Random Facts 58

I think I'm going to be putting a freeze plug heater in an engine tomorrow. The engine is mounted on a trailer. I'm also going to install an inverter on the truck. That way, the engine can be plugged in to regular power at night (when available) and/or the inverter while the truck is on the next day. Regular power overnight should be great but when that isn't available....I'm hoping the inverter will get the job done. Do you have any thoughts on that? Some guys are saying it will take too long to heat with no overnight electricity. Others are saying at should be fine after an hour or two. 900 or 1200 watt heater, 1500 or 2000 watt inverter.....heating a 4 cyl. Perkins diesel. It's worth a try....plus, that inverter would be a handy power source for other things.

 

just a 1/2 hour on the block heater is enough to warm it for starting

plugging in all night is kind of a waste

inverter should be for double load or youre asking for trouble...anything more than 300 watts will need pretty good cables right to the battery and youll be stressing the alternator when its running


does the perkins have glow plugs?...my diesel car starts just fine at -20c with no block heater...even if i turn the key too quick (sometimes i forget about the glow plugs timer)

 

No glow plugs. Just a "pre-heater" which doesn't seem to work very well below about 30 degrees fahrenheit. So by double load...are you saying the inverter should rate twice as much wattage as the heater? A dude at the parts store (who I usually ignore anyway) told me you could go up to 80% of the inverter wattage but that seemed high to me.

Edit to say....yeah...I was planning on going to the battery.

 

yeah i would go double

also easier to keep the inverter under the hood...shorter the 12v cables the better ...the 110v carry way less amps than the 12v side will need


your work truck doesnt have a gas generator on it?

 

Well....the battery is under the housing in front of the passenger side-step (C-7500) but your question about the generator (which I don't think this truck has) makes me think....that truck does have a Kubota 3 or 4 cyl. auxiliary engine which isn't used much for hydraulics. I bet there is a way to tie the inverter into the battery and the Kubota (if calculated correctly) and then over-ride the main lower hydraulics with the upper tool controls (open..."running"...circulating constantly) so that when you are driving to the job site.....the diesel engine is warming and the hydraulic oil is warming and the extra engine may help not stress anything else out? It could work.

 

that will never work...to invert a truck you need a crane

 

these ideas are getting kind of haywire


normal company would look into a webasto heater


or check out that pre-heater glow plug...its probably not working right

 

the 4x4 makes up for the color

id definitely try and get the 4x4 on the road instead of spending money on a 2wd...main thing to find out is why the previous owner stopped driving it...maybe there is a hidden problem

 

Today is going to be the first day in 4 1/2 years that my grandson won't be coming home with me after school.

My daughter got moved and he started school in his new school today.

I hope they are both going to be happy with this change.

 

Rolling... The pup is living with the lambs he will protect, or so the caption says.

 

police just north of here were chasing runaway goats, a momma and 2kids.. no word yet the owners been located.

 

I loved my goat.

 

yes it says in much of the literature that my breed will sleep right in with a flock....right now my dog will position himself in between me and the door when we go to sleep at night....i'm torn on getting more animals ,birds or what ever....thinking of doing some reducing of responsibilities as opposed to increasing them

 

I want too increase my botanical responsibilities this summer

 

I don't choose my responsibilities; they choose me.

 

I don't have responsibilities... I'm just responsible for everything.

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Brought down one of those dry as a bone Elm trees today... Tricky place, I had to "thread a needle" between my lower farm gate and some good trees. Glanced it off the gate post just for good measure.


It's dryer than some Elm that I've had cut and split for months. Got most of it processed already, just have to stack it in the shed. Gonna need it next week.

 

my new friend mechanic has a huntig property on the iland facing the usa right on the water...he tells me he has lots of wood cut there ...gonna go look this weekend

 

Do you guys have Sweet Gum trees up there?

 

no I don't believe we do....

 

Hubby says they are really hard but no one up north knows about them. He watches videos of guys splitting wood with knives.