Clogged Radiator with Bush Hogging

[Rch]

Reversible air flow
Bush hogging clogs my radiator big time. Dandelion fuzz then timothy seed head fuzz collect on the screen immediately infront of the radiator and to a lesser degree on the grill of my 1910 Ford /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Every 15 to 30 minutes I have to stop & raise the hood and clean it off. I leave the loader on so to open the hood is a little more involved. In addition, and I consider this a design flaw, the air clean duct goes over the radiator and thus over the removable screen that is in front of the radiator.To slide the screen out you have to disconnect the air cleaner duct which is a PITA plus introduces a slug of dirt. You can reach in and "scub" the fuzz off but it's close in there with the battery and aircleaner. All in all it's a 6-7 minute interuption multiple times a day /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Has anyone had experience with the reversible fan blades described on the link like cost, fit etc? Has anyone seen an american or canadien company making the same thing ? Any other clever fixes out there? I've thought about carrying a compressed air tank but I'd still have to stop, open the hood etc and then refill the tank /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif It's easier to clean with the engine off but I hate to kill a hot engine without a cool down.

I'm thinking of mounting some remote controlled brush that will clean off the fuzz on the go. Maybe a windshield wiper set-up with a brush instead of a blade or just a choke cable to swivel a brush around /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Rch, nice find! I have a 1910 with the same problems. This solution looks great, but I'm guessing pretty expensive? Also, it looks like there needs to be alot of extra room for the new fan....
I've been consider wrapping the grill and surrouding area in a screen to keep out the junk. Any experience on how much this restricts airflow?

 

[Rch]

avclay, Perhaps cutting the air flow that comes in from the bottom thus forcing the air to come in from the grill and be pre filtered by the grill would help. You're right about the reversible fan looking expensive and needing room to fit and rotate.

 

[Justaplain]

I rigged a piece of window screen in front of the radiator and just shake it off once in a while. bcs

 

[Chief]

Reverse flow fans are a bad idea. They just stop up the radiator from the inside which is a bigger PITA to clean than from the out side. I have the same issue with my tractor. I periodicly shut the engine down and blow the plant debry off of the intake filter screens. Only take a moment to do and back to work. Pretty much nothing you can do about the debry build up.

 

[40Kchicks]

In order for the reversing fan to work it would only reverse for enough time to clean out the debris, otherwise your right it would just clog the other side of the radiator. I think this is how the one on that web page works.

I have the same problem when I blow out the chicken barns. The feathers stick to all intakes and screens. I had this problem on my old ford 4100 and now on the new Kubota M9000. The M9000 hood does block some feathers and I just wipe them off with my hand. I suppose an outer screen would work somewhere that you could reach it without removing air ducting.

Good Luck
Eric

 

[JohnMiller3]

<font color="blue">...Bush hogging clogs my radiator big time...</font>

Hi Ray,

Welcome to the "nature of the beast"... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I carry a hand brush, inside the radiator compartment... and consider it just natural on-going maintenance...

On my Deere, it's a very nice grille design, that basically captures the minute debris long before the radiator can ever clog up...

On my Satoh and Massey Ferguson, I use a fine-mesh screen layer in front of the radiator...

Again, when you're out there bush hogging for hours on end... you get into a rhythm, and stopping periodically to clean the grille is just part of the overall job... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Alan L.]

I have the same problem on my Kubota B2710, although I don't actually clean but once per mowing (or even less often). The grill has a screen that catches some stuff, then there is a screen in front of the radiator that catches some more stuff. However the stuff that gets in the radiator is hard to get out. The only way I have found is a water hose from the back side. However, the fan is so close to the radiator it is very difficult to get the hose in there and get all of it cleaned out.

 

[JohnS]

Well, thought this was just a feature on my Chinese Jinma tractor /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif. Might want to review my mods . It might spark some ideas for you.

 

[s1120]

Good idea John. I bet if you paint the vents to match, no one would know that they were not stock.