3000 Radiator Question

[bravenrace]

A branch recently punctured the radiator in my 3000 tractor. It was the original radiator that had been recored a few years ago.
I took it to a good radiator shop hoping they could repair it, but they said they would have to recore it and gave me a price of $325.
This may not be the best place to ask this, since I know YT sells radiators, but I noticed that I can buy a new radiator for a little over $200 from various sources. The guy at the shop gave me the get what you pay for speech, which I generally agree with. But his price seems high to me. And having never bought a replacement radiator for this machine, I'm wondering if the quality is good enough for my usage, which is purely on my own property.
Anybody have any advice on this?
Thanks in advance,
Jim

 

[souNdguy]

this site has them for 228$
yt parts

 

[bravenrace]

Well yes, I know. But my question is about the quality.

 

[Dean]

I cannot speak as to the quality of the radiators sold by this site but I have been disappointed with the quality of aftermarket parts in general and aftermarket radiators in particular.

Dean

 

[sotxbill]

Most radiator shops wont to put in a car core and not an industrial core. An industrial core will line up and allow cleaning, where a car core is staggered and cannot be clean of chad and debris...

I have used many of the A&I radiators which are made in Ireland with good results and great prices. All were cheaper than repair and recore with wrong type of core.

your results may vary.

 

[RodinNS]

Your recore price sounds quite reasonable to me... Last one I had done here was probably more like 600.
I've never used an A&I rad. Personally I'd be inclined to not use A&I unless I absolutely had to, meaning no availability anywhere else...

Rod

 

[souNdguy]

most of my tractors have oe rads in them. 3 have replacements.

my 8n has a replacement rad, looks fine, works fine... not sure if it is turkish or irish..

my 850 has a replacement rad.. less tubes.. still works.. in fact. 1 tube is even soldered off from fan damage.. STILL works...

Last one is a 950 that has a small import car radiator in her. shorter than oem by about 4", and only about 2" thick. If I am cutting grass, i can make her leak some fluid out the leak off line after a couple hours. obviously a smaller rad and water volume than she wants.. but again.. still works.

Id imagine that the aftermarket rad sold here for your tractor will likely be of less quality than it left ford with.. but on the flip side.. would likely work. I'll take a clean new rad in good condition vs a plugged and soldered up and rotted out one that springs pinhole leaks from thin metal every 2 weeks any day.

 

[Ultradog MN]

For the kind of dough they want for a new one I would look for a good used radiator.

 

[RickB]

A&I Sells Clancy radiators made in Ireland and the Czech republic (or whatever I'm supposed to call it). Clancy radiators are just about the only A&I product that can be relied upon with confidence. They are my go-to aftermarket rad.

 

[freds]

I used a Clancy Czech built radiator after poking a hole in my radiator. Fit well, seemed about the same weight as the OEM and keep the temp ok. Later I did have the old one repaired; it had a hole in one core of approximate .080 dia. I went to a good radiator shop and had it repaired and pressure tested. They also found a couple of other leaks to fix. The repair cost less than $100 and it included a new cap. I now have a spare.

 

[bravenrace]

Thanks for all the information, guys. For a couple reasons I ended up giving the local shop the go ahead to re-core my radiator. I made this decision mostly because of timing, but also I think I'll end up with a better quality radiator and I supported a local business.

 

[RodinNS]

Good to know... my experience with A&I stuff has been varied but generally less than stellar. Somehow I have never forgotten the two 11-28 rear wheels I bought at different times that we so egg shaped I had to pry the center into place... and I've often though that if you couldn't get quality control on a wheel you weren't too worried about much else. We shall see how their ZF ring gears look in a day or two...

Rod