Engine over heating

[Eric_Phillips]

I have a 27HP FarmTrac pulling a 5ft JD rotary mower. I always have a bad time with teh engine over heating when mowing. The screen on teh front of the radiator gets clogged with seeds and those *(^& cotton woods. The screen is not perfect so some seeds end up in the radiator. Of course my air compressor is on the fritz right now so I can't blow out the radiator but this is also a pain having to drive back to the barn every 20min. to blow out the radiator. How do you guys that are mowing miles away from your barn keep you tractors from getting clogged with seeds? Mowing is probably the most demanding thing I do with the tractor. Running a PHD or post driver really doesn't tax the tractor much.

 

[beenthere]

I don't have any trouble like that with my Deere. Never have a heating problem.
There is a good screen system that filters the air coming into the engine area, both on the front and both sides. Just shut the tractor down, and wipe off the cottonwood and dandelion and other floating things with a brush of the hand.

But a compressor is a great tool to dust off everything when done rotary cutting in the fields and woods. Sorry to hear yours is on the fritz.

 

[rmully]

You could put some netting over the front intake area then just untie and shake it out and keep mowing.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Eric in the past when we have had that problem the radiator was in need of a professional cleaning at a radiator shop. The extra load from blocking of air flow from seed should not cause one to over heat with a good cooling system. Of course some tractors are worse than others about sucking trash into the radiator.

Air compressor use over time can make things worse by packing it in tighter and tighter. I took one off and blowed it out but still some openings were blocked so I took it the shop and they cleaned and tested and got a lot of trash out of it.
How old is it?

 

[Eric_Phillips]

It is only 5 years old. I was concerned about packing the stuff in so I try to blow from the back side to blow out the junk the way it came in.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Well 5 years is new like but I would pull it because the price of new engines and take it to a known radiator shop in your area just to make sure there is NO water or air flow problems by design of the radiator.

It should have more reserve cooling capacity than it does.

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

The first thing I would do is to check the gauge to make sure it is right. If you have a temp gun take some readings on the engine and the thermostat housing and see if it is really getting warm. Any thing under 205 deg is fine. If you dont have a temp gun steal the wifes meat thermometer and put it in the top of the radiator. Since you have been having this problem since new I would guess the gauge is off.
Bill

 

[tree farmer]

Eric, I have a 2740 Montana, which I believe is the same as yours only in a green costume. 4years old, 3 cylinder Daedong engine. I run a 6' Montana rotary with mine in grass higher than the hood at times, mostly at about 2200RPM. Never had the heat gauge go above halfway. Gotta agree with you, though, the radiator screen sucks, literally. I zip-tied a piece of fiberglass window screen to the front of the grill opening, as it seemed most of the stuff plugging the screen was thistle and dandelion fluff. With the screen on the outside of the grill, it was easy to clean and still allowed airflow to the radiator from other directions. I also blow out my radiator with an electric leaf blower from the backside. Lots of volume and little pressure to drive the junk in deeper. Also, install a new air cleaner element often. These little guys run cooler, longer, and better if they're not fighting for their next breath of air. I can't remember the part # right now, but NAPA Auto Parts has all the filters for these tractors....Dan.

 

[beenthere]

With the various responses posted, makes me want to ask:
What are you observing when you say the engine is overheating?

Are you going just by the temp gauge, or are you also getting some boiling over conditions (steam and/or loss of water)?

The answer to this might lead to the temp gauge, or not.

 

[Eric_Phillips]

I am mostly going by the temp gauge. There is some residue on the end of the overflow tube and on the front axle so I am assuming it has over flowed some. I do need to check the level just to be sure that isn't an issue right now. If it was the temp gauge I would expect to see some high temps even when doing simpler tasks shouldn't I?

 

[beenthere]

....expect to see some high temps .......

One would think that, but if the gauge is bad, maybe it jumps quickly to high.

 

[dodge man]

Nothing taxs a tractor more than mowing. If you are cutting fairly high grass, you might be running close to your full 27hp most of the time. Most other things tractor do, they aren't running full power for long periods of time.

 

[tthopskin@yahoo.ca]

the heat gun is a good idea and if the there is a cylinder gone it will still run but heat up with the heat gun point it at each cylinder or manifold get the temp if with in 5 dg of each other cylinders are good and if ok clean the rad just the bottom two little fins plugged can heat it up don't take much if plugged bad and the breather it can heat up the motor and Evin take it out -- seen it all before ---as for the heat gun $35 buck at princes auto or Canadian tire worth having good luck :thumbsup:

 

[JakeBrake]

Back in November of 2005 my new Kubota L3830 had less than ten hours total running time. I used the tractor with a 5 ft Bush Hog Squealer 600 to clip a field that had not been cut in about two years. The field had large patches of Johnson grass that were higher than the tractor's ROPS. The weather was cool. We had already had our first frost, but the dead weeds were standing tall. There was an unbelievable amount of airborne crud. I always wear a dust mask while bush hogging. The bush hog cut through the weeds like a hot knife through butter until it overheated. After I shut down, I discovered that every air inlet into the tractor's hood was clogged with a couple of inches of airborne crud. When I opened the hood, I discovered that the radiator prefilter was clogged to the extent that there was no room for any additional crud. I let the tractor cool down and I cleaned off as much of the crud as possible. The tractor ran great and has continued to run great. It now has over 300 trouble free hours.

Since then I have put in many days bush hogging in 95 degree weather with no problem. I am ready to quit before the tractor is ready to quit. The L3830 has a digital temperature meter. normal operating temperature shows four bars. When that fifth bar appears I stop and clean out the radiator prefilter and all the hood air intakes.

My dealer warned me about airborne crud during my purchase instuction, but on that first day the tractor was unstoppable until it overheated.

 

[TripleR]

I have a 27HP FarmTrac pulling a 5ft JD rotary mower. I always have a bad time with teh engine over heating when mowing. The screen on teh front of the radiator gets clogged with seeds and those *(^& cotton woods. The screen is not perfect so some seeds end up in the radiator. Of course my air compressor is on the fritz right now so I can't blow out the radiator but this is also a pain having to drive back to the barn every 20min. to blow out the radiator. How do you guys that are mowing miles away from your barn keep you tractors from getting clogged with seeds? Mowing is probably the most demanding thing I do with the tractor. Running a PHD or post driver really doesn't tax the tractor much.

We use a very high volume Stihl leaf blower when it is too much trouble to drive back to the garage and air compressor. We mowed today with our JD 2305 and Kubota BX2660 and the 2305 had to be cooled down three times. For some reason the screens clog up worse than the Kubota, but a couple of times it got pretty warm.

 

[Eric_Phillips]

I put a new drain plug in my compressor and bought a bower with an extendable wand and went after my radiator. I first went from the back side to hopefully not get stuff stuck in harder. Once I got it as best I could that way I went from the front to get the rest. There was a lot of crap in the radiator. The queen bee horse is so neurotic she wont go out in the back pastures or let the pony go out there so they need mowing again. I will let you know how that goes.

 

[TripleR]

Good luck, we had to do that to our Case the other day.

 

[Transit]

I use a Hogs Hair filter about 1/2 inches thick in front of the radiator to keep the fine crud out. I cleen it when the temp gets near the red line, just brush the filter off.

 

[RoyJackson]

How do you guys that are mowing miles away from your barn keep you tractors from getting clogged with seeds?

I carry a small paint brush (bristles cut down to 1/2-3/4 inch). The cut down bristles are pretty stiff and do a good job at cleaning off the grill.
My Deere's have never overheated (rarely go beyond 1/4 on the temp gage), but cleaning the grill occasionally while mowin is good and easy preventative action.

 

[donnaj867]

Hello !
I am also a new member. Would a newcomer be warmly welcome here? Good day you guy !