today, a guy left his backhoe running for 5 straight hours without even useing it............
ribuckeye is correct. A diesel engine operates off of the principal of heat. They do not run well, or operate efficiently until they are warmed up. If you were ever to go to a railroad yard, you would find that the locomotive's diesel engine is rarely ever shut off. However with the high cost of diesel fuel, many trucking companies now require their drivers to shut off the engine when it is not in use, as a cost savings measure.
Depends on the weather outside. Most large truck diesel engines have a built-in heater and you literally plug them into a socket to keep the engine warm in order to start it. These trucks you've seen left on probably had no access to a socket so they left their engine on to keep it warm. When you see a tractor trailer cab left on its because the driver's in it sleeping or using the appliances in it.
Diesel engines are designed to work. My understanding is repeated starting and stopping is hard on a diesel. Tractors, big rigs, and usually construction equipment get started once and then worked all day. However, the equipment in question should have been shut off when they realized they would not be needing it. 5 hours? out of control.
Truck drivers leave their rigs running because 1) They are asleep and it is hot outside so they are running the A/C 2) They are asleep and it is cold outside so they are running the heater. 3) It used to be said that a rig used up more fuel when you turned it off and on compared to just running it. Depends how long, like restroom breaks, paying for their fuel. A typical big rig uses 1 gallon of fuel an hour just idling. Most trucking companies are finding other ways to keep the driver comfortable while he is sleeping. As for the backhoe operator, I cant answer.
because they run much more efficiently when they are hot and use less fuel. it takes a lot of fuel to finally get the engine running hot , so once it is hot they leave it on and believe it or not they save fuel.
