Operating heavy equipment in the cold

[Inquiring Mind]

Does heavy equipment ever get left on the job site in the extreme cold?

Does hydraulic fluid gel in the cold?

What tools are used to prevent the hydraulic fluid from gelling? Are they effective?

How long does it take for heavy machines to warm up before using them in the winter?

What takes the longest?

How is this downtime often used?

Thank you for your feedback!!

 

[walkerv]

I used to work for a demo company in mid Michigan. They would fire up all the equipment as soon as they got on the jobsite in winter and let everything idle while they went thru there morning briefing . They didn't change fluids for Winter time use they just let them warm up a bit longer

 

[kshansen]

One thing you have to be very careful about with some equipment is when oil is very cold pilot operated systems will be very slow to react. One machine we had a problem with was the 988B Cat front end loaders. If not allowed to warm up then move controls in each direction only enough to start movement then reverse direction they would keep turning in the same direction and bottom out say steering cylinders. Then as the pressure relief valves could not react fast enough with cold oil they would blow a hose.

Then there was the Terex R-35B trucks that if someone did not let them warm up slowly they would push the transmission filter can right down over the center bolt!

 

[Willie B]

I have close friends, practically family. They are a small four man crew. All their equipment is old, but functional. They start any machines they think they might need first thing in the morning. They plug in anything they can. They are set up to pump pickup anti freeze through equipment engines. It is filtered, but the practice concerns me. New truck anti freeze should not mix with antique excavator anti freeze. I favor the gun heater approach.

Sometimes plans change, and a machine doesn't get used that day. Often they forget, and it doesn't get shut off until next day. A TD7E has 27,000 hours on the engine. Probably a third of that is use.

Willie

 

[redneckracin]

Does heavy equipment ever get left on the job site in the extreme cold? -Yes

Does hydraulic fluid gel in the cold? It gets thick but I wouldn't call it gelling.

What tools are used to prevent the hydraulic fluid from gelling? Are they effective? -See post above

How long does it take for heavy machines to warm up before using them in the winter? - The colder the temp and the more fluid in the machine the longer it takes. Many times a light plant or generator can be set up and you can plug the block heaters in to help with start up. The new DEF machines can have the def fluid freeze up as well if there isn't a heater in the tank.

What takes the longest?

How is this downtime often used? -Coffee, Safety Meetings, Lost time. The cost of machinery use in the winter time goes up. When we would build locations in the winter time you almost can assume a 1.5 times cost factor for the same type of work.

Thank you for your feedback!!

See answers above.

 

[fast_st]

As long as your hydraulic fluid is in good shape and correct viscosity, ten minutes of warmup, half throttle should help. Extended idle may not be good and on my older equipment, the trans cooler and oil cooler circulate with the engine coolant, so warming up the coolant will start to warm up the hydraulics and transmission. No dice if there's a separate trans/hyd cooler.

I have had water contaminated oil cause problems, but change your filters on time and you shouldn't have any issues, a little warmup time is a good thing and start off slow.

 

[OFF]

All the oil are synthetic, right from the engine to the hubs. That makes it all possible. Diesel fired block heater on the engine is a must. When it's really cold, we don't shut the machines off. They run all night/week/month. There is a point however where the metal starts to fracture, seals are blowing out of cylinders and it's just not worth it to run the equipment anymore.
And when starting up a cold machine, you run it slowly and carefully through all the hydraulic functions to get the oil flowing and parts warming up before you ever think of operating it seriously........or seals will blow, things will break.

No big deal

 

[Former Wrench]

Here is one from my pipeline days. I was at the Prospect Creek camp in the winter/75. It was extremely cold; running from -20 to -65 F with no wind chill. The pipeline crosses Jim River on concrete structures. Because of the cold, very low water flow allowed access in the flood plain to install the footings.

There was a 1066 Koehring that had ran out of fuel and got cold. For days we went around the clock with new batteries, either blankets, and Herman Nelsons trying to get the thing to start so a big ripper tooth that was weld to the bucket could be used to break up the frozen river bottom. Finally after 4-5 days it fired off. The operator was being pushed by the dirt boss and did not exercise the hydraulics and blew a seal on a big cylinder on top of the boom. No problem, there was a spare back at the shop. We removed the retaining bolt and on the first strike to the pin with a sledge hammer and drift, the ear holding the cylinder broke off at the weld to the boom. It was all over. The lowboy came and took it back to the shop at camp. It took several days to get the cold out of the steel before it could be welded back together. I have never gone back to the interior in the winter to work. It is too cold for me and sometimes things go backwards no matter how hard you try.

 

[DIYDAVE]

One cold winter here, I had to fire up the ASV, with no power, at the house. Rather than go with a generator, I slid a coleman radiant tent heater, under the oil pan and let it simmer for a half hour. Started it, then slid the heater under the pumps, worked well, them things is handy to have. If you can't find the tent heater, use a single burner camp stove. Just be sure to make sure the component you are heating isn't leaky or coated in oil or grease...

 

[fast_st]

Webasto and Espar make some really awesome engine heaters, if I worked in the arctic, every machine would have one to keep it nice and cozy warm in the downtime.

 

[OFF]

Back in the old days before synthetic oils were invented, we used to cut the hydraulic oil 50/50 with kerosene to keep it flowing in the winter. Not sure that was good for the pumps, but I don't recall ever having a pump fail because of it. It's a matter of getting the job done, or not getting the job done.

Also used to use about a 6ft piece of 6" stove pipe with a 90 bend on the end to heat cold machines. Put a tiger torch in one end of the pipe, direct the "90" under the oil pan and let her cook. Didn't work so good on machines that had a lot of oil leaks. Smoke was the warning sign - fire soon to follow.

We wouldn't think of ever doing either of those things anymore. We're much more civilized now.