Brush Hoggin' with a RED BELLY FORD .. hay seeds in radiator ... HOT! Cure??

[rodnok]

The one thing that it seems no one has addressed is that you said you installed a new radiator that is half the size of the original. That leaves you with half the surface area of the stock radiator and half the coolant in the radiator that the original had. This in effect reduces the cooling capacity significantly. Maybe that is the root of your problem.

 

[tmajor]

The one thing that it seems no one has addressed is that you said you installed a new radiator that is half the size of the original.

LOL No, not "half the size", probably "half the quality" of the original equipment. The first replacement, I received, was cracked at the bottom hose fitting ... it looked like it was epoxied in place or maybe poorly soldered.

I imagine, if I weighed the two radiators, the original would weigh considerably more.

I like to see, that you are paying attention, though!

 

[tmajor]

OK, my grille screen arrived today. ... generally, it was in pretty good shape,with a little rust and dirt and the bottom channel was cracked in the center ... more on that later.

Remember this is from a Ford 871 (?). The first thing I did, was to try it in/on the grille. it was about an 1/8" wide on both sides (more than the grille). The top had a lip which went in side the grille top. So, I cut the outer edge off each side and removed some of the outer channel corner.



Since the bottom channel was cracked, I removed it, as I felt it wasn't needed and without it, the seeds and trash could drop through, rather than sit on top of it.



The top holes in the grille matched with the top holes in the screen. The bottom holes in the screen were right behind the 2 outer grille slots. I'll have pictures of this tomorrow, as I painted the screen, after blasting.

 

[tmajor]

"Along with the sunshine, there's gotta be a little rain sometimes"!

So, last night, while I was enlarging one of the holes in one top bracket, the drill grabbed the last little bit and screwed the drill bit right into the radiator! :thumbdown: Then, when I drilled out the pop rivets, so I could get to the damage, the bracket dropped down, between the radiator and the side cowling. So, this morning, I cleaned the radiator up and applied some J-B Weld ... so that is setting up. Then I had to take the large bolt, at the bottom of the cowling out, to retrieve the bracket.

Now, ........ the grille screen sits in the grille, which is pivoted on the bottom. The top of the grille was originally held in place, by a bar, that went across and was behind the cowling.

The bottom is fastened to the grille with a 1/4" bolt, a flat washer, the grille, a 1/2" spacer, the grille screen, a flat washer and a ny-loc nut.
The top will have 1/4" bolt, flat washer, grille, 1/2" spacer, the grille screen and screw into a "U nut plate" on the bracket, which is pop riveted to the side cowling.

Hopefully, after the J-B Weld sets up and I leak-check, I can finish it up.

Update: ......... Well, that hasn't come together, yet! Still leaks, ... clear back, at the back edge of the second row of veins. I cleaned it up again and re J-B'ed it. I did go out and salvage my original radiator off the pile!

 

[tmajor]

I was away for a few days, but finally got back to the tractor. I had patched the radiator before I left, so I was able to leak check it last night. Finally tonight, got around to mowing a few more acres. While the ambient temperature was a bit lower tonight, the temperature gauge stayed just slightly above center in the green. Some of the stuff wasn't too heavy, while other parts of it was higher than my head, sitting on the tractor. I think, the new screen addition worked, as good as could be expected. Most all of the junk is at the bottom, on the screen, rather than in the radiator.

 

[tmajor]

Anybody, who might be interested in going this route, if you can't find a cheap used Ford grille screen, P/N 310982, might find this new one, to be the least expensive, at $72.90.

 

[stuckmotor]

I ran a Jubilee for years and bush hogged over 100 ac a year with it. I made a screen of metal window screen with a 1/4" rod for a frame. Shaped it to fit the grill and almost never had any problems. Worked well and a lot simpler than your snorkel. Ed

We did something similar with the Allis Chalmers WDs. Our window screens were crudely attached but kept trash out of the radiators. I don't remember having problems seeds.

 

[tmajor]

I think, any screen in front of the radiator is a big benefit. Especially on the aftermarket radiators, as they are a finer series of fins ... the old radiators would let some of the stuff pass-through. The only advantage, that i could see, of using the corrugated screen, was "more surface area" of the screen.

 

[tjkubota93]

You may consider taking your old better made radiator to a radiator shop. They can remove the tanks and "rod it out" or re-core it. You might end up with a better piece that way. A real radiator shop is getting to be a rare thing nowadays.

 

[Sysop]

There was a guy on YouTube, who said to remove a front end loader, etc.., so the seed wouldn't be disturbed, before approaching it. ???

If brush hoggin' it all, I don't think the seeds care if they're disturbed by a loader or the hog itself. The goal is to not clog and overheat the machine.