Mowing BX25 overheating while bush hogging

[dodge man]

I shot the radiator hoses and the neck where it tied into the engine and was looking for anything over 220 degrees. I can't remember the reading but it was nothing that alarmed me. I was thinking the only thing I could find hotter than 220 degrees was the exhaust.

 

[Blade Breaker]

Your radiator fins are clogged. You need a radiator genie. Radiator Genie Cleans out Clogged Radiators

Go out when it is dark, remove your screen, shine a light through the radiator, you'll probably be surprised at how clogged it is.

34 dollar long reach air gun. Crazy.

 

[AchingBack]

34 dollar long reach air gun. Crazy.

That's what I thought until I used one. You could easily make one yourself. Remember, you also get the water genie. I've used these two tools on all of my vehicles. I find them to be much more proficient and easier to use than a typical air nozzle, or water nozzle.

I was amazed at the huge increase in air and water velocity when you drive them through a tube with a flattened tip. In addition to cleaning out radiators, I use them for air sweeping my carport and washing equipment.

 

[Blade Breaker]

That's what I thought until I used one. You could easily make one yourself. Remember, you also get the water genie. I've used these two tools on all of my vehicles. I find them to be much more proficient and easier to use than a typical air nozzle, or water nozzle.

I was amazed at the huge increase in air and water velocity when you drive them through a tube with a flattened tip. In addition to cleaning out radiators, I use them for air sweeping my carport and washing equipment.

Ah. Didn't catch that it came with another for water. I could see it working good for blowing like you mentioned. Not so bad.

 

[Jack32878]

I think everything is running good now. I will cut for another hour or so again tomorrow morning. I want to thank everyone for all the small pointers. Most everyone was in the same ballpark so you were all right to various degrees. For specific info see the earlier post of "lessons learned."

 

[ryan08]

Just for the record, I think the radiator in Kubota tractors is really undersized. It looks like a toy compared to the one in my ZT mower with a Bota 21.5 hp diesel.

With such small capacity it is no wonder that it overheats so easily. My mower is an industrial model Hustler so it is designed to be used for 8 hours at a time with a 72" cut without heating issues.

Just sayin...

 

[ryan08]

Just for the record, I think the radiator in Kubota tractors is really undersized. It looks like a toy compared to the one in my ZT mower with a Bota 21.5 hp diesel.

With such small capacity it is no wonder that it overheats so easily. My mower is an industrial model Hustler so it is designed to be used for 8 hours at a time with a 72" cut without heating issues.

Just sayin...

 

[RaydaKub]

All in all, everything seems to be running pretty good now. Lesson learned - ensure screen/panel/radiator are clean, run engine at 3200 rpm, drive about 1/2 throttle.

Glad it's going well, but I had to read your post a couple times to understand what you meant. The throttle is what *determines* the rpm. You can't set the engine at 3200 rpm and then set the throttle at 1/2. The pedal can be pressed 1/2 way there, but not the throttle.

 

[oldballs]

I'd say one thing, it sounds like when your brush hogging, a lot of the time the engine is making 100% power. When you see the RPM's drop that means you need to slow down just a little. Also it has been discussed a lot on here that BX's tend to run high on the temp gauge. I've never had mine hit the red when mowing but close. I have one of those point and shoot thermometers and I never found a spot on the engine that showed it overheating.

When I had a new BX2660 (2009) it ran close to "Hot" when using the MMM at nearly full throttle, in turtle on 90 degree days. And that was with a clean radiator and screens..... just FYI in my experience. My B2620 has a different cooling design. It never gets out of normal range, regardless of how I run it.
Cheers,
Mike

 

[radioman]

My BX only overheated once, and that was due to a dirty rad. I pulled the battery out and cleaned out the rad fins and now its so much better, the prescreen metal filter was a little dirty , but not enough to make it hot, but cleaned it anyways. Due to the nature of the fan direction - it pulls the heat from the rad and pushes the hot air OVER the engine. I can understand why it can get hot fast due to direction of fan blowing.