overheating Bolens/Iseki

[Scott in ME]

Hi - I have another Bolens G154 question. I added a 48" wide snowblower to the rear and spent some time clearing snow from an area where it was deep and icy. The tractor got a workout, using the loader to know down icy hills and snow blowing until the engine was about to stall. After about 30-40 minutes of use, the red "hot" light would come on. I let the tractor cool down, checked the coolant level, fan, and belts, and went back to work. This happened a few more times. No coolant is coming out of the run off tube (attached to the nipple on the radiator neck), but there certainly was pressure when I cracked the cap (covered by a heavy towel). The only things I can think of are a clogged cooling system, gummed up radiator, or bad water pump (though it isn't leaking). That, or these tractors just don't like to be worked. Any suggestions welcomed.

 

[Roadworthy]

Make sure the fins in the radiator core are clear. You could have snow blocking the airflow. I flushed, then reverse flushed my cooling system. After that I used a product called Thermo Cure to clean out my Mitsubishi cooling system. It removed a LOT of built up crud. It was about $20 for a quart at Walmart. Follow the instructions and flush the system with clean water at least three times before refilling.