Sheared off cooling fan blades - - Symptoms?

[Tdog]

The talk on TBN about the vulnerability of the transmission cooling fan got me curious about what shape mine might be in. My BX-22 spent the 1st year & a half with the mower deck installed. Removing/reinstalling it was something I thought would be harder than it turned out to be. Whatever, I’ve done quite a bit of clearing – grubbing w/o the mower deck & I’ve been in some pretty serious tree debris.
The bad news is that, sure enough, my little plastic blades are sheared off. I have no idea how long the fan has been in this condition.
I guess my general question is, other than physically looking under the tractor or having a transmission oil temp gage, is there any other way to tell the fan is kaput? What sort of symptoms in performance should have shown up? I checked the hydraulic oil dipstick & the level is OK, & the fluid did not look dark.
I will get the fan replaced [& buy a skidplate!], but I suspect replacing it is more of a job than I want to tackle. Guess that’s gong to be kinda pricy.

Jack

 

[ChuckinNH]

I've read that the rear universal joint can be disassembled, and that saves a lot of work. I also heard that it can be done by removing only one mower mounting bracket/rod. Since I haven't looked at one closely enough to verify that, I can't give you any assurance that it will work out that way. It sure is worth a look though, and will save a great deal of work/ expense if it does!