TOPIC: darn,i have to take the boat out of the garage

we are going to get a big snow storm here by sunday,so i have to move the jet deville outside(covered of course),i need to get my mini back hoe inside where i can heat it up so it starts when i need it,boy i hate to do it but its too cold to leave it outside,i have a propane heater and 2 oil filled electric heaters in the garage to warm it up so it starts.it looks like im going to need it to move snow,john

john, looks like rain and 50 degress here sunday. ron

ron its supposed to be around 40 today,thats why im doing it today,but tonight it will start as rain and freezing rain ,then supposed to be alot of snow,john

John, You should have a block heater installed in the backhoe. They simply fit into a frost plug hole and warm up the coolant. It would be a lot less electrical consumption than trying to heat up an entire garage. Up here in Northern Ontario we get temps of -40 and as long as the trucks are plugged in all the diesels fire right up in the morning.
Al

Al has a great point there John. We carry some of those block heaters where I work. If you'll email me the details (Year and make of engine, size, etc) on your tractor, I'll be glad to check on Monday and see if I can hook you up with one.

my tractor has a glo plug. just turn the key to the left for 10 seconds and starts right up.

Here are two other options
1- oil pan heater / this unit is magnetized heating coil that you stick to the bottom of your oil pan.These units do work but
2- inline block heater which all you do in cut approximately 2 inches out of the bottom hose and install the inline heater.

My 30 some years in the radiator business suggest the inline heater is the best period. The inline heaters if installed correctly will circulate the fluid in the motor and radiator.
Yes it is possible to install one too big for the system ie; wattage
What size do I recomend?

What size of bobcat is it?
Where do you live and how cold does it get?
How long do you want to keep the system warm?
Would you prefer to just plug it in a couple of hours before it's intended use?

Inline hearters can be purchased at or at least most auto parts places.
Under 30 buck easily.

thanks guys here is the mini back hoe,its a 1988 terremite,with a 20 hp kohlor,gas motor,i have had this backhoe for over 12 years,i put my septic ,driveway ,foundation,etc with this little thing.for a mini hoe it has alot of power for such a small motor,its the exact same motor that was in my cub cadet lawn tractor.it is a kohlar 20 hp magnum twin.

Looks like a good candidate for a portable garage, but if you go the heater route, don't forget the hydraulic system. Hydraulics work slowly until the oil warms up. One of the magnetic oil pan style heaters at the bottom of the hyd. reservoir works great.

by the way,the bars are not roll bars ,they are light bars,the lights that are in the he originally are blocked by the front bucket,so i put these on to use the hoe at night.
when i was digging for my foundation,i was working during the day and digging at night.
another problem im going to fix is the rear tire chains you can see in the bottom pc that they fall into the groves of the itres and are worthless,so i am thinking of taking a peice of chain and wraping it under the the tire chains and spot welding it there to keep them from going back down in the treads.john

kerry,nice to meet ya by the way,and good idea,but before i had this garage i had a portable one,and the winds here just chewed it up,plus the cold.
i like the idea of the heater,and yeah i know the hydrulics take a little time to warm up,i dont plan on heating the garge all winter i cant afford that,but if i know in going to use the hoe the next morning i will get it up to temerature,with propane heater then try to keep it above freezing with oil filled heaters.john

Install a inline on the bottom hose, a magnetic on the hydro reservoir like Kerry suggested and just throw a tarp on it. Plug it in 2 hours before use.

there are also dip stick heaters. You just pull the dip stick out and put in the heater and plug it in. Keep the oil warm and warms the motor too. If you don't have sub 0 weather they work good.
just and other idea. Plus they dont cost much.
Mike aka pathfinderz1

The money fell from the sky here.

I heard it was raining over to the east of you...glad to see you got the snow!

Rain yesterday, freezing today, snow tomorrow. Yippee.

Weather here is Great!! Cold & Rain yesterday, Snow all day, but real light. Got the plow truck in position. But I think the weather girl had another panic attack. Haven't seen the 5 to 10 inches of snow yet. Road are slipperier then deer guts on glass. Man am I disappointed.

well,i got my boat (cutter jet de ville)out of the garage yesterday,
and double covered it with 2 tarps,boy it killed me to take it out,
now i cant work on it,i will have to wait until the temps come back above freezing.

both tractors (lawn and back hoe) are in the garage ,i just need to get a 18 ft leanghth of chain to put under the rear tire chains to keep them from falling into the tire tread.
i got repair links for this,now just need the chain,and oh yeah i pulled my back draging the lawn tractor out from behinde the garage,it started great but,didnt have any traction with the turf tires
now all i have to do is throw a tarp over the tractor and put one of the oil filled radiators in between the bucket and motor,that way the tarp doesnt touch the motor.,john