Exhaust fumes in a non-factory cab tractor

[Wyld Bill]

Has anyone else experienced this? I just put a soft cab on my Mahindra 2615 & tried to seal up most of the openings. I just used it to clear snow & it SEEMED like I was breathing in exhuast fumes. It seemed like I could smell it pretty bad & I felt like maybe I was gettting nausious. I don't really see how I would be getting fumes though since the exhaust comes out way up near the front grill of the tractor. Am I just imagining things? It may be me since when I got out of the tractor & my son went by on his 4wheeler it seemed like his exhaust was making me sick. Just wondering if I should worry about it.

 

[Craig Clayton]

Question #1, #2
Are you sensitive to exhaust fumes?
Do you own a battery powered CO monitor?

CO means Carbon Monoxide and is the Deadly component of petroleum exhaust ie car ,truck, atv and household gas furnace.
As I understand CO it is clear, odourless and tastless. The human body absorbs it through the lungs more easily than the air we breath. Clean air is composed of 19.5% O2
( O2 = oxygen ) and 79.0% nitrogen. The small remainder is made up of minute gases that are not of a concern. Nitrogen is breathed and exhaled and in the normal air rate nitrogen does nothing . We absorb about 6% of the O2 / breath.

If you carry the portable CO monitor with you in the tractor cab and there is any reading then there is a level of CO.
One sign of longer term CO is blue finger nails ( first aid knowledge only ).
You could look up OSHA regs for ppm exposure to CO.
Occupational Health and Safety Act // Part Per Million // Carbon monoxide

I would suggest you check for any manifold leaks and that the fan is blowing forward not the normal way like a pickup truck . Unseal the cab and let is the fresh air.

Craig Clayton

 

[grsthegreat]

are there openings on the floor panels? The exhaust may be coming up from below.

 

[George2615]

I have the same cab and tractor as Bill. The cab I bought last year and used all winter.
I haven't noticed any fumes getting in the cab.
I do not have mats on the floor like Bill put in his tractor. I didn't want to seal up the cab area too much plus my heater blows air from behind me angled down.
I suggest taking the mats out and trying to run it again. Maybe Bill's not getting enough fresh air in.
Bill, could the location of your heater fan be sucking the fumes in from outside?

 

[Craig Clayton]

Here is a slight correction on the O2 content that I had stated, I made a typo error ( too busy and too rushed ).
Clean air has 20.9% O2 ( oxygen ). This is the normal amount that is present in the normal open areas..
The content of 19.5% is the first level under OSHA that is demended to be at a lower O2 level and is not safe to work or to be in.
In a sealed tractor cab the CO level could rise due to exhaust fumes getting in and that would also change the O2 level driving it down.
This is a possible health risk.

Craig Clayton

 

[Wyld Bill]

I have the same cab and tractor as Bill. The cab I bought last year and used all winter.
I haven't noticed any fumes getting in the cab.
I do not have mats on the floor like Bill put in his tractor. I didn't want to seal up the cab area too much plus my heater blows air from behind me angled down.
I suggest taking the mats out and trying to run it again. Maybe Bill's not getting enough fresh air in.
Bill, could the location of your heater fan be sucking the fumes in from outside?

Yeah that is what I was thinking. I was going to pull the floor mats up but then I was like "Well if there is exhaust fumes wouldn't that just let more in?"
MAybe I was just sensitive to stuff last night. After that it seemed like every smell seemed really strong & made me feel sick. Maybe I'm pregnant:laughing:
Does the fan blow forward or backwards on this tractor? I thought it blew backwards. I'll have to borrow a Bacharach kit from one of the heating guys I work with & check the levels of CO, CO2, O2, etc...

 

[jenkinsph]

Yeah that is what I was thinking. I was going to pull the floor mats up but then I was like "Well if there is exhaust fumes wouldn't that just let more in?"
MAybe I was just sensitive to stuff last night. After that it seemed like every smell seemed really strong & made me feel sick. Maybe I'm pregnant:laughing:
Does the fan blow forward or backwards on this tractor? I thought it blew backwards. I'll have to borrow a Bacharach kit from one of the heating guys I work with & check the levels of CO, CO2, O2, etc...

I would have suggested using the Bacharach CO tester as I have one and it is very accurate. Most people don't have one available to them to use, if you do then by all means do it.

 

[Wyld Bill]

Yeah I work for an HVAC contractor. I'm an HVAC tech. I don't do oil heat though (yuck) so I don't get to have a electronic Bacharach in my van.

 

[Craig Clayton]

The direction of the air flow of a stationery or slow moving tractor is that it blows out the front of the engine. So cool air is pulled in the sides and blows out the front. That is why when you clean the screen on your rad all the summer chaff and dust is on the engine side . Of the dozers I have been around the air blows out the front. On the older nasty dozers I think they may have been able to change the pitch or rotation of the blades and pull the air through the front like a pickup. If you tarped the sides then driver got the heated air and all the tastey exhaust leaks.

Craig Clayton

 

[grsthegreat]

The direction of the air flow of a stationery or slow moving tractor is that it blows out the front of the engine. So cool air is pulled in the sides and blows out the front. That is why when you clean the screen on your rad all the summer chaff and dust is on the engine side . Of the dozers I have been around the air blows out the front. On the older nasty dozers I think they may have been able to change the pitch or rotation of the blades and pull the air through the front like a pickup. If you tarped the sides then driver got the heated air and all the tastey exhaust leaks.

Craig Clayton

?? when i clean my screens all the chaff is on the outside of the screen....before it goes thru the readiator. I havnt checked, but i believe my kioti sucks air from the front back towards the cab. Otherwise how could the crud collect towards the front of the tractor.... ill check it next time i start the tractor