is bush hogging hard on a tractor?

blunosr

Member
Hi, I've been knocking down some weeds with an old JD 506 "bush hog" mower. My Kubota MX 5000 has started heating right up to the red line, and spraying coolant.
I blew out the dust from the radiator and hood. The coolant level was fine this morning, and is still good now.
The engine oil doesn't have any water in it, but I think I'll change the oil and filter before running it again.
I'm thinking (hoping) that the thermostat might need replacing, maybe the water pump.

Any suggestions?

I'm really hoping it doesn't need engine work, I just can't afford it...

Thanks,

Troy
 
My MF35 overheated while bush hogging for years and I would have
to stop and let it cool. A new radiator and water pump fixed the
problem. The seeds will plug the radiator fins so you will have to
clean it often.
Zach
 
my Kubota pulls air from the inside and blows it out the front.I have 2 screens in back of the radiator that gets clogged up and causes it to overheat if I don't keep em clean..don"t know if you have the same set-up. Also the oil cooler has a filter in front of it, that gets plugged.good luck!
 
I use a JD 605 rotary mower behind my DC Case. Only
time it will warm up, is hot days and TALL WET
grass.
 
In general, yes.

Keep the radiator and screens clean and do not use a mower that is too large for your tractor.

Dean
 
Water pumps usually work fine until the bearings
and seal go out, they shouldn't loose efficiency.
I would blow the dust out of everything real well
and if that doesn't help try a thermostat. How
wide is your brush cutter? I am not familiar with
JD's. Maybe sharpen the blades, running the front
a little lower than the back takes less
horsepower. I just got a new 6 foot Bush Hog for
our JD 4600 (37 PTO hp) and it handles it fine. It
will bog down in thick brush but in just grass it
will maintain full rpm, but I go quite slow. This
is in canary grass up to my shoulders on the
tractor!
 
It will work a tractor more than you realize.

I run a 6' behind a 68 hp D19, and I will see diesel smoke regularly.

As others have said, I'd start by taking an air hose to the radiator fins, etc.
 
Without fail, all of the tractor issues I have had have been
while rotary mowing. Pulling a disk is a fairly even pull. The
shocks to the system on a mower come and go. If you want to
know whether you are looking at a good tractor, ask the owner
if you can hook it to a mower!
 
Clean out the radiator and then drop down a gear,its like pulling a mountain with a truck leave it in a gear where its pulling its guts out and have all kind of issues or drop to a gear where the engine is easily pulling the load and have few problems.
 
yes
like a field dyno
heavy engine load with few lulls...for hours.
pulling a plow or anything in the dirt, load the engine as hard as a mower does, and you will spin the tires.
With a pto mower, it has no such escape.
Good cooling system, smaller bites, and a lower gear, is about all you can do.
 
Been doing the KUBOTA for a long time and I can tell you right now your radiator is probably stopped up. I see folks all the time complaining about running hot and I ask have you cleaned the radiator and they say yes. Fact is most folks don,t know how and make a ness of it. If you have sprayed water in all you have done is swelled the weed seed and make mud out of the dust. Raise the hood , remove the battery and the screen. Next take something like the strap they wrap lumber in and go to working it thru the radiator. Pay a lot of attention to the corners. After you have pushed the flat metal thru all the openings get the air hose and get to blowing. This complete process may take up to half a day depending on how bad but will be cheaper than an engine overhaul if you have not already damaged your engine. Good luck and get that radiator clean.
 
As soon as I hook up a cutter I cover the front grill with screen wire, it is easier to clean, and keeps the radiator seed free too.
 
You reminded me - when we hauled sileage we put window screen over the radiator on the grain trucks so they wouldn't plug up. The 47 Chevrolet kept its window screen on all year.
 
Cut weeds/bushes with my little Kubota yesterday and it started running really warm before I shut it down. It seems like within a few minutes of driving through weeds, the front grill screen gets plugged up and up goes the temp hand. Then I have to stop and spray it off and I am good for 30 more minutes. Reason I know it's the weeds, it never overheats when I use it mowing the yard.
 

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