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Any body old enogh to remeber do this

O

old

Well-known Member
Location
Camdenton Missouri
So ok any body ever remember building a fire under a tractor just so you could get it started for a days work when it was cold?? Ya not the best way of doing things but way back in the day did you do it or remember you dad or grand father talking about doing so. Please do not use this to tell us how stupid it was to do it etc.
 
I never saw him use it, but I always remember my father keeping a shallow steel pan and some charcoal with the winter supplies in the old trucks. No block heaters on those.
 
yeah ,also remeber carrying 10 gal of hot water back in the woods to get the wore out diesel started on dad's sawmill.
 
O YA,,,We were real cool,,,,,,,,,We had LPgas with a big bertha,,,,,,,,,,The ol 400 always had plenty of oil on it so we were always puting out fires with snow before we gat her running lol.............Stored it in an old barn so we took the muffler of and when we swiched from gas to disel it would blow the most wounderfull smock rings into the cold air you would ever want to see.
 
No, but I have taken enough oil for an oil change in the house and warmed it up on mom's stove. Dumped the old cold oil and put in the hot oil.730 Diesel fired right up.Tractor was about 10 miles away and had beans to cut after the ground froze up.
 
Really not too dangerous if one uses charcoal. Worse is starting a fire under a stubborn mule when it"s harnessed to a wagon load of hay.
 
I have never done that, but I remember my old construction/friend, boss, telling me they would build a fire under the bulldozer to get it started. He wasent a BS'R so i believed him. I just thought what if it caught on fire! I guess they never did.
 
Working in Aberdeen, SD in the early 80's I had a Ford car that I put Mobil 1 in, parked it in my un-attached garage, took the battery out at night and put it in the house just to get the car going in the morning. One stretch we went 6 days never getting above zero, and 60 days not getting above freezing...and up to 70 below wind chills. Most people don't shut their car off when going in stores. Much prefer WA now....
 
Many times shovel the coals out of the wookstove and set them under the oil pan. Put a big heavy tarp over the hood and bank it up with snow to keep the cold wind out. I did the to an old car that wouldn't start at -40. Did it to the tractor every day so FIL could plow snow.
 
Never used fire,but used to use clinkers, or the nights ashes to put under the engine and cover the hood with a blanket to keep the wind from blowing under it and cooling the oil pan off,also remember bringing in the old 6 and 12 volt batteries during the night and placing them next to the heater and or register to keep them warmer.That was before we have gotten civilized,LOL.
LOU
 
We used to keep a portable/disposable barbecue grill on hand. This was the one use kind that had charcoal and a little bit of lighter fluid. Never used it on a tractor but did use it more than once on semis.
 
We used to put charcoal in one of those round metal oil change pans and slide it under the car. You always wanted to remove the pan before starting the car because if you didn't the air from the fan would blow the red hot particles out of the pan and there would be sparks everywhere.
 
dad had a 36 gmc pickup with a flat head, valve in block, for the feed store in central wisconsin.any colder that 10 or 20 and it would not start without a tow. he put a gunney sack on the end of a steel rod, soaked it with kerosene, lit it on fire and put it under the oil pan. the only thing it did was burn the wires, then it did not start. he traded it in for a 41 chevrolet pickup. that always started
 
used to have to do that to the dozer when mud in the tracks froze; didn't freeze to the ground, the mud froze to the sprocket & tracks & locked'em up solid as any weld job could do. Would destroy the final drive if you tried to force it to go. Had to clean mud from the tracks every evening or next morning, carry slabs & start a fire. Might thaw out by 10:30 am, if you started by 7 am.
 
Yes, I remember the guys cleaning the tracks out on the dozer and the excavator at the end of the day, when I worked construction. I was a laborer for the builder but I remember the digging guys doing that.
 
Dad Said at the end of the day they would drain the oil out of the crankcase and put a tarp over the warm tractor to hold in the heat. they would keep the oil in the house near the stove . Next morning they would pour a bucket of hot water into the crankcase and followed by the warm oil, when the oil started to come out they put the oil plug in and start the tractor
 
Hey, I'm not that old, only 48, and I had to do this in about '78 for the old bird I worked for. He was a die hard Ford man with a 2000 Backhoe and a Jubilee. Both 6 volt. He ran a wood/cabinet shop and we used the TLB with forks to unload lumber, which arrived usually when the temp was about 5. So, with too old of batteries, I would have run out and put a pan of hot coals under the tractor and plug in the cr@ppy little 6 amp charger when we saw the semi truck pull in. It was not so much a necessity as it was him being cheap about batteries and chargers.
 
WOW!!! 60 days and not above freezing! WHO could live in a place like that???

Oh, yeah, I'd guess it's been over 80 days since it got above freezing here!
 
corn cob fires with kindling under the CASE C AND L THATstarted on gas and swiched to BURN KEROSENE .. that is what great uncles told about ... AND IT WORKED
 
Yep it worked but if you look down in the ford n series forum I got kicked for saying something about using a light bulb to warm a carb. Go figure you can build a fire under an engine but not use a light bulb to warm a carb????????????
 
Remember dad saying when he was at home, his dad did a lot of corn shelling around the nieghborhood. Would put a pan of corn cobs under the 15-30 then go do chores and eat breakfast. Then the oil would be warm enough so they could crank it.
 
When I was in the navy, we had regular patrols in the north atlantic in the winter on an old WWII Destroyer They called it early warning radar picket duty. I had other names for it. One of my jobs was to start that old motor whale boat up on deck every morning after morning quarters for muster. Had a Gray/Buddha/or GM diesel in it and it took a coat hanger, a rag and a zippo to start her. Had to light the rag soaked in diesel wrapped around the coat hanger and get it in the air intake and turn her over before that (at times) way below zero wind blew it out. It was so rough at times that you walked on the walls and the deck...or just hung on. I've seen a depth charge jump out of the rack on the fantail and roll from life line to life line...no joke! ohfred
 
We had a Case dealer about 15 miles north of us. Two partners. One had a lot of ties to the forestry industry in the Adirondacks. Case bought Beloit, and started selling forestry equipment. They sold quit a few Case skidders, mostly with Case finance. I remember being at a dealer get-to-gether and Mel, one of the partners telling that a customer had stopped making payments on his skidder, and he and Case credit were scouring the area to find and reposess it. Finally they got a lead. When they found it on a landing, the front tires, engine, and operators platform were burnt beyond repair. The starting fire must have got a little out of hand. At least as Mel said, they still had the rear tires chains, winch, and a lot of salvage parts.Not sure how they got it home, because back then they drove most of them to the delivery site.
 
After readin' all these stories, I'm glad I grew up in northern North Dakota where it didn't get so cold we had to resort to such practices. We could get by with just keeping the tractor in good tune, keep it in the shed and it would start on the second or third crank.
 
No, not to get a tractor started.

But my dad put a bit of straw on fire one day in the far past under a horse he was training cause it refused to get going and pull the wagon.

The horse moved allright,but just far enough ahead so the fire was now under the wagon.
THat SOB horse figured on getting rid of that thing behind him that way.He nearly succeeded too.LOL
 
Did that once when it was so cold that the flame froze up. managed to get the tractor started and going. Got so excited we drove off and forgot the fire. thawed out in spring and caused a forest fire :shock:

Dave
 
Back in the early 1970's I was sent out to Tulsa OK to a company called Unit Rig on an EMD engine that was made by GM at that time. The made 100 and 200 ton dump trucks and had an assembly line. They sold some of these trucks to the Russians. Some of the Russians came over to get familar with the trucks. After the trucks were shipped Unit Rig sent men to Russia to help with any problems. Later on they heard one of their drivers had shut off his engine and couldn't get it started so he built a fire. He burnt up the that truck. I took my wife along on this trip and it was one of my best travels. Hal
 
I remember Dad doing that once or twice. I also remember forgetting to leave the combine with the engine facing the sunrise so the dew would be dried off when it was time to start. I also remember changing the engine in a Ford FLB we had and heating the metal 5 gal.can of water next to the fire. By the time I was ready to crank it the water was boiling.Got it in and it fired right up.
Ron
 
When I was a kid back in N.Y., my Dad managed a fleet of tractor trailers (about 100) that delivered groceries to a chain of grocery stores. We go to work on extremely cold Sunday nights (they ran Monday thru Friday) and start about 10 charcoal fires, move them from truck to truck until they were all running. Then leave them for the night. The fleet was almost all Mack B61 models.

The other thing they had was a wagon with about a 5hp briggs motor on it, 2 truck batteries and a large alternator. We would use this to boost the start. Worked great. It was homemade.

Lloyd
 
Years ago, very good friend of mine was driving over the road--had all his life. I believe it was in upperstate New York, truck wouldn't start--too cold. They did the garbage can lid and charcoal. Warmed it up quite well. Burned the whole rig down--oops!
 

Daddy got coals of fire from the wood stove and put them under the old hand crank Fordson F with some pieces of tin around it to channel the heat to get it cranked.

KEH
 
Never did anything like that when I was a kid. The tractors were always in the shed and in good tune. Dad made sure the tractor related chores were done on warm days. When we had a long cold spell he would finally start the 51 A but he was reluctant to do it. He never had a battery charger or jumper cables. On the rare occasion when nothing started he'd call the neighbor to come over.

If a tractor wouldn't start he'd get the long flat belt out and belt up the reluctant tractor to one that did start and spin it over with the belt. He'd do that even if someone was around to drive one of them for a pull start. The hand crank 35 A was always backed into the shed for that reason.

I finally gave him a set of jumpers for Christmas but I still have to remind him "PLUS to PLUS and MINUS to MINUS. RED is PLUS, BLACK is MINUS". Same way with a charger. Batteries and cables and volts and polarities never were something he caught on to. But he can tell you what the stock market did on any given day! Jim
 
Dad always told me about when he was young they would put hot coals under the old model T and jack up one rear wheel off the ground to get it started in the winter!
 
I recall doing it many time under the old MM ZA with a buzz saw on it. Just so we could go cut wood. You see it never failed that on the coldest day of the winter, Dad always wanted to go cut wood. I think he did it on purpose. That's why my house is all electric now days.
 
Didn't ever do that to start one, But I had a D-14 Allis, fresh back from a dealer rebuild, and the dealer used plain water, stead of antifreeze. Took a perfection 500 coal oil heater,and a day later it was thawed. Only damage was 3 freeze plugs and a thermostat housing. $13.75, if I remember right!
 
Farmall Regular got parked & radiator drained when finished with picking corn. Not touched again til spring unless we had to saw firewood. If too stiff to turn crank easy, go back in house, too cold to work outside, might be warmer next weekend.
To start the 39 Chev car when really cold, Dad stood on bumper, butt against shed wall, push back a bit with his feet, enough to get the crank in. Then get one of us boys to push starter to help him turn it over with crank. If that didn't get it started, harness up one horse & drag around yard. Dad thought the world had come to end when he bought a 47 Chev, no way got use a crank.
Willie
 
I remember dad telling of draining the water out of blocks and radiators before anti-freeze became in regular use.

At one time we had a small round wicked kerosene heater at the farm that I think came from an auction. Don't know the manufacturer. Dad said it was designed for heating engines. Too bad we didn't keep it and much of the other "junk".
Hey, found a site telling of them.
 
Leaving tracks chock full of mud, muck, dirt ice, snow was a big time no-no, you do that once with any outfit I worked for, you would be out of a job the next day. When we worked in the winter, you cleaned the track frames off completely, and I will tell you that cleaning the tracks on a D8K, caked with wet sucking type of clay, was a chore, could take you an hour to do it right. A good operator would also make sure to keep an eye on things, like the carrier rollers, cause if they jam up, they will egg shape, they have to roll, I've seen idiots do that in good weather, one site there was some sheet metal from the debris laden fill on the job, had to get a torch to clean out the track frames, he had it so jammed up with junk, and it just came back from the cat dealer with a new undercarriage also was an 8K, the smaller tractors were a lot less work to clean off. We used to build staging areas on the job site to park equipment, crushed stone, never much trouble with tracks freezing to the ground.
 
Up until last week, though I use a propane heater, 44,000 btu salamander, small but perfect for this task, tarp 'er over, keep er away from the oil pan, LP 850 ford, vaporizer or LP just don't like the cold, seems to have gotten worse, takes a few attempts to get it to stay running. I've had better luck with it in the past, but the best policy for this tractor is a heated garage, where it is now, after some needed de-cluttering. That small heater, which you can also adjust the flame, really works well, though not good if there was ever an LP leak !
 
Our stuff was too imprtant to risk burning it up with a fire. We kept things in good working order, and maintained them properly to keep things like that from happening. The only time we ever had a problem, our neighbor loaned us his tractor for a few hours. Income is no excuse for stupidity.
 
I"m in my 60"s and I remember some nasty cold winters when it got really cold for the first time and we had to get the JD A out to grind feed for the cows, the tractor would start with a little patience, we would let it set in shed to get warmed up good but wouldn"t move, ice in differential (forgot to drain condensation before winter set in) build a small fire and soon we were in business. Remember a few years later we had a Nipco heater, much faster and easier.
 
Back in the late 70's worked at a local warehouse and had a trucker trell us that the old boy that owned the trucking company used to light charcoal an put it under the engines of the trucks to keep the engine warm so thety woould start in the mornings. always thaught that was pretty unique idea.
 
John it has nothing to do with maintenance. Up until 1939 we did not have electric at the farm. So even if you had a block heater or battery charger you where not going to use it. It is not uncommon here to not get above zero for weeks at a time,Dec. 1979 never above zero for the month. Even gas tractors will not start in sub zero weather all of the time.

We used to use an old hog waterer lid to hold charcoal. The we would lite it and stand corrugated tin up on each side so the heat would warm the tractor motor. Old 10-20 would take a ten lbs. bag and two hours of heating time, to start on a below zero day. The biggest problem was getting the oil warm enough to turn over. Even with 10w or 5w. We even would take the team of horses and pull a rope around the belt pulley to crank it. You still had to use a little heat to get it going.
 
Just showed this post to my old repair friend. He is 93. He told me about several of the saw mills around here that had small wood stoves built that fit around the oil pan on the old diesel motors that they used to run the saw mill. He said the smoke stack routed the smoke through the radiator to help preheat the water. He said the real big mill that had several saws would keep a man on duty even at night to keep the stoves going so the men could start work in a timely fashion in the mornings. He said they did this up until the mid-fifties.
 
What was usually done was when you shut down the engine you drained the oil and took it in the house and when you wanted to use it you took the house warm oil out and refilled the tractor engine and you drained the radiator everytime you were done with the tractor and just after you got the tractor started then you refiled the radiator with house warm water. Only fire under tractor was under the worm drive on a Fordson.
 
Well your answer says you are not old enough to remember what life was like way back when. Didn't make a bit of difference if you had tuned it up yesterday what made a difference was it was to cold to hand crank an engine with out heating it up some how and back then there was no block heaters and you where lucky if you have electricity. So the way your answer this says you also did not really understand the question since it said any body old enough
 
My Grandad told me to start his old model T Ford on cold winter days that he would build a fire under the motor to warm the oil. Jack up one rear wheel, Put the car in high gear so the wheel acted like a flywheel once it was turniing then hand cranked the motor to start.
 
Jay - they call those guys "swampers" around here.

Don't know the origin of the name.

Paul
 
As a kid plenty times had to go to the corn crib for a wash tub of corn cobs for dad to put some kerosine on and light and put under the Fordson to warm it up to saw wood in the winter with a saw mounted on the front.
 
As somebody else said: My dad too, always wanted
to cut wood on the coldest days, even when the
woodshed was full. When I went into the Army he
ordered an oil furnace..because he lost his
SLAVE LABOR ! !
 
Only tractor we needed in cold weather was our M with chains, heat houser and loader. Didn't do a lot of plowing when the ground was froze 3 ft deep.
 
Your responce to me says you dont know what you think you know! I know how bad things were, as you put it way back when, problem is youre not that much older than I am, so you werent there "way back when" either!
 
I wasnt bashing the post. I was simply stating that we never had to do anything like that, and that our equipment was too important to risk setting it on fire just to get it going.I wasnt around back inthe days of handcranks, no, THNAK GOD! But we werent on the top of the totem ploe either. Harvest time, the equipment came first! If it didnt run, we didnt eat!
 
Are you so sure about that?? I still remember my grand father having to do a lot of things like using coals under the old JD-B I have so he could start it in the winter. Hand start and cold do not mix well even if it is tuned up real good. A lot depends on the walk of life you can from also, you may have been from a place and or family that had all the nice newer stuff not from a family that had to make do with what they had.
 
We never built a fire under the tractor when I was young as it was kept in a shed. It was common to bring the battery inside to keep it warm, and put a light bulb under the hood of a car over night to make some heat. Also could be done with a tractor if you threw a cover over the hood to retain the heat. I have heard about starting a fire under a big truck to warm the oil so it would start. I have heard also about in the Model T days people would drain the coolant out of a warm engine and keep it in the house then put it back in before starting to help warm the engine. I think all these tricks are/were more common for people in the Northern parts of the country where it could often go well below zero in the winter.
 
I was talking to an old timer (even older than me) who told me that when he first emigrated to Val d'Or area of Quebec from France, He worked in the woods operating a Caterpillar. He said that a fire under the motor was standard procedure when it got cold there.
 
I was talking to an old timer (even older than me) who told me that when he first emigrated to Val d'Or area of Quebec from France, He worked in the woods operating a Caterpillar. He said that a fire under the motor was standard procedure when it got cold there.
 
Ok all I was doing is throwing what you have in the past thrown at me. Yep in the past you have more then once hammered me so all I did this time was give you some of your own medicine so I guess you do not like me doing what you have done to me in the past. I'll not hit you if you do not hit me. So you need to do as you say also
 
You started it today buddy! All I did was comment on your thread, or am I not good enough to do that? I guess not since i dont have 35000 post of driffle. You want to sling it, OK Ill sling it! I appreciate your service to our country, I really do, and out of that respect, I wont go where I want to go!

You claim to have it so bad, gues what? Others do to. I get up every morning and go to work! I pay your check! But I have to crawl to the bathroom to get my meds that get me through the day. You have a bad back right? Imagine that in every joint in your body, not being able to move until your meds kick in, and having to deal with that pretty much all day. Imagine knowin g that by the time you reach 50, or in your case 60, that you will probaly be in a wheel chair, having to be fed with a spoon because you cnat hold one yourself. Iamgine not being able to hold your grandkids, not being able to drive to the store to get your meds, not being about to wipe your own rearend. This is what I have to live with EVRY DAY OF MY LIFE! Do I feel sorry for you, nope! I do what I can now to give myself and my kids a better life that what I grew up with, and then have to listen to people like you act like they are in such bad shape! Please!
 
My Grandpa used to tell all about that . his brother and him farmed 800 acres with a SMTA and a Super M grandpa bought the SMTA right after he got out of the millatary and Peanut bought the super m after high scholl both had custom paint jobs because they liked the looks of the 560s better so they had the side of the hood painted white like them. They also had 2 3-16 plows,2 2 row mounted corn pickers and two 10 foot disks. He said they often would pick corn well into January and would have to build fires under the tractors and pickers so they could start them and get the pickers moving and you can bet they didnt shut them off all day until quiting time
thanks for listning, God Bless.
Cort Lamey
 
Ok so leave me alone and I'll leave you alone so don't answer my posts and I will not answer yours. Deal if not then I'll make sure to be as mean of meaner to you. My doctors will not release me to go back to work and no release means no job that is the law
 
As a paperboy, I remember a guy with a 50 hudson who as a last resort, probably, piled some papers under the oil pan and lit em up. Hudson started. In Mich. I got cold watching. Saw one model T go through process. Jack up rear, bring out hot water, turn crank. Much more exciting. Dave
 
Paper boy ya I remember that. Back in 1974 I was doing that right before I went in the navy. I would throw 1500 plus a morning and then did the hay field wrench turner thing till around 2pm then throw another 300-500 papers depending on the day. Took a 50% pay cut just to go into the Navy go figure.
 
Just to let you know today you made an enemy I do not know where you get the idea you pay my bill when I have payed in to the system since I was 12 year old and never filed my tax returns till I was 18 and when I went in the navy I took a 50% pay cut. I payed into the system so I could get back when I needed to. Do not post to me or my posts since you from this day on are my enemy and if I saw you in person would greet you with a gun in my hand
 
That makes perfect sense Big fred.

Some of us however need to operate diesels year round, you can do other things besides plow with them, lol. I know it doesn't get as cold here as it does there but we were at -25°F last week and that does cause some starting problems for some diesels, I've had to use a propane salamander and tarps surrounding the engine on occasion and I do my best to keep the right fuel, treated, clean + dry filters, good batteries, etc.
 
Any farmer worth their salt would heat the engine oil before starting the tractor on very cold days. It doesn't take a lot of brains to figure out that cold oil doesn't flow well, and keeping a tractor in a shed is not a substitute for heat. LOL! Some people just don't get it, maybe a few too many frozen brain cells up in ND. LOL!
 
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