[AT] Cold weather starting

[Cecil R Bearden]

Having to feed cattle every day is really fun here in OKla where the 
wind comes sweeping down the plain...   7 deg tonight with a 25 to 35mph 
wind gusting to 40mph.  That puts the wind chills way below zero.  Since 
the NH TS110 is out of service, and the Belarus 8345 has a  hole in the 
tire,  I am down to the Belarus 822 for my utility tractor.  It refused 
to start without pulling  3 times last week So Monday I went to my 
favorite battery place and bought 2 ea Group 31 1000 CCA batteries.  If 
I would have used stud posts instead of lead, I could have used 1150 
CCA.  I got the lead posts because I thought the cables were good on the 
tractor.  Was fooled some when I started installation.  The Belarus uses 
2 batteries for 24V start and 12V run.  It originally had Group 27 
batteries that would give 750 CCA max....  I have converted most all of 
my equipment to use the same battery group.  They cost $90 each, but 
keeping everything the same saves a lot of time when a key is left on or 
something crazy happens..  After I hit the starter switch and it fired 
on the second revolution, I let it run for about an hour and then 
drained the oil and replaced it with 5W-30 instead of the 30WT that it 
had.  It has a couple of leaks, but I can watch the level and the leaks 
for this winter.  I had 2 sheds built to put the tractors in and they 
are now full of stuff  that cannot get wet until I can get those piles 
worked down...  I was able to buy some high power lights from the Tulsa 
fairgrounds arena to use for lights in my shop, and they could get wet, 
but I would prefer not until they are installed.

I need to feed some hay again this morning and the wind chill is below 
zero, so I guess will see if that problem is solved.  Next chore is to 
replace the trackhoe bucket hose that is 9 ft in the air...  With this 
wind, that is going to be a really cold job...  I know it is not as cold 
as Ralph has to endure, but for OKla, this is cold.  they are closing 
some schools because of the wind chill..........

Cecil in OKla

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