Cub Cold Weather Starting

[Matt Kirsch]

Just to prove that it is possible to start a Cub in the cold weather with nothing special, I'm starting on a series of videos where I'm going to start my '53 Cub.

Today's cold start is at around 32F.
SAE30 engine oil.

To top it off, I do a hand crank start.

[beaconlight]

Matt I had no trouble starting my Low Boy down to 10 degrees F. I never had a chance to start it when it was lower than that.

[Cecil]

yep Bill. It started today at 25 after sitting for 6 months. Put all the Cubs under cover for the winter. And before we got the snow storm tonight.

[Matt Kirsch]

Well, a lot of people seem convinced that it's not possible to start a Cub in cold weather without a lot of extra effort:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=75026

[Rudi]

Matt:

I will try to document my next start with Ellie. Right now it is -10C and I know that she will start right up no problem and have good oil pressure in seconds. I still haven't changed to 10w-30 oil. No time so far. Gord was here the other day, it was -18C which is 0.04F and Ellie started right up, built oil pressure quickly and settled down to a nice purr within seconds. Gord said he wished his started so easily and ran so smooth Needless to say, I was rather pleased with myself.

Enjoyed the video btw... looked like you were a little chilly

[ntrenn]

Some of us don't have hand cranks at our disposal and have to depend on batteries....

The coil voltage will be considerably higher while hand cranking which should facilitate starting.

In the battery world, cranking amps fall off pretty quickly. Not sure how accurate this calculator is, but it looks to be pretty close. For a group 75 sized battery, which will fit in the box, 650 CCA becomes 884 at 32 F, but dives to 457 at -20F. Also, the colder it is out, the lower the coil voltage during cranking so everything gets doubly bad as the temperature drops.

http://www.bgsoflex.com/ccatemp.html

I fired up the 63 today and pushed a little snow - but the guys about 30 miles north of me got the real snow - 8-10 inches..

[kthomas]

Matt,

Looks like she fired right up after minimal coaksing!

KT

[Eugene]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=75176&p=603070&hilit=+hand+crank+cub#p603070

Above, video on how to safely hand crank a Cub.

There were several safety violations demonstrated, present, in the original video on this topic.

[Matt Kirsch]

I did mention that I was demonstrating how to do it incorrectly...

[ad356]

yep Bill. It started today at 25 after sitting for 6 months. Put all the Cubs under cover for the winter. And before we got the snow storm tonight.

why do so many people put their cubs away for winter seems like they work well and after all thats what they are meant for, to work

[Eugene]

why do so many people put their cubs away for winter seems like they work well and after all that's what they are meant for, to work

I put my Cubs away because bigger, heavier tractors work much better in mud, slick wet grass, and snow. I have a grass incline to get to the upper areas on the acreage. If it's slick, my weighted Cub pulling a small trailer won't climb the incline, just spins.

My 2 each, WD Allis Chalmers weigh about 2 to 2 1/2 times the weighted Cub. No problem.

[Rudi]

why do so many people put their cubs away for winter seems like they work well and after all thats what they are meant for, to work

There are a number of folks who do that and have other tractors/equipment that will do the job for them and then there are those of us whose only tractors are Cubs and we use them year round. Yup, Cubs are meant for work and they do the job nicely as long as the job that they are asked to do is within their operating envelope. The only time that I need help with snow removal is when there is simply too much say 2 or 3 feet per snowfall or the snow is really heavy. My brother-in-law uses the Massey 1040 for that job when Ellie is simply snowed under for everything else, Ellie does the job admirably. I also have ladder chains so it won't ruin my blacktop and I left the splitter on this winter for added weight.

[beaconlight]

In the case of Cecil starting my Low Boy it is at his place since I sold the farm last spring.

As I have been told it is better to sell the farm than to "BUY THE FARM"

[Hengy]

I had a video at one time on YouTube of Merlin starting up on the first crank at -20F in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, my YouTube channel had some problems and I deleted it along with most of my videos... Merlin mainly gets most of his workouts during the cold months, and I love winter seat time!!

[pickerandsinger]

Hey Matt, if you want you can run up to Red Creek and start mine....Chompers is in the barn and Cubby in the garage....I'm in Florida.....Nice to see someone from the "area" shares my addiction.....Dave