I Won't Operate My Equipment in Wet Weather

[MossRoad]

Long time listener, first time caller....

 

[5030]

One time I was walking through a parking lot somewhere and I spied a Ford Super Duty and the AC condenser fins were almost all smashed flat. I wondered if the owner had ac cooling issues or coolant issues or if he ever looked at the temperature gage as the AC condenser is mounted in front of the radiator on a Super Duty. I bought myself a 'coil comb' from Amazon to 'comb' coils. Works good on window ac units and tractors and cars and trucks as well.

 

[RjCorazza]

My diesel mowers will get dust clogged radiators, mostly when the grass gets a little too tall and gone to seed. I have a set of water and air radiators wands, and they work great. Frequent cleaning is the key.
My general pattern is to blow out the radiator with a leaf blower after each day, use the wands maybe once a month to get them good and clean.

 

[rockinbbar]

I've never had any issue with dust in the radiators of my tractors, it's always been debris from what I'm mowing. Before heading out, I blow out the radiator with an air hose, and clean the screen. While mowing, as soon as the temp gauge starts to rise, I shut it down and clean out the screen.

I used to just have a smaller 37hp tractor and 6 foot mower for my place, so I had a lot of areas that got really over grown by the time I got to them. It was slow going to get everything mowed, and also maintain my important areas.

Now I have a 70hp tractor and a 12 foot mower that allows me to mow everything a lot faster, and more often. I don't deal with overgrown areas anymore, I'm more into maintaining and making it look nice mowing. The build up in my radiator screen is almost non existent now compared to what I dealt with on the smaller tractor.

One of my best finds at the Feed Store was a set of Radiator Wands. One is for air, the other is for water. It lets me get into areas of the radiator that I couldn't get to before, and the bend at the end of the Wand puts more air pressure on the radiator. It was shocking the first time I used it!!!!! Now my radiators are pretty clean, and overheating hasn't been an issue in years.

Radiator Genie Cleaning Wands | Atwoods

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I use an extended blow gun on my air compressor in the back of my pickup. Have one for the compressor in my shop too.

El Cheapo... Works great though.

https://www.harborfreight.com/air-blow-gun-with-extensions-5-piece-63574.html

 

[rockinbbar]

Good grief. What are you guys cutting? Might want to consider cutting it more often. I blow mine out but hardly ever have anything in it. The cowl screens get some stuff in them now and then. Anything over a few inches gets cut around here. I never let stuff get head high before cutting.

I'm in the Ag Service business and get called to shred sizable ranches. Usually these ranches cut once a year. The growth can be 2 ft to 10 ft tall.

Last year, mature dove weeds were the worst. 4 foot tall and LOTS of chaff coming off them. I had to use my bench whisk broom often when the radiator screens got clogged up. Then blow out with high pressure air when done for the day. It was hectic.

 

[rockinbbar]

I mean, this picture was only about 30 min worth of brush cutting to get to that point. In this case, it wasn't getting hot. I just knew with the stuff I was mowing, it was prone to happen very fast. It was just a matter of cleaning the screen too and it was good to go again.

A lot of people don't even realize that depending on what they're cutting, they may need to cleaning those radiators multiple times during the job. Then, they found the expensive way that they really should pay more attention to cleaning the radiator. I've seen others blame the manufacturers for using small radiators or some nonsense like that.

This is all part of owning and operating a tractor.

View attachment 3307493

That's the way my radiator screens looked after a couple of hours in mature dove weed last year.

When the temp gauge would start climbing, I'd get down and pull the screen and whisk broom it off, then do the front of the radiator, put the screen back on, and keep going.

 

[Hay Dude]

We get it so bad, I have a compressor hose with an air blow gun run off the tractors air brake compressor.
Try to cut with morning dew of before grass goes to seed.

 

[RayIN]

Last fall I discovered a patch of Goldenrod about 8' tall (¼A) I used the FEL to knock it down as I mowed with my 6' Bush Hog. I still had to stop midway and clean off the radiator screen in front of the radiator because it was completely covered. The high temp gauge and light never showed hot though.
Hopefully that killed the Goldenrod, but I'm watching closely. If I spot any growth I'll be there with my 35G sprayer full of 2-4-D solution ASAP.
I suspect the man that harvests the hay carried in the starts. I might be better off terminating that arrangement and mowing 3-4X year instead; whatta you guys think?

When I clean the radiator I use Simple Green Extreme, made for the aviation industry, which is aluminum-safe and cuts grease N oil. A standard garden hose is fine for initial flushing and rinsing after using the Simple Green Extreme.

 

[sixdogs]

I always carry my Harbor Freight Bauer 20 volt cordless blower behind the tractor seat and blow out the rad often blowing from the inside (fan side) towards the front side and when I greas the units, I soak the rad down with diluted Dawn dishwash soap, let them sit and wash them out, inside out with a garden hose. Never use high pressure compressed air or a high powered pressure washer as you'll damage the somewhat fragile heat exchanger fins between the coolant columns. You can but a 'Radiator Genie' online but my methods work just fine and don't forget to change the antifreeze regularly as well. Older AF turns acidic in the cooling system and eventually eats it up from the inside out... Finally check the rad hoses to make sure they haven't gone soft and the clamps are tight as well.

I change my AF every other year and backflush the rads with clear water only.

I use conventional AF. I guess you could use extended life but I don't. Glycol is cheap anyway.

I blow off important areas that are full of dust with my battery powered leaf blower. The radiator blows clean if I do it when I just finish and everything is still warm. The next day humidity has crept in and the dirt is much harder to blow out.

 

[5030]

In my opinion, the best 30 bucks you can spend is the Bauer 20 volt portable blower (so long as you have Bauer tools and extra batteries). Fits behind the seat, has 3 speeds and blows like a hurricane and comes with a nice concentrator to direct the air through the rad. Problem with my Kubota's at least is the rad screens are a royal PITA to remove to clean so the blower works for me. I use it to blow the round baler off as well and blow off the cars after they get washed. Bought a second one just in case the first one craps out at some point. Had it on sale, ITC for 10 bucks off.