Got a 6520 Mahindra that hates to start when its below 30. tried a lot of different things and can't figure out any real improvement. Have had other tractors that start easy at 5 degrees but this one just won't. I need to use it all winter and its a bear to get going up here when its 10 degrees F. Any suggestions?

Best put a block heater on it those always aid in winter operation

Thanks. Got what i think is a freeze plug type heater in it now. Doesn't seem to help. Is there a better kind? Posiible an oil or whole block heater. I think the Freeze plug just heats the coolant? I believe.

Arctic Fox products have been working well for me my local navistar truck dealer been putting them in international trucks which is what your tractor is basically

Got a 6520 Mahindra that hates to start when its below 30. tried a lot of different things and can't figure out any real improvement. Have had other tractors that start easy at 5 degrees but this one just won't. I need to use it all winter and its a bear to get going up here when its 10 degrees F. Any suggestions?
Define "hates to start".

Is there not a preheat sequence for the intake heater?
Does it simply roll over slow?
Smoke while cranking?
Starts on one, then two, then the rest of the cylinders?

Hot batteries, hold throttle wide open. Might even turn the fuel up. Don't know if it will help on that tractor but it does help on some.

Might even try a bigger crank battery or look for a bigger starter or change it over to a 24 volt system to turn it faster or try a magnet heat pad on oil pan. Also if it has glow plugs look and see if you can get hotter ones. Or just put it in a heated building

if you have block heater is it working, may need to put blanket over cowl to keep wind from pulling heat away from engine. other ideas are good, i like largest battery i can fit in battery tray, get oilpan pad heater and battery heater.

I think it hates you and you should burn it! Hehe

There have been lots of suggestions so far, all good ones.

Your freeze plug style heater is the same as most vehicles and tractors have. It does heat the coolant which will help heat the block (somewhat) and helps the engine warm up quicker once started.

Beyond that, answer the questions heymccal asked in post #5, and we'll go form there.

Appreciate all the ideas. Gives me some food for thought and a few things to try over the holidays. "hates" to start= it would rather I didn't try. Turns over but really strains battery. 1000 cold cranking amps, 184 dollar new battery, biggest I could stuff into it, didn't help. does create a bit of smoke with the first few cranks after which it weakens the battery and hardly cranks over. I have to put a charger on it to crank it over enough to get it to catch and start. All cylinders seem to start together. Not much hesitation. If I keep turning on the glow plugs, key on and off and on and off to keep them lit (about 30 times) it seems to help. I like the idea of a hotter glow plug or a way to keep the ones I have on longer. Buddy down the road says its just the wrong color. His green one starts easily ever time regardless of the temp. boggles my mind.

Hard starting is not a bad thing dont believe all the GREEN Speak you hear either i have a 656 D IH with over 11000 hrs and it requires glow plugs from 15 below all the way to 110 in the shade lol. Might also get your self a battery maintainer (Trickel Charger) it helps keep batterys up to snuff in cold conditions. Keeps them at max cause you loose some in the cold

You might want to take your glow plug relay out and check it for moisture. I had to do that on my skidloader. The relay was full of moisture and I shook it out and sprayed it out with WD40, The glow plugs work fine now. Before I cleaned the relay the gauges showed that the relay was cycling but it was evident that it was shorting out in the relay and the power was not getting to the glow plugs.

consider synthetic oil in the winter,might let it spin faster.check to see if the glow plug(s) are working.