Try using starting fluid on a diesel with a intake heater and see what happens........
Large locomotive engines don't have grid heaters or glow plugs but most new units do have pre-lube pumps. Turbo EMDs in particular tend to have them wired directly to the battery, and we're supposed to leave the turbo lube breaker turned on even after manually shutting down a unit and opening the main battery switch.
CAT engines in heavy equipment like tractors and bulldozers used to have both glow plugs and a small gasoline 'pony engine' instead of an electric starter motor, along with a decompression handle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck210eL9qcI
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
And a late reply to a thread dormant since August:
As I recall the Cat equipment I was around did not have glow plugs unless it had electric start. The pony engines provided heat as well as cranking by circulating common coolant through both engines. There may well have been models that had both, I just never knew of them. Diesel John Deere tractors before the 4000 series also had pony motor starting as an option on the diesel models, I do not remember any other farm equipment sold in the 60's that had this feature.
PR
Glow plugs are electrical with a high current requirement. This would necessitate that the pony engine be equipped with a generator, alternator or magneto to supply the required electricity in the absence of a battery. Since the purpose of a glowplug is to reduce the time needed to build up appropriate combustion heat, the purpose is served by 'extended' pony cranking against compression (full or reduced) and the aforementioned common coolant heating, which serves the same purpose as an electric block heater.
Batteries are relatively sensitive and require careful maintenance, neither of which is sensible for a piece of construction equipment used 'out in the woods' in what may be severe climate conditions and potentially not started for protracted periods of time.
Some pony engines had an electric starter in addition to the hand crank or pull cord, or at least were retrofitted with one, which of course means the machine carried a battery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGLUib62yys
The bit about glow plugs came from a discussion with a friend who used to operate a dozer on the farm or jobsites like pipelines. I almost wonder if theirs was a cold weather option for regions like western Canada or perhaps a one-off unit with an engine that had been rebuilt with a head that already had glow plugs. At any rate they were able to get it started pretty much anywhere and in any weather.
SD70DudeSome pony engines had an electric starter in addition to the hand crank or pull cord, or at least were retrofitted with one, which of course means the machine carried a battery. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGLUib62yys The bit about glow plugs came from a discussion with a friend who used to operate a dozer on the farm or jobsites like pipelines. I almost wonder if theirs was a cold weather option for regions like western Canada or perhaps a one-off unit with an engine that had been rebuilt with a head that already had glow plugs. At any rate they were able to get it started pretty much anywhere and in any weather.
Electric starter motor had all it could do to get the pony motor started.
YouTuber Andrew Camarata has a number of pieces diesel powered construction equipment of multiple flavors in addition to a 'castle' he built out of intermodal containers on his rural property in New York state. In various videos he fires up the equipment whenever and wherever needed - seemingly with little difficulty for the most part. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYMBN1CD378
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
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