# Lessons Learned - Funny



## grakita (Dec 13, 2013)

As some of you know I was supposed to be moving back to Omaha. I am still moving however the plan of beating the snow, well really didn't happen, as I move this coming weekend. From all I had been told that should have worked, not so much 

So in an effort to prepare for the snow I loaded the tractor on the flatbed and backed it into the barn (everyone say YEAH, as I had never loaded nor backed the thing up, and I didn't hit anything). Then I made sure all the vehicles had full tanks and put them in the other barn, even backing my truck in so I would be sure to get it out. 

Problem 1: The barn with the vehicles faces west, our snow came in from the north with high winds, my pasture fences begins right next to the barn, I now have a 3 foot drift in front of said barn.

Problem 2: The tractor I need to move the drift is on the flat bed, backed into a barn with no room to get it off or even out. And I can't pull the flat bed without the truck, see 1 above.:gaah:

This is meant to be funny, true but funny. I own a shovel and once I move the drift all will be fine.


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## tleeh1 (Mar 13, 2013)

...the best laid plans...


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

And yet another reason why everyone should own a flamethrower.


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## Ezmerelda (Oct 17, 2010)

Sentry18 said:


> And yet another reason why everyone should own a flamethrower.


I have one! And it's so easy to use, even my husband can do it!


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## VoorTrekker (Oct 7, 2012)

I prefer the human abilities over technology. (Yes, shovel over a tractor with a snow plough.)


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## bugoutbob (Nov 11, 2012)

Sentry18 said:


> And yet another reason why everyone should own a flamethrower.


You could always use a tiger torch


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Sentry18 said:


> And yet another reason why everyone should own a flamethrower.


Those things are WORTHLESS when it's cold out! They'll last for _maybe_ a minute if you had it inside and got the propane warm first....

That small cylinder can't boil off the liquid fast enough to keep the flame going when its cold.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

grakita said:


> I own a shovel and once I move the drift all will be fine.


Yeah, this isn't your first rodeo...


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Sentry18 said:


> And yet another reason why everyone should own a flamethrower.


I just read it more closely:

"With incredible Dial-A-Flame action" 

Uh, yeah..... they call that a "Valve". 
You open it when you want more, and close it when you want less.


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## grakita (Dec 13, 2013)

LincTex said:


> I just read it more closely:
> 
> "With incredible Dial-A-Flame action"
> 
> ...


LincTex: I am going to bet you don't work in advertising. 
Which sounds better, Dial a Flame - with visions of your old high school romance, maybe late night phone calls.... :teehee:

or...

a VALVE.


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## AKPrepper (Mar 18, 2011)

Sentry18 said:


> And yet another reason why everyone should own a flamethrower.


Back in Texas we have something similiar I've always called a weed burner. You hook it to a propane tank, light it, and get after burning weeds around fence posts, etc., etc.. I now live in Alaska, and use the thing to melt ice and snow that's too stubborn to get up with the snow blower and shovel. The first time I used it, my neighbor came over with an amazed expression on his face and commented that he'd never thought of using one of those to melt snow and ice. You still have to be careful though that the melt runoff doesn't refreeze and form a nice slick surface on which you can fall and bust your backside!


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

grakita said:


> LincTex: I am going to bet you don't work in advertising.


No, I work as a consumer advocate for an organization 
that issues formal complaints against manufacturers 
that employ misleading advertising..... 

I did have to giggle at your suggestions of "your old high school romance" 

However, I am friends with a lot of them on Facebook, 
and _goodness_ some have doubled their weight or more...


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Ezmerelda said:


> And it's so easy even my husband can use it!


Hahaha! I missed that in the fine print!!

Some call that era :"the good ol' days...."


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

I have had both experiences. Former team romances who are now much less attractive (in my perception) and female friends who I didn't think were very attractive in high school but now have aged into very beautiful women. While it's possible that it's my taste that has changed, I don't think so because my wife fits the exact mold of the girls I chased in high school. I call it vivaciously Scandinavian!


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## grakita (Dec 13, 2013)

Ok so just a quick update. Truck out, flatbed hooked and pulled out of the barn. Tractor unstrapped and ready to move off.... OH NO a dead - and I mean really dead, battery. It wasn't dead when I loaded it. 

So now I have to say I had an AWESOME husband. Went rummaging thru the barn and found a Stanley Fat Max battery/air compressor thing. I have never used it, but thanks to YouTube doesn't appear to difficult. Once the charger is charged I will use it to start the tractor --- I hope. I never knew he had it, but guess I should actually keep it in the truck from now on.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

grakita said:


> Went rummaging thru the barn and found a Stanley Fat Max battery/air compressor thing. I have never used it,...


If that thing is also dead, it may be toast. They don't like to be dead and cold at that same time.
They also don't have a very large battery inside.

Do EVERYTHING you can to:
1) Charge the battery on the tractor with a normal battery charger.

Diesel Kubota tractors need a *LOT* of battery to operate the glow plugs - before you _really_ hurt it when you hit the starter switch! The little Stanley jumper pack *can't* do all that.

2) Try to get the engine and tractor battery warm _somehow_. Plug it in, blanket over it with a kerosene lamp under it - whatever. 
You will have 10000% easier time getting it running when it isn't cold. 
And don't be afraid to use the glow plugs!! 
And don't ever ever ever ever ever ever ever use starting fluid!!
.
.


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## grakita (Dec 13, 2013)

LincTex said:


> If that thing is also dead, it may be toast. They don't like to be dead and cold at that same time.
> They also don't have a very large battery inside.
> 
> Do EVERYTHING you can to:
> ...


OK, explain the Hurt it part. Yes I have a Kubota 2360 (baby Tractor) Diesel. No worries on the starting fluid - I would never have thought of that,. I can bring the battery in the house and warm it up but don't really have any other option there, would that help?


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Yes bringing the battery into the house to warm up will help, but if you use a charger inside it might confuse your C0 2 detectors. even if you warm the battery and then put it back outside to charge, it will work way better, frozen batteries have been known to explode when boosted. 

Put the battery in a Rubbermaid tube before you bring it in, incase it has cracked from the cold.


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## grakita (Dec 13, 2013)

Ok, so found the battery - don't ask - brought it in. Thanks for the Rubbermaid suggestion, I would never have thought of that. Heated up a bath towel in the dryer and put that over the batter will now just wait and see. Once I "think" it is warm I will put it back and try the charger/jumper thing. Big thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I don't mean to sound needy or stupid, just many things I haven't done before. Don't mind trying but I do get stuck sometimes.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

grakita said:


> OK, explain the Hurt it part.


Glow plugs use a lot of amperage to make "glow"... 
which runs down even a pretty good battery. 
The starter is 10x worse, of course.

Diesel engines with glow plugs need a good, charged battery. Trying to start these tractors with a partially charged battery is very hard on the battery and the electrical system.

DANGER: You can use jumper cables, but never when jumping off a running vehicle! The voltage regulators on these little tractors are usually a "shunt style" will fry if the truck you are jumping from is running. A normal plug-in-the-wall battery charger (5-20 amps) is the safest choice.

Again: heat is your friend. Keep the tractor out of the wind at all times when you are not using it. That way it will be easier to get it warm if you need to.



Tirediron said:


> Yes, bringing the battery into the house to warm it up will help... even if you warm the battery and then put it back outside to charge, it will work way better.
> 
> Put the battery in a Rubbermaid tube before you bring it in, in case it has cracked from the cold.


Agree 100% 
You can charge a cold battery, but it works best if you go slow. A fast charge on a frozen battery causes all kinds of problems.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

grakita said:


> Ok, so found the battery - don't ask.


No worries - a
ll of these small diesels have the battery located in very odd places!!



grakita said:


> Heated up a bath towel in the dryer and put that over the batter will now just wait and see. .


Place it in a bath of warm water up to about 3/4 - 4/5 of the total height of the battery.



grakita said:


> Once I "think" it is warm I will put it back and try the charger/jumper thing. .


If the battery is *really that dead*, you will need to use the jumper pack to charge it more than once. If you do have jumper cables, take your toasty warm battery outside and hook jumper cables to your truck, wait about 15 minutes, then start the truck and let it charge a good 20-30 minutes. you can hook jumper cables from a running vehicle to a battery only, but not while it is still hooked up in the tractor. You can leave it in the tractor as long as you take the ground cable off.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

grakita said:


> I don't mean to sound needy or stupid, just many things I haven't done before. Don't mind trying but I do get stuck sometimes.


I think you will find that TYPICALLY most of us here try really hard 
to help others avoid making costly mistakes!!!


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## grakita (Dec 13, 2013)

The battery shouldn't be dead at all. It ran and started just fine last week when I loaded it on the trailer and only has 32 operating hours on it total. I think it is just cold, but don't know how to avoid that problem. It was in the barn out of the wind, it is just cold here, but in all honestly not really that cold, we haven't even hit negative single numbers yet. Do I need to put this on the trickle charger like we used to with the camper battery, or just pull it out each time and keep it in the house? 

Every body here has been GREAT, Helpful, Every thing since I joined. I just really want everyone to know how much I appreciate all the help.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

grakita said:


> The battery shouldn't be dead at all. It ran and started just fine last week when I loaded it on the trailer .


Is there any chance you left the lights on or key on?

Even a brand new battery can be run down to dead zero only a few times before it's toast for good, regardless of hours in use or calendar days.


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## grakita (Dec 13, 2013)

Success!!! After treating the battery to a gentle spa day and a good long soak in the tub, it started like a champ. No need for the jumper. Got at least some of my snow moved, and more importantly learned some tricks in the event we have this problem again. Many thanks to everyone for your suggestions and advice. Hopefully we don't have this problem again tomorrow, as I have more snow to move, but it has gotten a bit cold outside. You guys and gals are the Greatest!!!!!!!


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## squerly (Aug 17, 2012)

Way to go Link!


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

If the battery is that effected by cold, it is nearing the end of it's service life, here in the cold country we often find a battery that worked well all summer will barely even light the warning lights when it turn cold. 

you might want to disconnect the tractors ground cable and put the trickle charger on for a couple of days, sometimes this smartens the battery up and you get a bit longer service out of it.


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