Hydraulic temp

Texas jerry · Jun 23, 2014

I have a older hydro ax with mulcher. I bought the unit last October and have put about 400 hrs on it. I ran mostly during the cooler months . Now As temp here in south texas in the mid 90's naturally the machine runs hotter. I keep the unit clean and the radiator and hydro radiator blown out through out the day. My water temp gets up to 200 to 210 F. The hydro temp gets to 200 F and today got to 210F . I had to stop mulching and wait about 30 min to get temp down. I have changed hydro fluid and filters when I bought machine. My question is what are others running mulchers hydro temps?

Robbie Hegwood · Jun 24, 2014

Hey there. Call ROWMEC down in Conroe, that is their bread and butter, Hydroax's. Could be 2 things. These machines came with either a gear pump or regular variable pump. The gear pump will build heat. Or your radiator is clogged. Dirt can build up in the fins and harden and is a pain to clean completely. Usually has to be cleaned with high temp, high pressure washer. But call them or take your machine by. Good guys.

Texas jerry · Jun 25, 2014

Robbie thanks for the reply. I will give them a call.

yellowdogsvc · Jun 25, 2014

I'm not sure about hydro axe but I don't think that temp is too high. When I'm mulching in my skid, I'm regularly over 200 and the fan kicks into high at 210-211 for engine temp. My hydraulic temp is usually close to engine temp but will climb when it's really hot and humid. I try and slow down what I'm doing.

As robbie pointed out, I've seen caliche and dust get wet and cake down in the fins. It doesn't take much to change the cooling efficiency.
Make sure your fan is spinning at peak speed.

Texas jerry · Jun 25, 2014

Thanks for the reply. I am gonna try and get out tomorrow with a pressure washer and give the radiators a good cleaning. I talked to ROWMEC and they said the same and also to make sure the fan bladed are pointing in right direction. He stated they see a lot of fans that are incidentally put on in the wrong direction . He also stated after time all the dirt and debris starts to wear down the fins on the fan causing insufficiency in air flow. The high temp will cause oil rings to blow and hoses to harden. Guys there are a wealth of knowledge.

yellowdogsvc · Jun 26, 2014

Be careful with the pressure washer. I try and blow air (gently) or water from the opposite side of how the air is pushed through the radiator to loosen material then I flood the radiator with low pressure water. High pressure can force material deeper in the fins or damage something. Sometimes it's worth it to have cooling system flushed or replace the radiator. The fins do get beat up from the material being sucked through (hard wood chips, dirt, pieces of rock, etc.) and then when all that dust gets wet, it becomes like a paste, hardens, and blocks air flow.
Broken down coolant can be an issue too but I found on my older chipper, even with 200 hp and a big radiator, if I forced material through it, it would get up above 210. I slowed it down and it was fine.

tonyoz · Jun 26, 2014

Sap from the vegetation is all part of overheating problems and washing with water or blowing air threw after a while will not be good enough. When it's bad it's best to remove the radiator/cooler and have it acid washed inside and out.
Aluminium radiators and coolers hate high pressure anything being blown threw them.:2cents:

yellowdogsvc · Jun 27, 2014

i wash my radiator with dish detergent that breaks up oil/grease. If you keep up with it, you can keep it pretty clean BUT after a while, like Tony says, you might have to get it dipped or replaced.

If you use copious amounts of water and a sudsy soap, you can float some debris out. It still takes a while, though.

Texas jerry · Jul 8, 2014

Update on hydro temp. I flushed the hydro radiator the best I could with the water Source I had on job site. The pressure was pretty weak from the only water source avaliable but it helped. I also ran the machine not full throttle and it helped a lot . My hydro temp and water temp has been running about 190F.

yellowdogsvc · Jul 9, 2014

Jerry, that's great!

In my part of TX, it's hot and humid.
I ran my Toolcat on highflow all day powering my chipper and it ran cool all day.

Some days, though, with the slightest restriction in the radiator fins, the Bobcat or Toolcat with start to get hot if the outside temp is 90's and it's humid. Just like we have trouble cooling off in hot, humid weather, our machines do too so keeping the radiator cleaning inside, between the fins, and on top is important.