Air cleaner

[Newt419]

I have a YM 2000. Ive been thinking about adding a pre-cleaner or atleast re-route the air inlet from under the hood. Anybody done this? I dont want to cut holes in my hood but also dont want to restrict air flow from have to many bends in the inlet pipe.

 

[rhett]

Hi again Newt419,

Just finished doing the Air filter change too. It looked as if a Bird was building a nest inside the Air filter housing, so I also am looking into a pre-filter or actually just a screen of some sort to keep larger debris from being drawn into the housing. Same principle of the chafe screen in front of the radiator. It should be very easy to be kept clean by rinsing, the finer the screen mesh the better, also a large screen surface area is a plus for 14 hours a day of seat time.

I can only suggest to be creative.

 

[California]

Do you guys have the rubber hose that intakes air ahead of the radiator and carries it to the air filter? It should be easy to install a pre-filter made for some other tractor at the front end of that hose.

Also several US versions of Yanmar had an American air filter assembly (Donaldson??) with a proper pre-filter. I assume that was a generic-fit assembly you can likely still buy off the shelf, spec'd for a Bobcat or something.

As for me - I'll just keep changing the element frequently, to keep everything simple. And I like the Hoye elements that have a felt gasket on the top of the filter element.

One more thing: replace the rubber throat seal between the filter housing and the intake manifold if it isn't perfect. I got a replacement from Hoye. After this and with the felt-gasketed element, I'm confident that no dirty air is going in.

 

[rhett]

Hey California,

Yes there is a hose that puts the air intake forward and out of the cowling. My problem is that large pieces of straw and the like are drawn into it nestling between the filter element and the filter housing. Literally it looked like a Bird was building a nest in there.

Sure it will be very easy to add another filter element. Though not my suggestion. My intention is only to screen larger debris to prevent debris nestling in the cavity of the filter housing, also being easy to keep clean from the larger debris, not clogging the filter prematurely. Clipping fields that are 3 to 5 foot in growth not only clogs the Radiator Chafe Screen, the Intake seems to grab some too.

If I would have taken a picture, it would describe much better than my attempt at wording. Still try to think of it being similar and serving a similar purpose to the Radiator Screen.

My first try will be of Hardware Cloth wrapped with screen, replacing the rubber tube thingy.

Oh, as the external screen becomes clogged with debris, it is a reminder to inspect the rest of the filter system.

 

[284 International]

Before I started teaching, I worked in a fabrication shop building dune buggies and SCORE type desert race trucks. We used coarse foam sprayed with motorcycle air filter oil as pre-filters on those machines, but discovered that probably the best combination of traits is provided by Outerwears type pre-filters. It's similar to ripstop nylon, but lets air pass through quite well, while stopping sand and any moderately coarse dust. A quick brushing off of the pre-filter removes any contaminants, and air filter life is greatly extended.

They sell generic covers, as well as bulk material to build your own. It would be simple to rig a cage that fits into the rubber snorkel that holds the pre-filter.

I know some Yanmars came with a cyclone style pre-filter that seems to be a universal design for these sorts of machines. That would likely require drilling or fabrication a bracket of some sort, but parts should be simple to source, and it's designed for the purpose.

 

[Newt419]

You are exactly right. Whenever i am mowing tall grass, ecspecialy when it is as dry as it has been lately, it clogs the filter very quick. I believe the cooling fan contributes to this problem. But i also have another reason for wanting to move the intake hose. I think it would benefit the engine (power/performance) if it could draw cooler air. The air under the hood while working hard is very hot. If you doubt how hot it is, next time you are running a bush hog, try it with flip flops on. You cant stand the heat I promise. (And yes I found this out the hard way). Either way hot intake air and or hot fuel can cause a pretty good drop in horse power and performance as well as fuel economy. I have always thought that the intake hose was in a bad location because the fan is forcing even more hot ait down the intake as well as dirt.

 

[jonyyuma]

I vote for the power loss from the engine heat...I ran my Bota , with tiller last week. I was wearing shorts and sneakers, blasts of hot air heating my lower body...Cool air equals better power...

 

[clemsonfor]

"hot fuel" lowers deisel HP? It has to combust. I would have thought this would help, maybe it combusts to easy that way?

 

[ninefinger]

Search this forum "Improved Yanmar Air Intake". I remember having read this and when time permits will use a lot of the ideas here to reroute mine. I was thinking about using what I think is an oil bath filter that is on old Fords but do not know if they are pre filters or filters.

 

[Newt419]

"hot fuel" lowers deisel HP? It has to combust. I would have thought this would help, maybe it combusts to easy that way?

Yes it may not make sense but hot fuel/air ruins HP. Some bigger engines even have fuel coolers as well as air coolers. Cooler air is always better

 

[clemsonfor]

Yes it may not make sense but hot fuel/air ruins HP. Some bigger engines even have fuel coolers as well as air coolers. Cooler air is always better

I totally understand and know cool air makes more hp. As it allows you to pack more air into a given area as it is not as dense, cool air rises. But the fuel never realized. I know in gas its a problem but did not realize in diesel it was.

You do know were talking about engine making far less than 30 hp. I really dont think you will notice a difference, personally.

 

[California]

Like clemsonfor said - I doubt anything you could do would make a noticeable difference.

Does anybody really load these Yanmars so hard, continually, that it will barely hold working RPM? If not then the HP is already sufficient.

I would trade up to a larger tractor before spending money to squeeze out more HP than Yanmar's designers built it for. In my opinion they already got everything right. Restoring to original performance is the only worthwhile investment, in my opinion.

 

[Ginormous]

Before I started teaching, I worked in a fabrication shop building dune buggies and SCORE type desert race trucks. We used coarse foam sprayed with motorcycle air filter oil as pre-filters on those machines, but discovered that probably the best combination of traits is provided by Outerwears type pre-filters. It's similar to ripstop nylon, but lets air pass through quite well, while stopping sand and any moderately coarse dust. A quick brushing off of the pre-filter removes any contaminants, and air filter life is greatly extended.

They sell generic covers, as well as bulk material to build your own. It would be simple to rig a cage that fits into the rubber snorkel that holds the pre-filter.

I know some Yanmars came with a cyclone style pre-filter that seems to be a universal design for these sorts of machines. That would likely require drilling or fabrication a bracket of some sort, but parts should be simple to source, and it's designed for the purpose.

Just ordered a pre-filter cover from Outerwears. I'll let you know how it works out. :thumbsup:

 

[Newt419]

Like clemsonfor said - I doubt anything you could do would make a noticeable difference.

Does anybody really load these Yanmars so hard, continually, that it will barely hold working RPM? If not then the HP is already sufficient.

I would trade up to a larger tractor before spending money to squeeze out more HP than Yanmar's designers built it for. In my opinion they already got everything right. Restoring to original performance is the only worthwhile investment, in my opinion.[/QUOTE


My point was not really to gain HP. Im not trying to "sqeeze" anything. My point was engine performance and engine life. I build and dyno diesel engines for a living and I know the problems that dirt and over heated fuel and air can cause in the long run. Im not trying to make a hot rod. I just want my engine to breathe cleaner cooler air. These are just a few factors that contribute to heat in the engine, and Im not talking water temp.

 

[California]

I wish I knew you have a dyno!

I was thinking that only someone with access to a dyno can accomplish anything useful by adjusting parameters. Since you do - you are the only poster here I know of who can verify that performance is up to spec, and see the effect of changes. I think most people who start changing stuff just imagine better performance afterward if they have no way to verify it. (At least changes short of adding a turbo! )

I agree that clean air is very important to get full life out of the engine. But after taking care of that, I expect any Yanmar will meet horsepower specifications after repairs to bring it up to original condition. I'm not convinced that modification beyond that is worthwhile.

 

[284 International]

...as it is not as dense, cool air rises...

Cool air is denser compared to warm air, and so is the fuel. Since there is "more" fuel or oxygen in the same space, you can get a little more power.


Ginormous, I'm interested to see how your pre-filter fits and works. What style did you get?


Newt419, what kind of engines do you build? Will your dynamometer work for your tractor? What type is it?

 

[Car Doc]

I have talked to my JD dealer thats near by and their pto dyno wont go below about 100 hp so us small tractor guys are pretty much out of luck. I would like to know myself how mine is performing.

 

[284 International]

I know that California had his 186D dyno tested at a dealer up in northern California, so there are small PTO dynamometers available and out in the system. It does seem like a fun toy, but I would expect there are very expensive, and probably a low-use item in practice. For instance, my 186D feels like it is slightly down on power, but it runs cleanly, does not have any blow-by, starts easily and quickly without any preheating, and so forth. It pulls smoothly, it just feels weak off full rated RPM.

If I had a dealer around with a dyno, I wouldn't spend $100 to get it tested. It's got to be close to rated power for it to exhibit all the traits of normalcy, and if it gave me a rating of 13.5 hp, I wouldn't do an engine rebuild to gain the 1.5 horses back.

Around here there are lots of inertia dynos, where the vehicle accelerates a rolling drum to derive horsepower, but I don't think those types would give very accurate results, especially with deliberately and artificially heavier wheels and tires, combined with low speeds attainable as far as acceleration goes anyway. Does anyone have experience with this?

 

[Car Doc]

The most useful hp rating on tractors is pto wheel hp is meaningless after the point you run out of traction.

In the old days they used drawbar hp and that is obsolete it measure pulling power and was a gage is all it made more difference having traction than anything.

 

[284 International]

I think you're right about PTO horsepower being the most useful for our purposes, Car Doc. It's the best representation of what the engine is capable of putting through the driveline of the machine, whether to the axles, the PTO outputs, hydraulic pump, or whatever else.

When I was young, a great uncle had a steam tractor very similar to this one I've attached. It was rated at, as I recall, something like 16 or 17 horsepower. Drawbar horsepower is dependent on weight, traction, gearing, and engine power, and is more useful to agricultural tillage work since it can be used to figure out how much acreage can be worked in what amount of time, along with how much fuel is consumed to do it. Somehow I doubt my YM2000 will outwork that steam tractor for plowing fields! :laughing:

I know using an inertia dyno isn't going to give me comparable numbers to a PTO measurement. I was just curious if anybody has experimented with them in general.