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Fan really ??

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Ken Black

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 20, 2021
Messages
271
Location
VT
ok is a fan really needed on the driveshaft? 149. no tunnel cover as of yet. gone when i got the tractor.

use of tractor.
Tilling
Snow blowing
Trailer mover

no mowing .
 
I look at it this way. If IH spent the extra few dollars to install it originally, it is necessary for the long term reliability of the machine. The hydros do run hot when under load, so unless you want to replace the hydro unit often, I would spend the few dollars on a new one.

IH-547749-R1 superseded to IH-547749-R2. Found for under $20
 
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I look at it this way. If IH spent the extra few dollars to install it originally, it is necessary for the long term reliability of the machine. The hydros do run hot when under load, so unless you want to replace the hydro unit often, I would spend the few dollars on a new one.

IH-547749-R1 superseded to IH-547749-R2. Found for under $20
i was thinking same. but grrr 15 bucks for 30 cents of plastic hahhaha...
fan and driveshaft pin shiped 30 bucks ... will off to the races to find cheaper hahhahha

thank you 1811.....
 
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The reason some of them run hot is because they have NEVER BEEN CLEANED!!
Recently picked up a Cub and you could hardly tell where the hydro unit left off and the rest of the unit picked up!
Just a complete petrified block of oil soaked crud and debris from frame rail to frame rail and beyond.
The pump and hydro need to be CLEAN in order for the fan to cool.
 
Its difficult to find the part but on a few tractors they did use a metal fan instead of the plastic one. My 147 has a metal one, it gets held onto the driveshaft with a set screw. If you could find one it'd be a nice thing to have as they don't break nearly as easily as the plastic ones do. My 107's has one fan blade left. Better than none and I don't work it at all, plus I know the hydro is clean, but part of me wants to take the metal fan off the 147 and put it on the 107.

I've seen nightmares of people ordering the replacement fan and having it arrive with one or two blades already broken, so be cautious who you ship with!
 
Its difficult to find the part but on a few tractors they did use a metal fan instead of the plastic one. My 147 has a metal one, it gets held onto the driveshaft with a set screw. If you could find one it'd be a nice thing to have as they don't break nearly as easily as the plastic ones do. My 107's has one fan blade left. Better than none and I don't work it at all, plus I know the hydro is clean, but part of me wants to take the metal fan off the 147 and put it on the 107.

I've seen nightmares of people ordering the replacement fan and having it arrive with one or two blades already broken, so be cautious who you ship with!
i thought about modding a metel blade from a small fan.. mmm i wonder if one of them windshield fans would work hahahhahah... got me thinking
 
His ways of doing things are a bit "unconventional" including using a sledgehammer on A siezed k301 engine block so he could get the crankshaft out!!

Even so he has done some amazing work, the 4wd articulated Cub has to be one of the coolest builds ive seen. I think my favorite idea of his was drilling and tapping a drain plug in the bottom of a cast iron hydrostatic transaxle.
 
I would say its not needed. When these tractors were built they were overbuilt. Same era greenies some have fans some do not. They all seem to work fine. As was stated Keep It Clean!!! Dirty buildup is the killer.
 
I will pass on my experience with driveshaft fans. I've owned a few different CC's over the last 50 years. I replaced the plastic fans a few times. and finally gave up. Mostly because I didn't notice when they broke a part and ran just fine without one. I've mowed my large yards in 90+ degree days. I've scraped dirt (I called it land scraping) with the blade until the muffler was red hot. Pulled heavy trailers, none running cars and trucks. Blow snow for myself and some of my neighbors. When my son was young and mowing our 5 acre yard, he cut dandelions until the head fins plugged with seeds, presumably over heated, and broke and a rod (I was at work). The fan less hydro never failed. I do have the habit of letting my CC's idle after working them hard, with the hood open, to cool down some before shutting them off. I have no idea if that benefits the hydro or not. I do change hydro fluid and filter from time to time but, not on a regular basis. As I stated at the beginning, this is my personal experience, others may have had much different results.
 
To add to what TOM said, I've found spraying GUNK foaming engine cleaner on your hydro then blasting or rinsing it off with a garden hose spray nossle works good. I recommend against using a power washer or pressure washer, the high pressure can force it's way into places you will regret. Guy on WFM accused me of not knowing how to pressure wash properly, He offered to train me in the fine art of pressure washing but he's never showed up in the 10-12 years since he shot off his mouth and he actually lives fairly close to me.
 
I bet the vast majority of them look like this:

Dirty Hydro_01.jpg


And a few look like this one.

Dirty Hydro No2_01.jpg


Dirty Hydro No2_02.jpg


Both of these were out of 125s with intact metal fans. The upper one is the one my parents bought new, the second one is out of a 125 that I parted back in 2002. I still have the hydro and a few other parts. The engine was rebuilt for me by David Kirk to his "Killer Kohler" specs and lives on in a different 125 chassis.
 
I failed to mention on my earlier post that I was keep the engine and hyro clean. I have never owned a brand-new CC and the used ones I have bought over the years always got a thorough cleaning right after my purchase. That might have something to do with not having any consequences of not being concerned with whether or not the fan was present. I also don't believe a fan helps much when the hydro unit gets as caked with oil and dirt as the above pictures. I've have always tried to fix any oil leaks as soon as I was sure where the leaking oil was come from.
 
I bet the vast majority of them look like this:

View attachment 146532

And a few look like this one.

View attachment 146533

View attachment 146534

Both of these were out of 125s with intact metal fans. The upper one is the one my parents bought new, the second one is out of a 125 that I parted back in 2002. I still have the hydro and a few other parts. The engine was rebuilt for me by David Kirk to his "Killer Kohler" specs and lives on in a different 125 chassis.
But the fans in great shape
 
this sort of falls on the what hydro oil to use lol ...

the 127s i have. i dont think have fans left on them and seem ok..
i do try and keep them clean. the 149 iam bringing back to work life.. wasnt to bad on top of the pump..
tho no tunnel cover on it at all.. so air would move fine i bet lol..
i guess i wont worry to much. its to be a tiller blower plow tractor no mow. now i just have to build the WF mount for the blower. grrrrr
 
Well, I noticed some drips from my hydro on my 1250 this summer. Thought maybe I had over filled it but checked and it was at an ok level. I had removed the hydro about a year earlier to replace the cork gasket and was afraid it was leaking again…Then I noticed that the plastic fan which I had replaced fairly recently was down to one blade. I got a new one from Charlie, (thanks for the candies too). Was not feeling enthusiastic about removing the drive shaft so I tried cutting it in “half” at the hub and holding it on with a hose clamp. Took a bit of fiddling but it worked, and I see no leaks now… so I either had over filled it or the fan helps. I think the engineers knew what they were doing, yes these machines are massively overbuilt by today’s standards but that’s why we love em. So maybe think of the fan as part of the overbuilding… happy thanksgiving all.
 
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