Think that I found a novel way to kill a BX24.

acohen100 · Apr 26, 2008

So I was out moving a brush pile today when all of a sudden I hear the most horrible grinding sound coming from the front end. I shut off the engine and look around to see plastic piecies laying all over the ground. When I get off I see a stick wedged up under the front end, going through a tiny hole, and jammed up against the hub of the main engine fan where is had sheared off all of the blades. Not the hydraulic fan, mind you, since I have a rear skid plate. The dealer said they had never seen this happen before. I'm taking it in tomorrow morning to see what this damage will cost me. Not happy.

310-510 · Apr 26, 2008

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Any chance of posting pictures of the damage? Then I will know what not to do.

Mowbizz · Apr 26, 2008

acohen100 said:
So I was out moving a brush pile today when all of a sudden I hear the most horrible grinding sound coming from the front end. I shut off the engine and look around to see plastic piecies laying all over the ground. When I get off I see a stick wedged up under the front end, going through a tiny hole, and jammed up against the hub of the main engine fan where is had sheared off all of the blades. Not the hydraulic fan, mind you, since I have a rear skid plate. The dealer said they had never seen this happen before. I'm taking it in tomorrow morning to see what this damage will cost me. Not happy.

Wow...bad luck...sorry to hear! This is the reason I have a front skid on express order from BroTek as we speak...thank heavens for Richard and his add-ons..!

Egon · Apr 26, 2008

Hopefully the radiator is okay.

If it is just the fan consider yourself lucky.

acohen100 · Apr 27, 2008

Well it turned out not so bad. The new fan was $20 and the labor was minimal - about 30 min. Total cost was $80. I thought I was in for much more than that. Sorry no pics. Everything broken was tossed already. I'm back up and running...not as killed as I thought.

PS - I didn't go for the front skid because I didn't relish the thought of having to remove it every time I needed to service the front end or even change an oil filter.

Egon · Apr 27, 2008

Someone was looking after you!

Mowbizz · Apr 28, 2008

acohen100 said:
Well it turned out not so bad. The new fan was $20 and the labor was minimal - about 30 min. Total cost was $80. I thought I was in for much more than that. Sorry no pics. Everything broken was tossed already. I'm back up and running...not as killed as I thought.

PS - I didn't go for the front skid because I didn't relish the thought of having to remove it every time I needed to service the front end or even change an oil filter.

4 extra bolts and a couple of minutes is all it should take to lower the skid plate...and unless you are working the dickens out of your machine, the service intervals should be few and far between (hours wise). I would much rather have the piece of mind of having that belly protection than worrying about a few extra maintenance minutes...

acohen100 · Apr 28, 2008

I might agree with you...now. I wasn't so keen on the idea before this happened, though. Maybe I should just wrap the whole thing in bubble-wrap and keep it in the garage.

riptides · Apr 28, 2008

acohen100 said:
I might agree with you...now. I wasn't so keen on the idea before this happened, though. Maybe I should just wrap the whole thing in bubble-wrap and keep it in the garage.

Bubble wrap will not help.

Kelvar is light weight and used with ample amounts of velcro is sturdy and easily applied.

Volfandt · Apr 28, 2008

Kinda like the perfect storm

Theres been many posts here involving all makes and models of tractors where a wayward stick was able to puncture fuel tanks, hydraulic tanks, hydraulic lines, fuel filters, etc etc etc.
Big and small didn't deter the tiny stick from bring a mighty machine down......
Other than enclosing the entire bottom in 1/4" diamond plate, one has to use EXTREME caution when operating around debris that can reach-up and touch ya

Back in the day (oh oh, another story) I was bush hogging my played out corn stalks when the front end of my TE20 lifted up from running over a slight mound and then came down hard on an already cut down corn stalk. A cut down corn stalk that was just stout enough to bend my oil pan enough to cause a leak. Yep, had to replace the oil pan on a 40+ yr old tractor.....

As they say in Crapola, crap happens