Solution to frequent radiator plugging Grand L

[greenrider1]

When I brush hog really tall stuff, I found my radiator stays cleaner if I leave the loader on. The bucket pushes the grass down, and probably knocks most of the seed out before it hits the grill and gets sucked in. For those that don't have a loader, I wonder how a low hanging, easily removeable bumper wold work? It wouldn't do much for the airborne dust, but might help with the tall grass. BTW, I tried taking my wife's pantyhose off, and she apparently thought I had something else in mind! :laughing: When I told her I needed them for my tractor, she lost interest real quick! :confused3:

 

[texasjohn]

I do leave my bucket on, down low, so tall weeds are pushed over... bucket gets half full of debris...it does help but does not solve the problem for me.

 

[kuboman]

These small tractors did not have a lot of engineering done on this issue. For the radiator to stay clean for any length of time there needs to be a perfect seal and there is not much to work with. If anyone comes up with a solution that still allows access to the radiator then let us all know.

 

[art]

I like the hose idea, I think that that if it could be fastened over the outer grille would be the best. Our farmers have the same issues with the larger tractors and many are trying to use loaders or other front pieces to help filter out the trash.

 

[dfkrug]

It's a problem with all of the newer style close-fin radiators. Back in the day the fins
had more space between them and it wasn't as much of a problem, but the radiators were larger too. The efficiency
of the fin design keeps the radiator size smaller (for those pretty sloping hoods, etc.) but they plug up quicker.

That is a good point. Many years ago, it was popular to increase cooling capacity (on cars used for club racing)
by increasing the density of cooling fins. There was no space to put in a dimensionally larger rad. On my car, the
stock radiator had 2 rows of cores. Radiator customizers offered 3-row, and even 4-row versions. The 3-row
versions worked very well, but (sadly) the 4-row rads were no better than the 2-row because of the resistance
to air flow. It would be great if you could re-core a tractor rad with less-dense fins.

As for the reverse-flow fans, it would be nice to hear of someone's actual experience using one. It seems
that much of the debris caught by the screen in front of the rad is due to the forward motion of the
tractor, as well as the sucking action.

 

[TripleR]

If it's not one thing clogging up, it's another.

 

[texasjohn]

Now that's amazing!

 

[dex3361]

If it's not one thing clogging up, it's another.

Wow did you have an overheating problem with that? I have never run across one plugged that bad.

 

[TripleR]

Wow did you have an overheating problem with that? I have never run across one plugged that bad.

I fortunately keep an eye on the temperature gauge and while it got hot, it didn't over heat. Unfortunately to keep it that way, I had to turn the heater on and let it cool down before I could shut it off and clean it out properly. Man it got hot in that cab.

It can clog up like that in a little over an hour and a half in the right/wrong stuff, native warm season grasses. I have started carrying a small broom in the cab and stopping every once in a while and brushing it off or running back to the barn and blowing it off with a leaf blower.

 

[johnems]

What I have done is clean out by blowing out the radiator really well with and an air hose before I leave the barn. It helps a lot to start out clean as you can. As I get to 5 to 6 bars I will stop and clean th screans. As the day goes I will take an air tank with me to blow the radiator out. I real think their is not a good solution other than to keep ahead of the cloging proecss befor it get to bad. Thanks John