Dave H (MI)
Well-known Member
Around 30 today and the 300u was a reluctant start. So now I have a pretty good feel for how it likes the weather. At 40 it starts all day. At 30 it starts with fluid. At 20...well...best to go to the east door and fire up the Ford diesel utility cause it ain't happening. I still have this hydraulic pump drag every 5-6 seconds and this is a hindrance to keeping it running cold because it loads the engine before it is fully warm and can cause a stall. Other than that it works pretty much like the other old gas tractors here when it gets really cold. A few guys thought I was not choking it properly but, while I appreciate the help, I have over 20 pieces of equipment with manual choke and I am pretty talented at feathering a choke to get what I want. I can chase down all the issues mentioned in the prior posts but, honestly, this is a worker and needs to work when I need it. Since it is perfectly willing to start when it is warm, I think the solution is to make it think it is warm. So my plan is to plumb a circulating tank heater using the drain behind the carb as inlet and the hole where the temperature gauge threads in as the outlet. Plug it in when I am going to need it and I should be good to go. I was supposed to do this two years ago but was WAY too busy with combining the last two years. Below is the link from back then with the instructions. So that is the plan!
300u block heater
300u block heater