Hot, dusty and a close call.

[Marveltone]

It was 84 degrees today, and while that's downright cool compared to what many of you are experiencing, it was still plenty warm to be outside and working. I was disking a portion of my hay field that's just way too bumpy. I first mowed it quite low, then hooked up the box blade, lowered the scarifiers and started ripping up sod and knocking down the biggest bumps. Once I was satisfied, I switched to the disk and started rolling over the whole area to cut up the sod into much smaller pieces and further smoothing things out.

Did I mention the heat? It was a dry, dusty process, and both the tractor and I were covered in black dust. Things were starting to look pretty good as the sod clumps were getting smaller and starting to spread around and into the low spots. That's when I saw something different. Amidst the cloud of black dust, I thought I saw something white. I looked again and sure enough, there was steam coming from under the hood! I immediately shut down the tractor and popped the hood. Sure enough, the radiator screen was coated with a 1/2" combination of dried grass and air-borne topsoil.

I walked off the hay field, through the pines, down the pasture on the side of the hill and to the garage to grab a vise grip, some heavy leather gloves, a gallon of antifreeze and an empty jug. I went to the house, filled the empty jug with hot water, gathered the other items and trekked back to the fallen tractor, hoping all the time that I shut it down soon enough.

I used the vise grip to remove the hot metal screen, clean it and return it to service. I then donned the gloves, slowly and carefully opened the radiator and started pouring the hot water in, followed by a fairly equal amount of antifreeze. I took a deep breath, started the engine and watched to see if there were any obvious leaks anywhere and to let the coolant run through the system. None... Good! I topped it off, packed everything in the bucket and decided I had enough excitement for one day. It was time to go home and ponder what I have learned.

Remember to check those radiator screens often!

Joe

 

[Gordon Gould]

You were smart to be paying attention to your equipment and stopping to check out the situation quickly. :thumbsup: You probably saved yourself a big headache. A 1/2" of debris on the radiator screen is quite a bit. Yikes.

 

[Mark Page]

I was always told to put it in neutral, shut down the pto, open the hood and run the engine as fast as you dare. Sounds counterintuitive, but you'll circulate more coolant with no load which will bring the engine temperature down, watch your guage. Sounds risky but it works.
I've used this trick several times while surf fishing with my old jeep.
You were fortunate to have access to the proper items to resolve it correctly.

 

[creekbend]

I'm glad that everything worked out positive for you.

 

[creekbend]

I was always told to put it in neutral, shut down the pto, open the hood and run the engine as fast as you dare. Sounds counterintuitive, but you'll circulate more coolant with no load which will bring the engine temperature down, watch your guage. Sounds risky but it works.
I've used this trick several times while surf fishing with my old jeep.
You were fortunate to have access to the proper items to resolve it correctly.

Thanks for posting.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I was always told to put it in neutral, shut down the pto, open the hood and run the engine as fast as you dare. Sounds counterintuitive, but you'll circulate more coolant with no load which will bring the engine temperature down, watch your guage. Sounds risky but it works.
I've used this trick several times while surf fishing with my old jeep.
You were fortunate to have access to the proper items to resolve it correctly.

That would work if you had coolant to circulate, but from the amount of water the OP put in, he likely had very little coolant left in the system. I think he did right by getting hot water to put in the radiator so it didnt shock the engine and adding new coolant and water. Got to watch those temperature gauges carefully when doing any task that has potential to put flotsam in the radiator screen. On my old Yanmar, I could usually smell the coolant before it got into the red zone.

 

[Gordon Gould]

I am wondering if your radiator screen is clogged will you still get enough cooling to take down the engine temp, even at no load, if you keep it running at high RPM. It could be like running with no radiator. I don't know. That method works great if you are just over heated and still have a functional radiator. But the question is - is the radiator still functional when it is clogged with 1/2" of debris. If it were me I would shut it down unless I was sure.

 

[Marveltone]

I was always told to put it in neutral, shut down the pto, open the hood and run the engine as fast as you dare. Sounds counterintuitive, but you'll circulate more coolant with no load which will bring the engine temperature down, watch your guage. Sounds risky but it works.
I've used this trick several times while surf fishing with my old jeep.
You were fortunate to have access to the proper items to resolve it correctly.

That would work if you had coolant to circulate, but from the amount of water the OP put in, he likely had very little coolant left in the system. I think he did right by getting hot water to put in the radiator so it didnt shock the engine and adding new coolant and water. Got to watch those temperature gauges carefully when doing any task that has potential to put flotsam in the radiator screen. On my old Yanmar, I could usually smell the coolant before it got into the red zone.

Many of these older tractors, this one included, do not have temperature gauges. There were no indicators at all, not even a warning light. This little incident, however, has me thinking about adding one. My biggest mistake was in failing to check the screen after completing each job, knowing how dry and dusty the conditions were. I got lucky, in spite of my impatience between jobs to do proper routine maintenance.

Sometimes we all need a little kick in the pants to get us back on track!

Joe

 

[Mechanos]

It was 84 degrees today, and while that's downright cool compared to what many of you are experiencing, it was still plenty warm to be outside and working. I was disking a portion of my hay field that's just way too bumpy. I first mowed it quite low, then hooked up the box blade, lowered the scarifiers and started ripping up sod and knocking down the biggest bumps. Once I was satisfied, I switched to the disk and started rolling over the whole area to cut up the sod into much smaller pieces and further smoothing things out.

Did I mention the heat? It was a dry, dusty process, and both the tractor and I were covered in black dust. Things were starting to look pretty good as the sod clumps were getting smaller and starting to spread around and into the low spots. That's when I saw something different. Amidst the cloud of black dust, I thought I saw something white. I looked again and sure enough, there was steam coming from under the hood! I immediately shut down the tractor and popped the hood. Sure enough, the radiator screen was coated with a 1/2" combination of dried grass and air-borne topsoil.

I walked off the hay field, through the pines, down the pasture on the side of the hill and to the garage to grab a vise grip, some heavy leather gloves, a gallon of antifreeze and an empty jug. I went to the house, filled the empty jug with hot water, gathered the other items and trekked back to the fallen tractor, hoping all the time that I shut it down soon enough.

I used the vise grip to remove the hot metal screen, clean it and return it to service. I then donned the gloves, slowly and carefully opened the radiator and started pouring the hot water in, followed by a fairly equal amount of antifreeze. I took a deep breath, started the engine and watched to see if there were any obvious leaks anywhere and to let the coolant run through the system. None... Good! I topped it off, packed everything in the bucket and decided I had enough excitement for one day. It was time to go home and ponder what I have learned.

Remember to check those radiator screens often!

Joe

LOL... I remember a business trip to St. Cloud a couple of years ago. It was in August and was about 85 degrees with very little humidity. Everyone was griping and moaning about how miserably hot it was and were doing anything possible to stay in an air conditioned space. I remember thinking "these people are nuts!!"... seemed a little chilly to me.

 

[k0ua]

LOL... I remember a business trip to St. Cloud a couple of years ago. It was in August and was about 85 degrees with very little humidity. Everyone was griping and moaning about how miserably hot it was and were doing anything possible to stay in an air conditioned space. I remember thinking "these people are nuts!!"... seemed a little chilly to me.

I know, at 85 we would all be out working in the "cool weather".. Was 107 at work monday..

Speaking of putting water in a Radiator, my wife commented on the Cialis commercial where the middle aged "experienced guy" stops at a convenience store and buys a 1.5 liter bottle of ice cold water from the chiller, and pours it in his overheated steaming 69 Camaro.. She said "won't that ruin the engine?" I said yeah that is pretty stupid. I thought that was pretty good for a girl.

James K0UA