2 questions; operating temperature and oil leaks

Hi gang...

Wow. A fella disappears for winter in Wisconsin, returns, and finds all kinds of posts to read in the PT forum. I feel like a woodchuck, waking up from winter hibernation.

But spring has indeed returned, and with it Mikey breaking stuff. Here's a link to Marcie's blog, showing (at the bottom of the page) a picture of the Powertrac hung up on a tree. Here's the link. It doesn't really show up in the picture, but that's a fairly steep slope, and once stuck it's really hard to get offa there! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Ok, on to the questions...

Question 1 -- what operating temperature do you see when your PT is working hard, on a warm day? I'm seeing 200 degrees, sometimes a little more, when I'm up on a hill grinding up heavy brush. Is that about right or should I ping Terry and try to get that down a little bit. I blew a lot of crud out of the hydrolic-fluid radiator yesterday with an air hose, but had a harder time cleaning out the air-cooling fins on the Duetz diesel.

Question 2 -- Oil leak. Ugh. I hate oil leaks. They makes me nervous. I just noticed it today as I was packing up to head out. A nice little pool of oil under the PT (no more than half a cup of oil total). Looks like it came from just above the dipstick. Nothing looks broken... I was mowing on some pretty steep hills the day before -- I'm wondering if I lose a little oil because of the slopes. Maybe it pours out of the dipstick? Anybody run into this?

Hi Mike,
I don't know if it's right but when I'm working hard in hot weather my 1430 runs over 200 degrees. I'm actually more concerned with the hydro oil overheating. Plan to change over to syn before Summer.

Mike: I'll give your questions a shot, based on experience with the 1845, not 1850.
Re operating temp, mine runs pretty hot, too. But, I've found that the engine oil radiator plugs almost invisibly. To clear it, I take the side panel off, and then the top cover, which just redirects the air to the side. Then, I first blow down through the vanes with compressed air. Then, run Super Green or other cleaner down through it and blow water through. That should get it clean . With a clean oil radiator in 95 degree weather, I can mow without going much over 200.

During or after thoroughly cleaning the engine oil radiator, you may find what I discovered the hard way. When you take that top baffle off, you are removing the screws that hold the cooler to the engine, and there are no o-rings. You have to position the cooler properly and take the bolts down enough to seal the metal-to-metal connection. If you don't position that right, the screws don't take up properly, and it is possible for them to back out.

How did I find that, you may ask? Well, a one-mile stripe about three inches wide, of Amsoil's finest, became step one of an oil change, temporarily back to petroleum based. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

So, check for leaks where the cooler tubes go into the block. And, in three years, I've lost two short fuel hoses on the side of the engine. I thought for a while it was engine or hydraulic oil, because it got into the mess below the engine and mixed with spill, mud, etc. before dripping out the bottom.

I have taped insect screen over the expanded metal of the engine cover. At the back, where the cooling air is sucked in, I get a circle of chaff that has to be cleared about every half hour while mowing. If I leave off the screen while mowing in dry weather, I can overheat the engine of the 1845 in 10 minutes, and have to blow the chaff out of the cooler. (I even bought a big centrifugal filter to mount on the back, but our drought ended and the screen works so well that I haven't installed it.) The screen all around helps keep chaff out of the hydrauluc radiator as well. I clean it the same way as the engine oil radiator, but less often.

You guys are the bomb (to use a phrase that would drive my now-sophisticated teen-agers nuts).

Sounds like I'm right in the groove on temperature -- if I work mine hard on a hot day I'll edge just a little above 200 degrees. I learned about chaff and keeping radiators clear on my first tractor so now there's an air compressor in the garage that's dedicated to clearing radiators. Great idea about the screening!

On the oil leak Charlie... So just to be absolutely positively about this -- when your 1845 is running right, you don't leak oil even when mowing steep slopes? I hadn't thought of the fuel-line angle. I'll do some snooping around next weekend when I get back to the PT.

Thanks again guys!

<font color="red"> when your 1845 is running right, you don't leak oil even when mowing steep slopes? </font>
If it's right, it's dusty dry everywhere. I've been on high pucker factor slopes and never seen a problem.

Charlie, that was a good post. You've given me many ideas of things to check on my 1430. Thanks!

I've gotten hung up with a tree like that in the past. I was able to turn the steering wheel so that the center pivot of the tractor was up against the tree, then push the implement down so that the front tires of the tractor was off the ground. Then turn the steering wheel so the center pivot of the tractor swings away from the stump as far as possible. Pick up the implement, steer the center pivot towards the tree again, and repeat. It works the tractor away from the tree a couple inches at a time. Of course, on a side slope and slick or loose soil, this may not be possible. But I thought I'd share what worked for me.

Your land looks beautiful, by the way. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

David:

Your method for working away from a tree, or fence, on a slope, works one time out of four. Don't ask the source of those numbers. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

For the next time I do it, we've adapted an old electric winch to go on the front or rear, in the 2" hitch receptacle. If I can wrestle it to the scene, it should be able to give me some uphill pull against the slide, and make it possible to save the tree. I haven't tried it yet, but having the winch on the front has done a couple of jobs. Can't have too many things to hang on a Power Trac.
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

<font color="blue"> Can't have too many things to hang on a Power Trac. </font>

I'll say. They ought to put a reciever on the rear AND the front and eliminate the pin hitch from the rear completely.

I went out in the yard tonight with the mower and used it to crab walk up next to a tree between the front and rear tires. Then I used it to crab out of there. Worked great on our flat yard. Took about 5 lock-to-lock turns of the wheel to get in and again on the way out. I could imaging being on a side slope on our sandy property and not having that success. I think I would try to drive my way around the tree to the downhill side, then crab it out of there. Tractor may attempt to drive up the tree, though. If I ever get in that situation, I'll be sure to let you know what happens. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

<font color="red"> They ought to put a reciever on the rear AND the front and eliminate the pin hitch from the rear completely. </font>

I did that on my 1845 and Bubenberg did on his 425. Adapter with 2" hitch for front and an automotive hitch assembly welded across the back. (There's a picture of mine back in the Feb 02 timeframe, I think in the customization forum.) Hans's and my rear hitches were old used hitches for free. They work great. I'm not sure what the pin hitch is designed to do. I don't have any implement that it would work on. (Of course, I only tried it on one old manure spreader. Then I cut it off and welded on the 2" hitch.)