Will mowing plug up oil cooler and EGR cooler?

[troverman]

So I bought an MX4800 which has an additional two liquid to air heat exchangers in *front* of the radiator screen. In my experience, during field mowing the radiator screen, front grille, and even radiator fins themselves plug with grass / pollen / chaff after a few hours and the engine temp will start to climb. You can pull the screen out and clean it easily, but eventually the radiator core needs to be flushed out with running water.

On my B2920, the oil cooler (for HST trans) is just a series of tubes in front of the radiator screen and has no way to get plugged. But on the MX, both the HST cooler and EGR cooler are just small finned radiators that look like they would easily plug.

Anyone have experience here?

 

[SDT]

So I bought an MX4800 which has an additional two liquid to air heat exchangers in *front* of the radiator screen. In my experience, during field mowing the radiator screen, front grille, and even radiator fins themselves plug with grass / pollen / chaff after a few hours and the engine temp will start to climb. You can pull the screen out and clean it easily, but eventually the radiator core needs to be flushed out with running water.

On my B2920, the oil cooler (for HST trans) is just a series of tubes in front of the radiator screen and has no way to get plugged. But on the MX, both the HST cooler and EGR cooler are just small finned radiators that look like they would easily plug.

Anyone have experience here?

I use all of my Kubota tractors mostly for mowing and have had no such issues.

I do keep the grill screens clear and blow everything off with compressed air before returning tractors to the barn after every use.

SDT

 

[Fallon]

Funny you should ask... spent the morning blowing & hosing the 4 radiator type devices on my L4060. Had problems overheating the past few days. Only the radiator itself & maybe the A/C have screens. Think the 2 smaller ones are hydraulic coolers. At as my rate all of them were packed with dirt & fine material that made it past the screens (well for the 2 that had screens). I keep in cleaning the screens pretty well.

I've done a fair bit of mowing, so it took a while to get this way, but still disappointing. Need to put blowing & hosing off the radiator on a more frequent schedule.

 

[diesel85]

I go through my machines with a gas powered leaf blower after almost every use. Then I clean my driveway with the leaf blower.

Supposedly my BX2200 is notorious for overheating too... been blowing it out since it was new, and never had an issue.

 

[mljenkins]

Funny you should ask... spent the morning blowing & hosing the 4 radiator type devices on my L4060. Had problems overheating the past few days. Only the radiator itself & maybe the A/C have screens. Think the 2 smaller ones are hydraulic coolers. At as my rate all of them were packed with dirt & fine material that made it past the screens (well for the 2 that had screens). I keep in cleaning the screens pretty well.

I've done a fair bit of mowing, so it took a while to get this way, but still disappointing. Need to put blowing & hosing off the radiator on a more frequent schedule.

I thought the two on the front where of course the engine coolant regular radiator and one was for the HST? I didn’t even look it over close yesterday when I washed mine and realized the one I thought was for the HST was starting to plug. I’ll have to check the others.

I’ve always used an air compressor from the back and then water next. One tractor I had the fins had plugged with mud and it was very difficult to clean it. It seems once that dust gets wet first it clogs tight in some cases. I’ve wondered if that radiator genie device they sell is worth anything. It’s hard enough to get to the back of the main radiator but about impossible for the smaller one.

 

[Fallon]

I thought the two on the front where of course the engine coolant regular radiator and one was for the HST? I didn’t even look it over close yesterday when I washed mine and realized the one I thought was for the HST was starting to plug. I’ll have to check the others.

I’ve always used an air compressor from the back and then water next. One tractor I had the fins had plugged with mud and it was very difficult to clean it. It seems once that dust gets wet first it clogs tight in some cases. I’ve wondered if that radiator genie device they sell is worth anything. It’s hard enough to get to the back of the main radiator but about impossible for the smaller one.

Yup. It overheated, or at least the A/C had issues & it started warning earlier in the week on a job. It never actually overheated or got into the red,, but got up there & the warning light came on. Screens were mostly clean, so i gently rinsed things with a hose (avoided hitting the hot engine). Thought that got things, but it got warm again today at home. Spent some time with the air compressor & got a lot blown out. But on further inspection it was still pretty plugged. Worked it over with the garden hose for a while & it looks decent now. Can't really get half the fins from the front due to the various cores & the battery. Fan shroud, fan & the radiator itself block things from the back.

I realized there were 4 radiators here myself. Thought there were 3 previously as i'd never looked that close at the 2 small ones in front.

 

[SDT]

I thought the two on the front where of course the engine coolant regular radiator and one was for the HST? I didn’t even look it over close yesterday when I washed mine and realized the one I thought was for the HST was starting to plug. I’ll have to check the others.

I’ve always used an air compressor from the back and then water next. One tractor I had the fins had plugged with mud and it was very difficult to clean it. It seems once that dust gets wet first it clogs tight in some cases. I’ve wondered if that radiator genie device they sell is worth anything. It’s hard enough to get to the back of the main radiator but about impossible for the smaller one.

Bingo.

That's why I never use water, only compressed air.

SDT

 

[deserteagle71]

Just finished mowing ~ 50 acres of cheatgrass - very dry, very dusty conditions and the main reason I bought a tractor with a cab this time. Here's what my radiator screen looked like after 5 hours of mowing; I noticed the temperature gauge was starting to creep up:

I also make sure that before the tractor is put away for the evening, all screens are removed and cleaned and then the radiators and coolers are blown out with compressed air. I have a long air lance with a right angle bend on it just for this purpose. For some reason the cooler and a/c condensor in front of the radiator accumulate only a small amount of debris compared to the radiator and I'm guessing that's because of the powerful pull of air from the fan.
My old John Deere has no screens protecting the radiator but same procedure - at end of day the radiator got blown out - and the amount of dirt that would come out after just a few hours was amazing!

 

[SDT]

Just finished mowing ~ 50 acres of cheatgrass - very dry, very dusty conditions and the main reason I bought a tractor with a cab this time. Here's what my radiator screen looked like after 5 hours of mowing; I noticed the temperature gauge was starting to creep up:
View attachment 559713

I also make sure that before the tractor is put away for the evening, all screens are removed and cleaned and then the radiators and coolers are blown out with compressed air. I have a long air lance with a right angle bend on it just for this purpose. For some reason the cooler and a/c condensor in front of the radiator accumulate only a small amount of debris compared to the radiator and I'm guessing that's because of the powerful pull of air from the fan.
My old John Deere has no screens protecting the radiator but same procedure - at end of day the radiator got blown out - and the amount of dirt that would come out after just a few hours was amazing!

I use a long air wand made by Milton. They are a bit expensive but the cheap ones from HF do not hold up. I have two and consider them just about essential.

SDT

 

[KWentling]

That looks familiar. I used to mow about 3 acres with a BX22 and would have to stop and blow it out 2 or 3 times. Now I mow with a ZD21 and can usually make it without stopping, but not always. Seems like everything that grows here has seeds perfect for plugging radiators.

Just finished mowing ~ 50 acres of cheatgrass - very dry, very dusty conditions and the main reason I bought a tractor with a cab this time. Here's what my radiator screen looked like after 5 hours of mowing; I noticed the temperature gauge was starting to creep up:
View attachment 559713

I also make sure that before the tractor is put away for the evening, all screens are removed and cleaned and then the radiators and coolers are blown out with compressed air. I have a long air lance with a right angle bend on it just for this purpose. For some reason the cooler and a/c condensor in front of the radiator accumulate only a small amount of debris compared to the radiator and I'm guessing that's because of the powerful pull of air from the fan.
My old John Deere has no screens protecting the radiator but same procedure - at end of day the radiator got blown out - and the amount of dirt that would come out after just a few hours was amazing!