I’ve seen several brands of 12v. defrosters for sale in truck stops (those old diesels never warmed up enough to warm the driver and keep the windows clear ). A search of trucking websites should help steer you away from the junk.
Where I live in Michigan, almost every AMC car I have ever seen had a plug-in block heater, usually a heater hose one, but since you don’t have a heater, that type won’t do you much good. Sorry.

I do not recommend using ether. It is hard on engines. A good block heater is your best bet. My XT has a Pre heater, although it works okay, a block heater is preferred. Warming the anti freeze which warms the block makes a huge difference. Our 6060 starts right up after 45 minutes with the block heater. It has ether also but we rarely use it. I have been wanting to install a block heater on my XT also but dread disconnecting all the plumbing to get to the freeze plug. Some day I will get to it.

Edited by AC720Man - 18 Oct 2020 at 9:19pm

Edited by NDBirdman - 18 Oct 2020 at 10:31pm

Try Surpluscenter.com, they have 2 listed on their site.  Alls it takes if you wanna do it on the cheap is a heater core and a fan, but then you have to rig up the ducting...

As for starting in the cold, just borrow the wife's hair dryer and stick in the air intake for a while before cranking it over. I've heard guys swear by that as an easy winter start helper for diesels.
 My little utility diesel(Red and Grey) will start really easy after just a half hour of the block heater running. That would be handy, if the power steering would ever warm up enough to work in the winter.

Thanks for the suggestions!  I'm thinking of a

Proheat Heavy Duty Fluid Reservoir Heater Model 1325 (500 Watts, 4.2 Amp, 120 Volts) Ideal for Oil Pans from 3 to 6 Gallons of Lube (12 to 25 Litres) and from 20 to 50 Gallons of Hydraulic Oil

A bit off topic, but it amazes me when you guys talk of heaters in the combine cabs, here on the left coast AC is imperative, it is usually 105-110 degrees or more. I did have to wear a jacket once when cutting safflower in November, other than that the cab is a sweat box without AC.

I'm frugal.  Is there anyway to hang some canvas on the sides and duct the engine heat back into the cab?  Heat housers used to do the job and with a cab to catch it all you should be toasty warm.  I don't have any sides on my little blower tractor, and it doesn't take long for the cab to get warm from the engine heat!

Depends on how long you are outside in it at a time....
You can kill two birds with one stone if you get one of these:
https://www.mrheater.com/product/heaters/buddy-series.html

They have them at Walmart, Tractor Supply, Dicks Sporting Goods, Home Depot, just about anywhere that sells sporting goods.  Good luck with it.  I haven't been out in ND for quite a few years hunting, but it's not as cold as WI I think.  Maybe a little windier....

You can put a tarp over the tractor and put the heater under it and warm it up nicely.  Then you take it and put it in the cab.  TADA.....problem solved and kind of cheaply.  I don't have a tractor with a housing on it (BRRRR) , but they start real easy with the tarp and heater underneath.


Edited by Ted J - 19 Oct 2020 at 4:14pm

Ted J wrote: You can put a tarp over the tractor and put the heater under it and warm it up nicely.

If your tractor needs just a little boost to start, try using windshield ice melt. Cheap, east to use and doesn't either lock. Works for me. Course I don't plan on being out there when it's that cold.       Leon

john(MI) wrote: I'm frugal.  Is there anyway to hang some canvas on the sides and duct the engine heat back into the cab?  Heat housers used to do the job and with a cab to catch it all you should be toasty warm.  I don't have any sides on my little blower tractor, and it doesn't take long for the cab to get warm from the engine heat!

This used to work great on the old open deck cats when I was young and dumb and the San Joaquin Tule Fog used to sit up on the hilltops with the East wind blowing like 60, you just can't put on enough clothes to get warm, but the canvases along the engine to the fuel tank made it great for everything below your shoulders as long as you didn't have a pusher fan.

The plug in the intake manifold that you speak of is actually a manifold heater. If wired properly, and working, it'll help tremendously, and safely with cold starts. Wire to it should come off a solenoid. Activated by turning the key switch to what is normally start position on other applications, and hold it there for 30 seconds to a minute, depending on how cold it is, then fire it up! Darrel

Wasn't there a post here  in the past year about putting a heat element in a 301 block? Someone removed a freeze plug near the rear of the block?

NDBirdman wrote: Thanks Darrel, it's there but disconnected before the plug and wrapped in electrical tape.  The wiring on this thing is a mess, I don't think it's connected at the switch.  I need to dig into it so I can hook up the lights and the heater.  I wish there was a way to talk to the previous owner but he no longer knows who/where he is so not possible. Any idea where the frost plug is so I could put a block heater in?

I will have to look at my XT to see where my block heater is at. I am not exactly sure how to test the manifold heater, but I am sure that an ohm meter would tell you a lot about it. Darrel