721DH2 running hot need help!

[ekim22]

I just wanted to reply in this thread because I did once and I have the same exact problem. I am so frustrated with my mower......because on one hand I LOVE the way it cuts....the thing is an outright beast.

On the other hand, it is the most sensitve machine I have ever operated in terms of over-heating and clogging the radiator vent.

I have a 3 acre field I cut once every 2-3 weeks. The grass gets to be about 12-14" high.....it's not thick grass either. It would be very light duty work for a bushhog and SHOULD be just right for a mower like this grasshopper I have.

That said, today I had to stop every 200 yards to clean off the radiator cover today. I was getting so mad. Literally 15-20 seconds after I cleaned it off, it would be covered again with grass clippings. How the heck can someone engineer a machine like this? I even got so perturbed I stopped, went back to the house, and got my cell phone to take pictures of it.

Here is a picture of the area where the air-intake is, behind the seat. Seems stupid to me that this is almost directly behind the side-chute of the mower deck

Now here is what my cover would look like within 20-30 seconds after cleaning it off

I am almost to the point of trying to build some type of side plates that restrict the ability of grass to get in to the sides, leaving only the top open to the air......this would obviously restrict air movement but damn it can't be worse than the way this thing is sucking in grass constantly.

 

[alford35]

That is exactly how mine looks after just a minute of cutting as well. I still don't have the mower running correctly but once the season is over it's going back to the dealer.

 

[thehemikid]

...ekim22, my 04 721D screen has yet to get that clogged, close,...but not quite that bad. Mine has only gotten close to that when the wind was blowing at me from the right side, ...blowing the clippings all over me & the mower.
...I noticed something in your pic that may or may not help. My 04 hopper has a flat rubber seal attached to the bottom of the screen so that when the screen is seated the seal makes contact with the black sheet metal in front of it, sealing off the area underneath. Is it possible that some clippings are coming up thru there. I don't have the mower handy at the moment for a pic so I'll use yours. The dotted line represents the rubber that's down (over the brown edge) & out of sight.

 

[ekim22]

...ekim22, my 04 721D screen has yet to get that clogged, close,...but not quite that bad. Mine has only gotten close to that when the wind was blowing at me from the right side, ...blowing the clippings all over me & the mower.
...I noticed something in your pic that may or may not help. My 04 hopper has a flat rubber seal attached to the bottom of the screen so that when the screen is seated the seal makes contact with the black sheet metal in front of it, sealing off the area underneath. Is it possible that some clippings are coming up thru there. I don't have the mower handy at the moment for a pic so I'll use yours. The dotted line represents the rubber that's down (over the brown edge) & out of sight.

Yea, you know that does make some sense. I may try making something like that out of old window screen or something.

 

[thehemikid]

...I got a better look at mine the other day, & it didn't have the black piece of metal I thought it had. It just seals against the back side of the "brown" metal seen in your pic.

...If I can remember tomorrow I'll take you some pics. The flat rubber seal is riveted to the bottom of the screen.

...Again I'm not sure how much (if any at all ) this will help, but it can't hurt.

 

[thehemikid]

...Fwiw, here are some pics of the seal on my 03 ( I think I said 04 before, my bad ).

...I don't know how to link several pics in one post, so I have to do a few posts for the different views.

 

[thehemikid]

...Lower screen seal 2

 

[thehemikid]

...Last one, Lower screen seal 3

 

[Sammy the Red]

Was just wondering if yours has the "Deck Flap" at the rear of the deck ?

Does the mower have a lot of blowout ?
Deck set up correctly so as to minimize blow out ?
Using the recommended blades for the deck ?

The above would help by putting less grass clippings in the air for the rad to suck in.

Hope you figure it out'

 

[173abn]

my screen also has that rubber on the bottom,it still clogs but for some reason never gets out of the white zone.I wonder ,I have a 928D and on the engine cowl it has this small door on top that pops open when the engine is running.Prehaps this helps in cooling.I don't believe the 721D has this feature.It just might be a design flaw with this model...russ