Two days ago, I thought my worst problem was needing to fix the hydraulics.
Yesterday, my new worst problem happened when I was moving rocks (that I collected for a project) from the area where I wanted to put manure composting pile.
I was working the tractor pretty hard, I was moving 3-man boulders. (Maybe I overloaded a ridiculously large bucket...)
Somewhere along the way, I heard a noise that sounded like the fan blades hitting something. Shortly after that, I saw my radiator cap shoot into the air, followed by a blade from the fan shooting out of the bottom, and of course, a bunch of coolant pooling underneath the tractor. There was no sign of the belt, perhaps it is still attached, I'll check sometime this morning.
A few months earlier, the tractor was given a clean bill of health by a long time Ford tractor mechanic. Up to this point, it seems to have run well.
Looking at other posts, I saw something that got me to thinking about root causes.
There is thread here on YT Forums, where an 801 (or 821) owner, had an overheating problem. The condition of the belt that runs the fan and drives the power steering pump came into question.
I have persistent power steering leak issues. The most relevant issue to this overheating problem has been fluid leaking from the reservoir at the seals between the reservoir and the pump body.
What is the chance that fluid got onto the belt and caused the issue that would lead to a fan blade hitting something?
An oily belt, particularly at higher RPM's, could certainly be reason for the belt to slip and go bad. The loader pump seems to need higher RPM's as the loader struggles to lift when I am running the engine a lower speeds. When I am using the loader, I do run the engineer at higher RPM's. Otherwise, when I am pulling something or using a implement, I run it at lower speeds. I have not used this tractor for brush hogging. The tractor spends most of its time in 1st gear. A previous owner removed the Sherman so that is not directly an issue.
As always, I appreciate your time and help.
Yesterday, my new worst problem happened when I was moving rocks (that I collected for a project) from the area where I wanted to put manure composting pile.
I was working the tractor pretty hard, I was moving 3-man boulders. (Maybe I overloaded a ridiculously large bucket...)
Somewhere along the way, I heard a noise that sounded like the fan blades hitting something. Shortly after that, I saw my radiator cap shoot into the air, followed by a blade from the fan shooting out of the bottom, and of course, a bunch of coolant pooling underneath the tractor. There was no sign of the belt, perhaps it is still attached, I'll check sometime this morning.
A few months earlier, the tractor was given a clean bill of health by a long time Ford tractor mechanic. Up to this point, it seems to have run well.
Looking at other posts, I saw something that got me to thinking about root causes.
There is thread here on YT Forums, where an 801 (or 821) owner, had an overheating problem. The condition of the belt that runs the fan and drives the power steering pump came into question.
I have persistent power steering leak issues. The most relevant issue to this overheating problem has been fluid leaking from the reservoir at the seals between the reservoir and the pump body.
What is the chance that fluid got onto the belt and caused the issue that would lead to a fan blade hitting something?
An oily belt, particularly at higher RPM's, could certainly be reason for the belt to slip and go bad. The loader pump seems to need higher RPM's as the loader struggles to lift when I am running the engine a lower speeds. When I am using the loader, I do run the engineer at higher RPM's. Otherwise, when I am pulling something or using a implement, I run it at lower speeds. I have not used this tractor for brush hogging. The tractor spends most of its time in 1st gear. A previous owner removed the Sherman so that is not directly an issue.
As always, I appreciate your time and help.