Cab Heater

I am working up a universal cab heater that should cost less than $200. The price of the Ranger specific ones are just nuts. I will do a post to explain the process with pics when I get all the materials.

Good deal Handy. Look forward to the details. I don't really need a heater, but one for less than two-Benjamin's. I'm in!!!!

Can't wait to see what you have cooking... I never thought about having a heater before, but I know my kids would appreciate it this winter.  As of late I've been considering one.  Looking forward to seeing what you have come up with!

I should be a really good deal. It will be a 16,000BTU hot water heater with a 2 speed fan switch. Working on some ducting ideas now for defrosters as well as floor heat. I will keep everyone posted on my progress!

I finally got the cab heater ordered. Should be here in a few days. Getting all the other odds and ends rounded up. It should be easy to stay under the $200 mark if it all works out like I think it will.

Good deal handy.

Well, it is done!! But my friends I must admit that I failed. I could not keep the total install less than the $200 mark.  My total cost including antifreeze was $243.39. But this number was a true total of parts, taxes and shipping. Only thing not in this is Kerosene for the garage heater and the beer.  I did have some of the materials here but the added cost to buy everything would not be that much more. Here is a list of the parts I had to buy and there cost.

Heater including shipping and handling.                $166.48
Antifreeze and 5' of heater hose                           $  21.29
Pipe tee's, 1/2" street elbows, 1-1\2" hose clamps $  31.09
Heater control valve and push pull cable                $  24.53                          

Total cost                                                            $243.39

I will get the pictures up loaded in the next day or so and do a step by step post.

Okay, got the photos uploaded. Here is the process.

Before picture.
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Now the finished heater installed.
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Here are the adapters for the coolant lines. These are made from 1" x 1/2" x 1" Tees and 1/2" street elbows.
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I installed a couple of braces under the hood to help support the weight of the heater. Don't know if I really had to, but had the stuff and it sounded like a good idea.
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I had to drill the holes for the hoses.
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The heater came prewired with the two speed switch in the housing. I only had the hot wire to hook up. The supplied wire and fuse holder were long enough to reach the 3 lug block under the hood. I added a ground wire from the frame to the heater mounting bracket since the dash is all plastic. In this picture you can see the hot wire and the switch.
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Here is where I tied in the hoses and the heat control valve.
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I know this is not the perfect way it do the install. I tried to do this as budget friendly as I could. It does take a little for the engine to get hot enough to circulate the coolant, but once it does, the heater puts out some nice heat.
I have only ridden around the back yard a little so far. I have not had to plow with it yet. I believe it will do fine. If I find that it does not, I will add a thermostat adapter so the heater works all the time weather the thermostat is open or not. The added cost is around $80. It will still be a less expensive install than many of the others I have seen.
Total install time is about 7 hours. Part of that is me, my left leg and hip don't work that well anymore since my accident and it was hard getting up and down under the dash. Not much room in the mid-size. :-)
One last picture from the driver side.
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I plowed for the first time with the heater last night. It worked like a charm. I had to turn it off for a bit because the cab got so warm. Now granted, it was not real cold, around 30 ish or so, but it got really toasty. It did take a little to get warm but once it did it was really nice!!

I know this is an older post, just wanted to update the information. This thing works GREAT!!  It was -2℉ and I plowed the driveway. All I had on was a tee shirt, sweat shirt, jeans,  thin pair of gloves and a hat. I was warm in the cab with the heater on low fan. This is by far, the BEST money I have spent in a long time!!
Oh, one more thing. I originally was going with a 16,000 btu heater. The one I wound up getting and is in the pics is a 20,000 btu. Just to clarify.