Clogged Radiator with Bush Hogging

[Rch]

Reversible air flow
Bush hogging clogs my radiator big time. Dandelion fuzz then timothy seed head fuzz collect on the screen immediately infront of the radiator and to a lesser degree on the grill of my 1910 Ford /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Every 15 to 30 minutes I have to stop & raise the hood and clean it off. I leave the loader on so to open the hood is a little more involved. In addition, and I consider this a design flaw, the air clean duct goes over the radiator and thus over the removable screen that is in front of the radiator.To slide the screen out you have to disconnect the air cleaner duct which is a PITA plus introduces a slug of dirt. You can reach in and "scub" the fuzz off but it's close in there with the battery and aircleaner. All in all it's a 6-7 minute interuption multiple times a day /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Has anyone had experience with the reversible fan blades described on the link like cost, fit etc? Has anyone seen an american or canadien company making the same thing ? Any other clever fixes out there? I've thought about carrying a compressed air tank but I'd still have to stop, open the hood etc and then refill the tank /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif It's easier to clean with the engine off but I hate to kill a hot engine without a cool down.

I'm thinking of mounting some remote controlled brush that will clean off the fuzz on the go. Maybe a windshield wiper set-up with a brush instead of a blade or just a choke cable to swivel a brush around /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Rch, nice find! I have a 1910 with the same problems. This solution looks great, but I'm guessing pretty expensive? Also, it looks like there needs to be alot of extra room for the new fan....
I've been consider wrapping the grill and surrouding area in a screen to keep out the junk. Any experience on how much this restricts airflow?

 

[Rch]

avclay, Perhaps cutting the air flow that comes in from the bottom thus forcing the air to come in from the grill and be pre filtered by the grill would help. You're right about the reversible fan looking expensive and needing room to fit and rotate.

 

[Justaplain]

I rigged a piece of window screen in front of the radiator and just shake it off once in a while. bcs

 

[Chief]

Reverse flow fans are a bad idea. They just stop up the radiator from the inside which is a bigger PITA to clean than from the out side. I have the same issue with my tractor. I periodicly shut the engine down and blow the plant debry off of the intake filter screens. Only take a moment to do and back to work. Pretty much nothing you can do about the debry build up.

 

[40Kchicks]

In order for the reversing fan to work it would only reverse for enough time to clean out the debris, otherwise your right it would just clog the other side of the radiator. I think this is how the one on that web page works.

I have the same problem when I blow out the chicken barns. The feathers stick to all intakes and screens. I had this problem on my old ford 4100 and now on the new Kubota M9000. The M9000 hood does block some feathers and I just wipe them off with my hand. I suppose an outer screen would work somewhere that you could reach it without removing air ducting.

Good Luck
Eric

 

[JohnMiller3]

<font color="blue">...Bush hogging clogs my radiator big time...</font>

Hi Ray,

Welcome to the "nature of the beast"... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I carry a hand brush, inside the radiator compartment... and consider it just natural on-going maintenance...

On my Deere, it's a very nice grille design, that basically captures the minute debris long before the radiator can ever clog up...

On my Satoh and Massey Ferguson, I use a fine-mesh screen layer in front of the radiator...

Again, when you're out there bush hogging for hours on end... you get into a rhythm, and stopping periodically to clean the grille is just part of the overall job... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Alan L.]

I have the same problem on my Kubota B2710, although I don't actually clean but once per mowing (or even less often). The grill has a screen that catches some stuff, then there is a screen in front of the radiator that catches some more stuff. However the stuff that gets in the radiator is hard to get out. The only way I have found is a water hose from the back side. However, the fan is so close to the radiator it is very difficult to get the hose in there and get all of it cleaned out.

 

[JohnS]

Well, thought this was just a feature on my Chinese Jinma tractor /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif. Might want to review my mods . It might spark some ideas for you.

 

[s1120]

Good idea John. I bet if you paint the vents to match, no one would know that they were not stock.

 

[Rowski]

Rch

I've just started rotary cutting this year. I have had the probelm too. Sounds like your 1910 is similar to my 2120 in the screen and air filter intake. What I have done is to bend that intake hose out of the way. The intake hose is very thick and stiff. The first few times I would squish the hose where I would want it to bend. After a few times it seems to bend a lot easier. I then take the screen and bang it against the tire knocking of the "stuff". I do this with the engine off so the fan doesn't suck anything into the radiator during screen removal. It takes me less than 5 minutes to remove the screen, bang it clean, and install it again.

This still doesn't address the problem of climbing up on the front wheel and hanging over the loader. Not only is it uncomfortable but dangerous. I've sprained my ankle once by slipping of the front tire during refueling.

 

[gerard]

I have the same problem, just use the compressor with a 2 foot extension want and blowgun. Gets in easy and aonly takes a few seconds but I do have to take the side panel off to access so the whole job does take the time to drive up to the shop, remove/blow out/replace cover and go back. I've been meaning to try wrapping some screen around the outside like someone else mentioned, think that would work well and allow clearing with a brush...........

 

[Rch]

JohnS, interesting modification. Is there screen mesh over the new side vents ? My grill wraps around the side about 3" anyway. Also, do you have a screen mesh tight to the front of the radiator ? That is what clogs up on mine. Do your modifcations, with air conditioner foam etc, force the intake air through the grill and new side vents where I assume there is screen mesh ? On mine I think air, laden with debris, can bypass the grill as it gets clogged by coming in below the grill by the battery. Does your modification, by forcing the air to come through the grill/new side vents, filter out the debris at that point ? Does clogging occur at that point ?
You stated you have to take the radiator out of the tractor and power wash it to clean it effectively. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif Do you mean disconnect the top and bottom hoses and physically remove the radiator from its mounting brackets ? On my Ford 1910 the screen immediately in front of the radiator is what gets clogged, the radiator itself stays relatively clean. Taking the radiator out seems like a lot of work with having to drain the coolant etc. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
I may try it without the screen immediately in front of the radiator. The mesh itself may be the problem with such a tight weave.
I may mount a swinging milk house pipeline brush with a choke cable to scour the packed fuzz off that screen in front of the radiator on the go.

 

[JohnS]

On my Jinma there is a removable screen, right in front of the radiator. The screen weave is too large, and the fuzz will go right through it. A simple fix is to put ordinary window screen over the wide mesh, like this. Now the fuzz and small debree, collect on this screen vs getting in the radiator fins. It is a simple matter to pull and clean the screen. I check it after every hour of mowing or so. The screen hasn't clogged enough, before cleaning, to cause the engine temp to rise. And yes, without these mods the radiator eventually became clogged enough, so you had to remove it, to clean it. You can partially clean it and keep going while it is in the tractor, but since I was doing these mods, did a complete cleaning. I would not try running without your screen, or you will most likely end up doing the same.

Currently, there is no additional screening on the new side vents. My first attemp at that, did not work /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif so still thinking on that. They can be closed, so that all air intake is from the front screen. On newer Jinmas, the front air intake wraps around the corners. The foam does not form a tight seal, but from inspections it seems to be helping, ie less debree found in the nose section.

 

[TresCrows]

My tractors screens fill with the seeds from the fescue and broam. The long needle shaped seeds insert themselves into the each tiny hole in the screen soon clogging it. They don't come out easy but fortunately it does not get overheated--yet. The cottonwoods fuzz is also bad as it gets into everything and clogs it up including the airfilter. I use my aircompressor to occasionally make a pit stop and blow as much seed and cottonwoods lint out as possible. It is aggravating /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif. J

 

[s1120]

<font color="red"> The cottonwoods fuzz is also bad as it gets into everything and clogs it up including the airfilter </font>

You know, some times I would just like to chop everyone of those trees down. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif I have a HUGE one across the street, and all those little "fluffys" plug up the oil coolers on my Ingersolls. Plugs them up soild. Only problem is I have no room to any kind of screen. The cooler is right up next to the grill, and I would have to cut the grill out before any screen would fit.