It pours, this past summer seemed like I couldn't get any work now the phone rings off the hook . I told my wife, thirty five years ago when we could work day light to dark we couldn't get many jobs now when I am about wore out I have work coming out of my ears.
Nice problem to have especially in this economy. We sure don't have the same problem here, but I'm glad someone does.
Good to hear that Autocar.Timber market is still a little soft but some tree harvest going on in my neck of the woods.Keep that tree farmer skidder blowing smoke & draggin logs Autocar.:thumbsup
Prices are pretty good over here for walnut and white, bur, swamp oak. reds picking up but still plenty soft. Ash is another matter with the borer all around use now. For sure the old treefarmer screams with the 4/53 turbo guys tell me they keep track of me on cold calm winter days just by the sound it makes One thing in my favor we have big logs and they seem to be a hotter item then small logs.
My BIL has a Treefarmer with a 3-53 in it.It is the only skidder he ever had.He keeps rebuilding it.I'll bet he bought it used back in the late '70's,early '80's.Ron G
Ron a friend of mine has a old C5 with a 3/53 it can be 15 below and it will start like a early winter morning. My 4/53 starts pretty hard in the winter,I rewired the starter for 12 volts it seems to turn fast enough but maybe 24 would spin it faster I don't know. Been considering buying one of those jumper battery systems you see at parts stores and trying that once.
He has to deal with the Maine winters and he works every day or did until the economy went bad.He preheats his but I have forgotten how now.I don't think that he ever came home because it would not start for him.I'll bet he has replaced a half dozen engines by this time,it burnt up a few years ago due to some wiring in the battery box which he blamed himself for and he rebuilt it completely,new paint and all.Ron G
What type of batteries are you using and how many? If you have a big enough battery box, two group 31 batteries wired parallel should crank that engine fine. A Detroit that starts hard typically indicates it's a little tired, but that doesn't mean it is about to give it up, they can run for years like that. I would consider putting an either injection system on it, it shoots a measured shot of either to the intake to assist in starting.
There is an old saying common around even older operators/drivers like myself "if a Detroit will turn over it will start no matter how cold it gets as long as you have ether". I don't know how big his battery box is but I can promise you,if nothing else,he will have all the battery that he can store on the skidder and probably a battery charger to boot. I think that they use a tent and probably a propane heater if the engine won't turn over. 20 degrees below and more is not uncommon in that area.Ron G
reminds me of the quote "ether it will go or ether it will blow". Most all of the older 2 cycle detroits like their sniff of gas in the morning.
yup got to agree ..........got a 4-53 here nicknamed lil snort, and a 4-71 here nicknamed big snort!
Autocar; Back when antifreeze was all the same we would use quick disconnects and plug the truck into the skidder hoses and warm the engine. The truck was always up to temp by the time we got to the woods. This worked good on the C-7 Treefarmer that I worked with. There was about 7 skidders on these jobs in the winter. Just a thought for easier starting.
The ether injection is a great add on.My boat had a Detroit 6V71TA that never started great once it got cold right from the day it was made. I added the premeasured ether setup,and an additional 3rd 8D battery that i rigged with a seperate soleniod wired to a toggle switch in the wheelhouse,so on those frigid -20 degree mornings she would almost always fire on the first attempt. The 3rd battery made 1 hell of a difference in cranking speed,when i first added it,id just leave the toggle on for awhile after starting to keep it fully charged,eventually i added another alternator to help share some of the power load,deck lights,tons on electronics,tv,microwave,inverter,etc.Having the 3rd battery saved the day more than once. It was a great feeling when you hit the starter on just the main batterys,and you got a very slow rrrrrrrrr,or worse,click,click,you just flip the switch,and hit the starter button,and away she goes.
Atcoequip when I had the injectors put in it last spring the fellow told me the back two cylinders were weak. And I put a eather injector on it which dose help, my thoughts were to get one of those battery bosters they sell at parts store and try that once. When I bought the skidder it had two batterys 24 volt I believe, but that was years ago and money was far and few between so I put a 12 volt starter on it and went with a single battery.The quick coupler idea with the water system from truck to tractor sounds like a good idea also. Every now and then I get it in my head to pull the motor out and buy myself a big block where the heads and everything is on it except the blower, starter ect. Any opinions on that ? I saw in a truck book where they sell them for under four grand.
There may be a good booster pack out there, and I'm not going to say there isn't one, just I haven't found a good one yet. If you're set up for 12V starter and alternator, it should be fine, but seriously, if you would wire up at least two group 31 batteries parallel, three would be even better, it should crank your engine fine. The big amp group 31 batteries are over 1000 CCA each.
ether is like crack. give her one shot and she's hooked for life.
I have to agree with the ether addiction, and its not detroits ive seen it with cats cummins and even a 7.3 ford
Hilton makes a engine heater that uses lp gas and a catalist and you have a 25amp draw for about 5 minutes to heat the catalist and after that its only a few miliamps of draw or basically nothing, so fire up the heater when the engines is still running and after the catalist is hot the heater is working and shut the engine off and come back tomorrow morning and your engine is warm and will start right up, have that unit on my 3-53 detroit in my trencher, works great and a warm engine rolls faster than a cold engine. I added an lp gas changeover kit so I have two tanks [20lb] and that way it switches over to the full tank when one runs empty. Just a suggestion for working in really cold weather and are having problems starting the detroit.