To30 0degrees start help

Havent had much issues with my 1953 to30 the last couple winters. However we are on a streatch of around 0 last week or so and doesnt want to start. Seems most n users use lower radiator hose heaters. Seems not too much good said about magnetic heaters. What would work best. I dont use tractor alot in winter, depends on snow..so would only turn it on a few hours prior to needing the tractor. Thanks guys

Tank heater on m TO 20 works real good. Plug it in 1/2 hours before starting it.

Well maybe just a little weak battery, had the charger on this afternoon after tried starting a few times and she just started up now,im sure a heater wld help but at least she started for me.

What exactly is a tank heater?

Healthy battery is the best thing to start with. I was told, back in the 6 volt days, all my relatives in the north country, Montreal area, would take the battery out of the car every night, keep it on newspaper near the kitchen stove until morning. Some of there guys would drain the radiator into a pitcher, take that in the house, and pour the room temp antifreeze back in every morning... eh moo zee...these were suppose to be the good ol days??

Tank hear heats and circulates the coolant within the engine block,
do a search for this.

Kat's 13150 1500 Watt Aluminum Circulating Tank Heater

The Ferguson TO30 that my dad had was one of the easiest tractors he had for starting but all tractors need the same things, compression, fuel/air mix, and spark hot enough to ignite the fuel/air mix. Assuming the compression hasn't suddenly gone down, the fuel/air mix and spark are the places to start. Your spark depends on a supply of voltage, the battery, but the starter also draws from that same source and if it draws too much, there won't be sufficient left to get you a strong spark. Make the engine easy to spin over and the starter won't require a lot of battery power. Oils get stiff when they get cold and make the engine hard to spin so change to lighter oil, use multigrade oil, or best, use multigrade synthetic as it moves easier when cold. Warming the oil can also make it less stiff so an engine heater helps.

Fuel/air mixture is critical but it can't be liquid fuel, it needs to vaporize. Warming the carburetor and intake manifold will accomplish this.

Spark is next. A good contact of the points is required. Clean up the contacts or get a new set of points in the tractor before it gets cold.

My father would hook up the battery charger in the evening so the battery would be at its peak when he wanted to start the tractor. Then he would heat up a couple quarts of water to a boil and pour that on the intake manifold to get his fuel to vaporize. Often the engine would fire on the first compression and if the choke was held, the tractor would keep running, even if it was -30.

Guess this is why they invented- and we are suppose to use- multi grade engine oil.
Yeah, over the years on this forum, I get the hunch a lot of people- mostly the under 50 gang?? don't know- or under utilize- a choke rod. They pull it, let it go, and ask why it stalled. I will see if I can find a pic, but I keep a 2 piece clothes pin under the dash, of all of mine- and use it to hold, then slide to adjust, the amount of choke till things warm up to- normal? People on here would say - oh you are making it run too rich'..... well yeah... it seems to be a lesser of 2 evils if you can't get to the mailbox. Something's going to suffer, might as well be the tractor than my feet.

If you aren't already, push the clutch pedal down when trying to start it. This will prevent all the gears and hydraulic pump from dragging the starter motor down from all that cold thick oil.

Dan

Quote "won't start". Meaning what????
that it will not crank??? Or it cranks just
fine but the engine won't fire???

Be more detailed on what u mean by
"won't start".

It was just cranking very slowly, so slow it wldnt fire and starter switch was getting hot, i was attributing it to the cold and the oil being very thick as was close to 0 degrees out.
It may have just been the battery wasnt fully topped, i have an onboard charger that isually is always plugged in but it hadnt been for a little bit, as once charger was on for a bit it started.
I was just thinking a heater of some sort wld make starting easier.
Generally i dont depress clutch so i will tey that next time as well

When it is very cold (-20 or more) the usual starting procedure is to depress the clutch and start the engine, then let it warm up for 3 to 5 minutes, then with one hand ready to pull the choke, slowly let the clutch out, hoping that it doesn't kill the engine with the load of turning just the input shaft. After another 5 minutes of letting it turn without the transmission in gear, then one could try moving the tractor, again ready with the choke. Replacing the engine and transmission/read end oils with synthetic oils will make the procedure much faster.