My new Branson was missing inner Air filter, should I be worried?

[5030]

The only reason to have an inner filter is in case the outer one fails and the inner one protects the intake against any dirt.

I run both on my Kubota's and the inner never gets dirty. If the outer one is dirty (mine are Donaldson filters as well), I'll blow out the outer with low pressure compressed air from the inside out. I replace mine (outer) every other year. Never replaced the inner as it never gets dirty.

One thing I do is. I'll wipe the inner surfaces of the air cleaner cannister out with a shop rag that has a bit of oil on it. That imparts a film of oil on the inside of the cannister and that will trap any dirt as well.

 

[FERLING]

I bought a new Branson 5520H last year. When I did my 50 hour service I had only really been snow plowing so there was no dust or dirt at all, so the filter looked brand new still, so I didn't replace it.
Today at around 90 hours I checked my filter because I have been bush hogging this summer and its REALLY dusty. The filter was blocked off pretty well so I decided to get online and order another one. It's then that I found out I should have an inner blue colored filter. My tractor came only has the white "outer" filter.

Should I be worried about not having that inner filter there for all the dusty use for the last 30-40 hours?
Or should the outer one have gotten most of the dust particles? I don't know what the micron level is or anything.
It looked fairly clean in the air tube.
I want this tractor to last forever and I'm pretty upset that the engine could have been more protected and it didn't arrive new with this filter.

Don't worry about it if tractor is running OK. Worry about the 'lasting forever' part because it ain't going to happen. Don't hunt a problem because if it's serious it will hunt you up!.

 

[LouNY]

The inner filter used to be called a safety filter. It's main function was to provide a backup filter if the main filter were to fail from moisture and loading. It used to be that gently blowing out the outer filter was recommended but not the inner.
I wipe the inner surfaces of the airbox with a greasy rag to get a film on to be used to verify that no dust or grit has gotten by the filters.

 

[MHarryE]

Like LouNY said, the inner element used to be called the Safety Element but terminology changed over the years for semantics. I have a Kubota RTV900 that does not have the inner element as standard but has the same housing and outer element as my GR2120 lawn tractor which I believe Kubota assumes lives in dirtier conditions. When I discovered this, I put a GR2120 inner element in my RTV900. So your tractor not having an inner element may not be an error by the manufacturer. It may be a cost savings where they are trying to scrape every penny out of the manufacturing cost - like Kubota did for my 2 smallest machines.

 

[DK35vince]

My Ventrac also has an inner blue filter and outer white filter. I replaced the white filter once at 100 hours and the blue filter was okay, but at 200 hours the inner filter was clogged.

If you inner filter is getting dirt there is a problem with your outer filter.
That should not happen

 

[MountainBuck]

If you inner filter is getting dirt there is a problem with your outer filter.
That should not happen

Agreed. However, I've been running in very dusty environment using the rake on the very long gravel driveway. I try to wait until after a rain, but sometimes I can't. I recently had "crusher run" delivered and they did such a poor job of "tailgate spread" that I had to rake it down just to get out of the drive.

Yes, I wore a face mask.

 

[5030]

I wipe the inner surfaces of the airbox with a greasy rag to get a film on to be used to verify that no dust or grit has gotten by the filters.

Been doing that for as long as my feeble memory can remember. Do that on my cars as well. On cars you just have to be careful that none of the grease or oil impacts the MAF sensor as it can be compromised by oil or grease.

 

[5030]

If you inner filter is getting dirt there is a problem with your outer filter.
That should not happen

I NEVER service my air filters based on hours. I base the service interval on what I'm doing and how much dust or chaff I stir up. Easy to inspect the air filter elements on my Kubota's anyway, 3 spring clips, take the lid off and have a look-see. i do have 'filter minders' on them but I've never had them pull into the red zone, don't let the elements get that dirty. Clean intakes equal a more efficient engine and that equals lees fuel used and with diesel worth it's weight in gold today, I want the most bang for my buck.

If you inner filter is dirty, your outer has failed or you didn't seat it correctly in the filter housing. Time to replace both and access where you failed to install the outer properly or if the outer has a hole in the element.