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AIR CLEANER The oil bath tractor air cleaner works by the oil being pulled up through the wire mesh to the top of the mesh if the oil level in the cup is at the correct full mark. The heavier particles that come down the tube stick in the oil in the cup from the action of Newton�s laws of motion that state that a thing in motion tends to stay in motion in the same direction. So the heavier particles can�t make the turn in the air flow and get stuck in the oil cup. The rest of the lesser weight particles can change their direction of flow easier than the heavier ones so they don�t get stuck in the cup and start their journey up through the maze of the oil coated wire mesh. Not many of the little particles manage to dodge all the twists and turns of the wire mesh maze and so are stuck in the oil on the mesh. You say how can you ever get the wire mesh clean again???? It�s all automatic. When the engine is shut down the oil that was being held in the wire mesh by the force of the air draft pulling it up drains back down into the cup and the small particles wash down with the oil. All the particles eventually settle to the bottom of the oil cup in the air cleaner and so must be cleaned as often as necessary in order to have sufficient oil in the cup to completely saturate the wire mesh maze. If the oil cup becomes too full of the particles that have settled into the bottom of the cup there will not be enough oil to completely saturate the mesh and some of the particles will be drawn into the combustion chambers and eat away at the metal parts of the engine. Do not remove the wire mesh to �clean� it. It will clean itself! If it does become covered over on the bottom of the mesh with pollen etc matter just brush off all you can and let the rest live there. It will act as part of the mesh and eventually become dislodged and fall back into the oil trap. If the air passages are dirty and oil soaked you should clean with solvent and then wash it out with water from a hose or a pressure washer. Not to worry, it will dry quickly if you leave the oil cup off for a couple of hours. Actually any water left in it will not harm a thing. It will just act as additional air cleaner material till it dries. Zane
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