I Won't Operate My Equipment in Wet Weather

[Gord Baker]

If I can help it, that is. Of course I get caught by a shower now and then, but really try to avoid that.

With what I do, dusty conditions, as well as fine vegetation particles get into the radiators, and I've had a mess to clean out, before.

I've other people's radiators nearly completely clogged~ solid on the intake side.

Also seen a lot of people who don't know how to maintain/clean a radiator. Caught my brother with the water hose on his Kubota tractor radiator after he said it was getting hot. Told him the radiator needed cleaning, and went around back, and there he was... just hosing down the radiator. Umm... No! I had to soak his radiator and use pressure to clear it. It was packed with mud.

I think he knows how now. I got him a correct high pressure air wand, and showed him how to use it.

Summer's coming. I watch that temp gauge closely.

You guys have any issues with your radiators clogging and the tractor getting hot?

Use extreme caution with High Pressure Water cleaning on Radiators. You can fold over the fins. Ditto with AC units.

 

[chim]

This is NOT a slam, but I am curious. How do you do this? I end up having to go out and plow snow, dig out drainage ditches during storms, etc, etc.

I am pretty sure most, if not all of my equipment (Tractors, backhoe, implements, etc) has been out in just about every type of weather - I do try to head to the barn during severe thunderstorms/tornados though.

Wifey and CNF must be related. She has a 2001 Alero with around 50K miles on it now. Bought new and it has probably been wet more frequently from being washed than from being in the rain. Until a couple years ago the Olds still smelled new when you'd open the door. Every once in a blue moon she'll be out when a sprinkle passes through. Then she does the old "Jim dear, the Olds has some spots on it. Could you wash it when you have time? And don't forget to use the mitt and not the brush so it doesn't get scratched".

I had company vehicles since 1975 and bought the Trailblazer that had been assigned to me when I retired a few years ago. Neither of us drinks or does drugs, but I'm always the assigned driver. Keep in mind that being the assigned driver is no indication that I do it correctly

 

[WinterDeere]

My current machine doesn't have a radiator... air cooled Kohler.

If it's the V-twin, then you're not immune to overheating! The Kawasaki V-twin on my zero turn suffered slipped valve guides, and I do believe this is a symptom of having run hot, despite me blowing the grass out of it after every use, and following the recommended maintenance of removing some of the guards to blow it clean every 100 hours. It seems that running hot can cause the press fit between the aluminum head and bronze guide bushing to get just loose enough to allow the guides to slip.

In a full top-end rebuild last summer, and replacing the well-buried ignition coils in the process (one coil was failing), I was amazed how much 15 year old grass I found packed into hidden nooks and crannies behind the various heat shields and shrouds, on that engine.

The design is bad enough that I'd venture nearly every mower-mounted V-twin on earth must be suffering airflow and cooling problems, whether you're actually seeing the symptoms of it or not. It's almost as if the designers thought the motor would never be used for mowing.

Wifey and CNF must be related. She has a 2001 Alero with around 50K miles on it now. Bought new and it has probably been wet more frequently from being washed than from being in the rain.

My sedan gets washed quite regularly, but has only seen rain maybe twice in 9 years, both times due to bad weather forecasting.

If it's raining, or rain is forecast, I drive the truck!

 

[neilpaku]

I worked in ag contracting for a few years. In summer, we'd blow out radiators and air cleaners daily, and sometimes 2x daily. It's just what had to be done and wasn't optional

 

[rockinbbar]

Use extreme caution with High Pressure Water cleaning on Radiators. You can fold over the fins. Ditto with AC units.

That's a good point about pressure washing.

Different radiators demand different cleaning processes.

My 120hp NH has very thick, strong, wide fins on the radiators. When needed, with a wider spray tip, I can back off distance wise, and wash the radiators.
(Not to put a very concentrated spray tip very close to the radiator.)

My 75hp NM, although with the same basic engine, has completely different radiators... Much thinner, and the fins bend easily, and don't have the space between them the bigger machine has. I DON'T get on that one with a pressure washer. The fins would just fold shut.

 

[John0829]

My sedan gets washed quite regularly, but has only seen rain maybe twice in 9 years, both times due to bad weather forecasting.

If it's raining, or rain is forecast, I drive the truck!

Same here, rain = drive the old truck.

The CR-V has never seen rain while the Tundra has been in rain, some, but when your traveling with a camper it is hard to avoid it. The Tundra has not been in any rain since selling the camper. Only using the CR-V and Tundra in good weather means they sit more than I would like at times but it is easier than the effort/time to clean them, which I do every time either one is driven.

I hate driving a dirty vehicle and the paint damage caused by bug guts, why it doesn't bother me so much with the old truck IDK. It however does get a monthly going over.

Keeping radiators clean I use a stiff spray from a garden hose which is usually weak enough not to cause damage but if some should get bent a little time with a radiator comb puts everything back in place.

 

[chim]

There was a time I was nearly obsessive about vehicle care. Now I'm retired and driving a Trailblazer with 286,000 miles on it hauling a 5YO everywhere. About once a month (depending on the depth of toys and junk) I'll take half an hour to empty it and do a quick hit with the shop vac.

It sits outside, goes on salted roads, gets rained on etc. I probably washed it three times in the last year. I take much better care of the Kubota

 

[John_Mc]

Living at the end of a 1 mile dirt road, and spending a lot of time on other dirt roads, you can't tell whether my car has been washed this month after only a couple of days of driving, even in good weather. After a bad week, it can be hard to tell what color the car is. Keeping it out of the rain? Not going to happen. Our cars seldom get sold before 200K miles.

My tractor gets used when I need to use it, year round, snow removal, working in the woods, mowing, road maintenance, storm damage cleam-up, etc. Being an open station tractor, I prefer not to work in the rain, but sometimes have no choice. (When the road is blocked by a fallen tree and we need to get out, or want to open the way for the power crews to get in, my neighbors and I get out there and do it.)

Vehicles and tractor will not win any beauty contests, but not something I care to spend time on, as long as they are reliable. The closest I come to washing my wife's car is offering to drive it for a day and run it through the carwash for her while I'm out. Occasionally, I'll hose off the back side or her car when the dust from the roads gets so thick that you can't read her license plate or the brake lights and blinkers are tough to see. If she has the hose out, she'll do the same to mine.

The only vehicle that avoids the rain is the 1951 Dodge M37 truck - and that's only because the roof is not always completely watertight. (I do minimize it's use in winter to keep the road salt off of it.)

 

[Avman63]

If I can help it, that is. Of course I get caught by a shower now and then, but really try to avoid that.

With what I do, dusty conditions, as well as fine vegetation particles get into the radiators, and I've had a mess to clean out, before.

I've other people's radiators nearly completely clogged~ solid on the intake side.

Also seen a lot of people who don't know how to maintain/clean a radiator. Caught my brother with the water hose on his Kubota tractor radiator after he said it was getting hot. Told him the radiator needed cleaning, and went around back, and there he was... just hosing down the radiator. Umm... No! I had to soak his radiator and use pressure to clear it. It was packed with mud.

I think he knows how now. I got him a correct high pressure air wand, and showed him how to use it.

Summer's coming. I watch that temp gauge closely.

You guys have any issues with your radiators clogging and the tractor getting hot?

I have an old Mahindra 485DI I use to cut my hunting property twice a year. It has a small pasture but mostly woods. I put a metal window screen in front of the radiator. It really helps keep from clogging the radiator, I just have to wipe it off two or three times during mowing. When I get it home I make sure to wash the radiator never had a overheating problem.

 

[charlessenf]

OMG! I'll have to check my radiator - it's been nearly twelve years since I bought it (the Kubota, that is - the radiator came with it).