961 getting warm while brush hogging

[wmonroe]

I presume your Ford 961 is a gasoline? If your rpms are running high for a long time with your hogging chores,I would ,also, consider running your carb a little richer for cooling. I would check your oil,too, for any milky traces so you can rule out a head gasket or cracked block. If you can get away with hogging the light stuff at a lower rpm setting,you will ,also, reduce heat naturally produced by the motor. good luck and keep us informed.

It is a propane tractor and runs very well, the grass i was hogging was not very tall so i was running about 1500 - 1700 rpm (1850 is pto rpm). The oil looks very good, clean and a golden honey color. Hoping maybe next weekend to spend some time working on it to see what I can find out.

 

[Soundguy]

there is absolutely no need to enrich the mix to mow.

the cooling system is QUITE adequate to handle max pto output for extended intervals.

enriching the mix will foul the plugs and waste fuel.

i have a 950 with an import car rad that is 3/4's the volume and size of the oem radiator and I can more fine with it.

I have an 850 that has half the tubes pinched off and soldered up int he rad where the fan kissed it years ago. it never overheats.

if the cooling system is up to snuff and the thermostat is present and working.. it should cool fine. i would make sure it is not running LEAN however..

soundguy

I presume your Ford 961 is a gasoline? If your rpms are running high for a long time with your hogging chores,I would ,also, consider running your carb a little richer for cooling. I would check your oil,too, for any milky traces so you can rule out a head gasket or cracked block. If you can get away with hogging the light stuff at a lower rpm setting,you will ,also, reduce heat naturally produced by the motor. good luck and keep us informed.

 

[RickB]

It is a propane tractor and runs very well, the grass i was hogging was not very tall so i was running about 1500 - 1700 rpm (1850 is pto rpm). The oil looks very good, clean and a golden honey color. Hoping maybe next weekend to spend some time working on it to see what I can find out.

I didn't read anything particularly scary except for some of the gloom & doom responses. First thing I'd do is spend $50 on a non-contact infrared thermometer and see exactly how hot the thermostat housing and upper rad hose are getting. The gauge may be reading a little higher than usual, but there is no evidence that the tractor is overheating, the radiator cap has failed, or that anything is terribly wrong. Let's find out exactly how hot this tractor is getting before throwing parts at it.

 

[Soundguy]

34$ at harbor freight.. less if you have a 20% coupon!


soundguy

 

[wmonroe]

I didn't read anything particularly scary except for some of the gloom & doom responses. First thing I'd do is spend $50 on a non-contact infrared thermometer and see exactly how hot the thermostat housing and upper rad hose are getting. The gauge may be reading a little higher than usual, but there is no evidence that the tractor is overheating, the radiator cap has failed, or that anything is terribly wrong. Let's find out exactly how hot this tractor is getting before throwing parts at it.

Thats a good idea that i hadn't thought of and i already have a infrared thermometer. Next time i have it out i will take the thermometer with me and get numerous reading and see what it is actually doing.
What temperature is the thermostat supposed to be opening at, 190*?

 

[Carykong]

I am wondering how long your tractor has been converted to propane? Propane is super clean,yet could impact on engine wear around the valve seats causing higher heat values than a conventional gassy. I don't know the proper heat range for your tractor in regard to exhaust manifold temp but that would be a point of interest,too,just comparing expected manifold temp for a gassy vs a propane. Interesting thread. Does your tractor engine run a bit too hot,also, without a load?

 

[Soundguy]

any reason to believe it wasn't a factory propane job?

what's the model id on the tranny say?

I have a few propane machines converted to gas.

comp ratio is about the only real difference i know of.. plus the engines were much cleaner than regualr 60yr old gassers I normally see.

soundguy

 

[wmonroe]

any reason to believe it wasn't a factory propane job?

what's the model id on the tranny say?

I have a few propane machines converted to gas.

comp ratio is about the only real difference i know of.. plus the engines were much cleaner than regualr 60yr old gassers I normally see.

soundguy

My wifes grandfather, whom i bought it from, told me it was a factory propane machine but i'm not 100% sure. Where on the tranny is the model id, i can get out towards the end of this week to check it out?

 

[wmonroe]

Just an update of where i'm at with this, last Monday i was going to do some light mowing and i couldn't keep the temp at the normal level. It wasn't overheated but running hotter than it should have been, so i decided to tear into it to find out what was going on. Once i got it opened up so i could see, i found a small leak in the radiator up at the resevoir. Local tractor shop ordered a new one for me and was able to get everything back together this past saturday. The tractor runs cooler than before and doesn't even think about warming up when cutting heavy grass. So it was an expensive fix but the tractor is back up and running and all is well again.

 

[Soundguy]

hmm.. odd.. normally a leaky radiator, as long as it is full, actually cools BETTER than a non leaking one as when it vents / vaporizes the steam out it takes alot of heat with it. Now if it was geting low on fluid, or hte leak was so bad that it could not operate at pressure that is a different story. also could have been a bad thermostate.. or the radiator itself was plugg and not exchanging heat efficiently. a very good possibility.. as if it had a leak, a previous owner may have used a leak stopper in it.. and those are notorious for plugging up the cooling system.

the id is ont he trans bellhousing flat boss, just back from the starter.

soundguy