like wrapping the cord around the side mirror.

[PeteyPie]

It never occurred to me to start the car while it was still plugged in. I must have thought it would explode or electrocute me or something, but I have wondered whether it could damage the outlet, or whether it simply unplugs when you drive off.

[trubandloki]

Longer extension cord looped over driver's side mirror will put an end to that.

Yes! This is what I do too. Can not miss it there as you open the door to get in.