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Do you "cool down" your equipment?

9K views 33 replies 24 participants last post by  clydebusa 
#1 ·
Hey guys, i have a 25 year old guy working for me this year, running my Kobelco sr35, Taki TL130 and a 650J.....he NEVER lets stuff cool down just stops and turns of the key with no cool down time at all....sometimes I start a piece, and the throttle is still wide open. He has been operating for about 6 years, and is amazing in the TL 130 and the dozer, but this bugs the he** out of me. I have always been taught to let the equipment cool down for a few minutes before shutting it off. Especially with turbo charged equipment.
I always give my iron time to warm up and cool down....

Thoughts?
 
#7 ·
I was taught that diesel engines need to run at idle, or just above idle for a couple minutes....it bugs me when stuf doesn't get warmed up and cooled down properly. But, I have heard that the new tier 4 iron doesn't require much cool down, something to do with the new emisions and DPF.
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#13 ·
Turbocharged machines have to be cooled down so that the oil doesn't bake in the turbo, give the oil a minute or two to drain.
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#14 ·
yup what has been said before. Got to give the turbo a brake after running them hard.

if the turbo is stopped without cooling a bit the oil that is there burns from the high heat and "coaks" the bearing surface.
 
#15 ·
I try to let stuff warm up and cool down, I run machines at 1/4 throttle till the motor warms up some then turn it up to operating speed. Im bad about not letting the small machines cool down but they don't have turbos either. I always throttle stuff down to idle before cutting them off.

On all the big equipment I let it run for a few minutes to cool down. I pretty much park it and by the time I sweep the floor off and get all my stuff gathered up from the cab its cooled off and ready to cut off.

now my uncle likes to switch it right off and you can just hear the turbo still whistling
 
#19 ·
Cool everything down here. I have a grasshopper with a gas Kohler that backfires extremely loud if you don't cool it down.

Anyone that forgets drives that for the day to "help" there memory.

Then of course, the rest of the crew heckles the he!! Out of them for the day for causing minor heart stoppages.
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#21 ·
Helll if he is working for you and you want the engines cooled down before turning them off, then that's what should happen. If you want him to dance around the machine 3 times before shutting it off, then so it shall be written. Personally if its the machines been working hard, I let it cool down before shutting it off. What can it hurt, to let it idle a few extra minutes.
 
#22 ·
Helll if he is working for you and you want the engines cooled down before turning them off, then that's what should happen. If you want him to dance around the machine 3 times before shutting it off, then so it shall be written. Personally if its the machines been working hard, I let it cool down before shutting it off. What can it hurt, to let it idle a few extra minutes.
Those were exactly my thoughts...you 're the boss. I let my trucks and equipment warm up and cool down. Longer on the warm up. It actually drives me nuts when I'm running a machine and I have to shut it off because someone comes up and has a question. Sometimes they have to wait or talk loud.
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#23 ·
Get him to read the owner's manual.

From a Kawasaki manual:

Warming up - After the engine starts, move the throtle lever on the quipment to halfway between FAST and SLOW. To warm up an engine, run it for 3 to 5 minutes with the throttle lever in the same load position (halfway) before putting the equipment under load.

Stopping the engine - Move the throttle lever to the SLOW position. Keep running at the idle speed for about one minute.

I always go by the book... ;)
 
#24 ·
I grease my machines at the end of the day and leave them idle during that time to cool down... also cycle stuff while greasing so it needs to be on. I always let stuff warm up. At lunch I let the machine idle down a minute or 2 or more depending what I was doing.

Ever started an excavator when it's 0* out? I let the motor warm up for 10 minutes then I slowly work the hydraulics until it isn't so thick anymore. My DX180 has a fuel heater and hyd heater on a toggle so that helps too.

Usually stuff doesn't get shut off till the end of the day in the winter. Not worth it. Very cold starts are never good for a motor.
 
#25 ·
i let my 2154 deere processor cool down while i grease at the end of the day in the summer.. i usually reverse my hyd engine fan and blow there dust out of the rad then let it idle, gives the oil more time to run through the coolers and cool down. Seems to work. don't have any crisp hoses or o rings and we work in hot hot dry sumer conditions
that extra 15 minutes or so a day does add up up on a hour meter over a year. But with jdlink now, Its easy to show high load hours and idle hours and not to worry much about whats on the clock but how hard the machines actually worked in its life.
 
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