2305 and front grill plugging up

fdmars · Jun 11, 2011

Wow, mowed about 1/2 acre and the front grill was totally packed. Do not think any air was flowing at all.

Do not have any dashboard space for a water temp gauge, Did read here about a member who did a great custom gauge install, on a 2320 I think. I can see how if you were doing a larger area or a small field, you would have to stop and clean the grill or else risk overheat...Any thoughts on this? Anyone ever changed the fan blade to blow the other way? Would that be a good idea?
Thanks Fred

Gator6x4 · Jun 11, 2011

John Deere sells a "Blow Out" preventer that goes under the front edge of the mowing deck. Two or three strips of metal that bolts to the front of the deck. Someone posted he had just purchased the kit and it cost approximately $40.00 if memory serves. You may want to consider installing on the mowing deck to prevent grass clippings from blowing out the front of the deck and being pulled upwards by the tractor cooling fan.

Gizmo2 · Jun 11, 2011

A friend of mine mows his fields twice a year the first time he mows he wraps a old bed sheet over the front of the tractor. Stops every now and again and shakes the sheet off, works for him.

thatguy · Jun 11, 2011

Gizmo2 said:
A friend of mine mows his fields twice a year the first time he mows he wraps a old bed sheet over the front of the tractor. Stops every now and again and shakes the sheet off, works for him.

I have the same problem in my 2320 - I wish the hood was metal so I could put a piece of fine screen over the grill held in place by magnets.. Just likek the sheet, it would be very easy to clean..

brian

whbrittain · Jun 11, 2011

fdmars said:
Wow, mowed about 1/2 acre and the front grill was totally packed. Do not think any air was flowing at all. Do not have any dashboard space for a water temp gauge, Did read here about a member who did a great custom gauge install, on a 2320 I think. I can see how if you were doing a larger area or a small field, you would have to stop and clean the grill or else risk overheat...Any thoughts on this? Anyone ever changed the fan blade to blow the other way? Would that be a good idea?
Thanks Fred

Open the hood and check the screen in front of the radiator and behind the battery. I opened mine today for something unrelated and found the inside screen was packed with clippings as well. Just a quick shot with a blow gun and it was fine. But, if I hadn't opened the hood I would probably ended up with a bigger problem down the line.

KennyG · Jun 11, 2011

whbrittain said:
Open the hood and check the screen in front of the radiator and behind the battery. I opened mine today for something unrelated and found the inside screen was packed with clippings as well. Just a quick shot with a blow gun and it was fine. But, if I hadn't opened the hood I would probably ended up with a bigger problem down the line.

That's a good point. On my 2320, I don't worry about the outer screen while I'm mowing (I clean it after every mowing) because I'm pretty sure air will get around it. However, I also regularly check the inner screen and find I don't get much on it. If it loads up that would be more of a problem than the outer screen.

nikdfish · Jun 11, 2011

Mowing high weeds last fall with the 3038e, the fluff & hulls from various seeds would pretty much seal up the front & side grill openings in very little time. It looked like a layer of felt or dryer lint. I found I needed to stop & clean them off every 45 minutes or so if I wanted to keep the engine from overheating - which did happen twice before I got into the prophylactic stop & clean routine.

Nick

fdmars · Jun 12, 2011

Thanks for input, I do check the inner screen as well, and as stated by other member, it does not seem to collect too much stuff, but still need to be looked after. Guess this issue is the nature of the beast.

North Country · Jun 12, 2011

Gator6x4 said:
John Deere sells a "Blow Out" preventer that goes under the front edge of the mowing deck. Two or three strips of metal that bolts to the front of the deck. Someone posted he had just purchased the kit and it cost approximately $40.00 if memory serves. You may want to consider installing on the mowing deck to prevent grass clippings from blowing out the front of the deck and being pulled upwards by the tractor cooling fan.

Do you have a part number? I couldn't find it...

I did notice that the grill plugs up much less once I installed the mulch kit. I still get some clippings, but I can now finish the whole yard (2+ acres) without clearing the grill.

JayHo · Aug 6, 2018

Has anyone changed the direction of the fan? And has it helped?
This is so annoying with this mower. Thank you!

ruffdog · Aug 6, 2018

I always clean the inside screens/radiator every 2-3 times mowing. The outer screens every time mowing.

beenthere · Aug 6, 2018

JayHo
Thinking about it, how would you clean the air blowing back through the radiator if you changed the flow?
Seems to me, the grill is doing its intended job, catching the debris before it gets into the radiator fins.

Just seems that cleaning is needed more often if the debris conditions are such that plugging results.
You do not want it to get into the radiator fins.

ruffdog · Aug 6, 2018

And....check how clean your radiator actually is by having a light on the back side. Air has to flow THROUGH the radiator!

JayHo · Aug 7, 2018

Beenthere, this is true that changing the direction of the air flow would likely be worse since there is not a screen on the backside of the radiator. Thanks.
But I am desperate for a solution.
I read that one person secures a bed sheet over the front of the their grill because it is easier to shake it out than to be bothered with the cleaning of the two screens. For me this is sometimes every hour from grass clippings.

Zebrafive · Aug 7, 2018

North Country said:
Do you have a part number? I couldn't find it...

I did notice that the grill plugs up much less once I installed the mulch kit. I still get some clippings, but I can now finish the whole yard (2+ acres) without clearing the grill.

For the 54C deck the anti blowout kit is P/N AM133765
I did not find a P/N for the 54D deck

ruffdog · Aug 7, 2018

Anti-blowout kits....interesting...
https://www.mytractorforum.com/12-john-deere-forum/616265-question-owners-62c-deck.html

...and more...

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/john-deere-owning-operating/208621-am133766-installed-62d-results.html

SI2305 · Aug 12, 2018

fdmars,

I hear you about the dust build up. I owned a 2305 for about 13 years and the front grill frequently plugged up with debris, especially if mowing in dusty conditions. The best "solution" I ever found was to periodically turn off the tractor and wipe down the front grill with my gloves. If the tractor is set to idle, it still has a considerable amount of suction making grill cleaning difficult at best. Though I never did it, If you can figure out how to get a temp gauge on the dash, I would highly recommend that option.

Best wishes,

SI2305 (Old handle, new tractor)

2018 JD2023r, loader, 6'rotary cutter

JayHo · Aug 12, 2018

SI2305 said:
fdmars,

I hear you about the dust build up. I owned a 2305 for about 13 years and the front grill frequently plugged up with debris, especially if mowing in dusty conditions. The best "solution" I ever found was to periodically turn off the tractor and wipe down the front grill with my gloves. If the tractor is set to idle, it still has a considerable amount of suction making grill cleaning difficult at best. Though I never did it, If you can figure out how to get a temp gauge on the dash, I would highly recommend that option.

Best wishes,

SI2305 (Old handle, new tractor)

2018 JD2023r, loader, 6'rotary cutter

Thank you. I will look into that.

ruffdog · Aug 12, 2018

I ordered the blowout kit for the x744 (62c deck) and it was pn# AM133766 and installed it. We have not mowed the yard to try it yet.

Pictured is the skinny edge plate that was removed and the wider 2 plates that get installed.