# Block heater



## bacon6 (Apr 5, 2015)

Silly question I’m sure but I’m from South Georgia and recently bought a farm in Missouri so it’s a bit colder here in the winter, question is in really cold weather should I just leave the block heater plugged in all the time or only if I plan to use the tractor in the next couple hours? Thanks


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## BigT (Sep 15, 2014)

Howdy bacon6. welcome to the forum.

Plug it in one to two hours before you intend to use the tractor.


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## BinVa (Sep 21, 2020)

Also keep an eye on the battery(s)state of charge. A week battery will be an issue in colder temperatures. If the tractor is not run occasionally a maintainer may be necessary. B.


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## unsquidly (Jul 13, 2021)

Best advice I can give from someone that lives in Southern Indiana is this:

1. Once it starts getting below 30 degrees on a regular basis, treat your fuel with anti-gell.
2. Get a good battery tender and leave it on the battery unless you are going to use the tractor every day.
3. If it has a block heater, don't plug it in unless it is below about 30 degrees and you are going to be using the tractor in the next few hours.
4. Never ever use starting fluid to start it. If your batteries are charged up, your fuel is not jelled up and the block is warm, you should never have to use starting fluid on a diesel that is in good repair. I have never seen anything good come out of going down the road of using ether to start a diesel engine...Best case is you get an "ether baby" worst is new injectors and a top end rebuild.....


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## SidecarFlip (Mar 25, 2021)

Couple hours ahead of using it. Considering electric rates are going way up (one of my friends in Maine just took an 80% rate increase in the form of a surcharge on his electric bill, it would be prudent on your part not to leave it plugged in when not using it.

I've never plugged in either of my Kubota's and it get real cold here. I just make sure the batteries are good and all the connections are clean. I replace my starting batteries every 5 years anyway and the barn has no electric in it anyway.


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