I seen people putting cardboard over their radiators in Alaska. Probably works for chainsaws until it gets too wet.
In this frigid sht hole, cardboard is not enough to keep the cold out of the engine bay. Back in 2017 when I was still kinda green to Interior Alaska living, I thought cardboard was sufficient, in front of my radiator on my old dodge truck.
Back then, I was doing 14 consecutive 12 hr shifts (2 weeks on 2 weeks off) on the Trans Alaska Pipeline. After finishing my rotation, the temperature dropped to 57 below zero. My coolant looked like a green slushy. I wanted to get the fk outta there and drive south to better temps for my 2 weeks off. Truck was plugged in at a bunk house all night and still, barely cranked over.
After a couple hrs of driving, I only made it as far as Salcha. My battery was completely drained. An air intake grid heater on the cummins diesel stayed on permanently and drained the battery. The alternator couldn't keep up. Drove with no head lights all the way to North Pole. Emergency pit stop at a cabin rental, I plugged the truck in overnight. I ended up fastening a tarp over the entire grill. The intake grid heater stayed off for the rest of the 6 hour drive south.
In this hard cold, a bib covering the entire grill is a must, carboard being insufficient.
Same deal with chainsaws. The bottom 2/3 of the flywheel fins are always blocked to keep the saw warm. All 592 xp's and many other husq models sent up here to Alaska have that blue plastic bib included in the box as standard equipment.
Even generators get full bibs round my home stead.
If u dont have a bib, still purdy easy to tape off the flywheel vents. A little red bottle de-icer sure is handy too! Good stuff to free iced-up parts!
I personally think strato saws run like sht in the 30 below zero ambient temps i still cut in. I do have a heated 2172 that does ok. Even then, the carb heater doesnt work very well on the strato air part of the carb. Only the air fuel side.
