Has anyone hooked up a block heater with a trickle charger on a single feed line? Its cold here in central Oregon and I cant afford to have a low battery, or a diesel that wont turn over.

Thanks

Zeke

 

Get a timer... like this.

Amazon.com: Intermatic TN311C 120 Volt Heavy Duty Grounded Timer: Home Improvement

Make sure its rated for the block heater. 2 hours should do it.

 

I use the trickle charger (a BatteryMinder, actually) and don't worry about the block heater. If the batteries are good, it'll start.

If you want both, though, I don't see any reason why not.

I have my block heater and an oil pan heater connected together with one of these. It works pretty well when it's really, really cold and I want to use the heaters. You could use the same thing to hook up the charger and block heater at the same time.

Amazon.com: Yellow Jacket 2882 12/3 15-Amp SJTW Contractor 2-Foot Extension Cord with Lighted Power Block: Home Improvement

 

You should not need trickle charger. I was in -20F a month ago and left my 7.3 with nothing first night. Took me about 15 minutes of cranking in the morning to have it running.
Costco batteries had enough power for that.
Following night I had block heater running whole night and the engine started on first turn.

 

The older models have a battery blanket connected in parallel with the block heater, at least my '06 did. No need for a trickle charger, just set the timer to turn on the block heater 4 hours before you want to leave.

 

I run a trickle charger every night for a few hours, and if I know I'm going to use the truck the next day, I switch the extension cord from the charger to the block heater. Trickle chargers are good for our expensive batteries, and may help slightly warm them on the coldest of days. At 0F, you need all the help you can get firing up a 7.3! At 30F, I'm not sure I'd bother so much.