Fan shroud or not

[Philco]

This message is a reply to an archived post by cliffyboy on January 03, 2016 at 18:11:21.
The original subject was "Fan shroud or not".

One day I heard a small noise when mowing. Thought nothing of it as it was the blade slightly touching the shroud in one small spot. After an hour it got louder, then suddenly the fan shredded the shroud. I
figured it was due to a water pump with bad bearings, YET there was no grinding sound coming from the water pump. I replaced the water pump, yet there was just a little wiggle in the shaft of the old pump. I
also bought a new shroud, and could get the screws to fit one side but not the other without having to drill pilot holes to force it to fit. I haven"t fully mounted the shroud, but testing it, the darn blades
are hitting it too!
Someone suggested the main pin at the front axle that holds the axle to the body could be worn out causing wiggling in the front axle making everything out of alignment including the fan/shroud combination.
Ever hear of this?

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 08:13:48 06/22/19) This message is a reply to an archived post by cliffyboy on January 03, 2016 at 18:11:21.
The original subject was "Fan shroud or not".

One day I heard a small noise when mowing. Thought nothing of it as it was the blade slightly touching the shroud in one small spot. After an hour it got louder, then suddenly the fan shredded the shroud. I
figured it was due to a water pump with bad bearings, YET there was no grinding sound coming from the water pump. I replaced the water pump, yet there was just a little wiggle in the shaft of the old pump. I
also bought a new shroud, and could get the screws to fit one side but not the other without having to drill pilot holes to force it to fit. I haven"t fully mounted the shroud, but testing it, the darn blades
are hitting it too!
Someone suggested the main pin at the front axle that holds the axle to the body could be worn out causing wiggling in the front axle making everything out of alignment including the fan/shroud combination.
Ever hear of this?

ut, bent, heated, cussed , but never could get a use able fit on aftermarket shroud. Fine without it. P.S. it does not mount to the axle.

 

[rustyal]

You have to modify the shroud to fit. And if you don?t want to fix your pivot pin/bushing you can modify your blade. I haven?t tried but someone suggested grinding a 1/4 off the end of the blades. The shroud helps to cool especially in hot climates.

 

[Ultradog MN]

I don't enjoy getting fan shrouds to fit right but I always do it as I figure Henry Ford didn't put Anything on these tractors but what was necessary.
I usually end up scribing a line on the ends of the blades and grind about 1/16" off the ends. Use a file afterwards to break the sharp edges to avoid future blood spillage.
Some say that will get the fan out of balance but I've seen a lot of boogered up fans that were way more unbalanced than that. Anytime I have a radiator off a tractor I take a tape measure and measure all the fan blades - off the head or a bracket - and bend/tweek them till they are within about 1/16" of each other.

 

[Farmer Dan]

My 1940 9N never had a shroud. It was a happy tractor. Getting aftermarket sheet metal to fit a vehicle that has been out of production for 70 years is going to be a real chore.

 

[Jim L WA]

I got my after market shroud to fit my 2N, but I remember it was a bugger. I think I had to relocate a couple or more mounting holes. Of course it didn't help that it was on an after market radiator too.

 

[Bruce (VA)]

The purpose of the fan shroud is to direct air through the radiator core of a stationary or very slow moving vehicle. Remember, many of these tractors sat in one place operating a buzz saw or grain auger. Or, slowly cultivating in 1st gear. The shroud has no real effect on a tractor or other vehicle moving much past walking speeds.

As all my N's have shrouds, I can only offer as an example the presence and absence of a shroud on my 29 Ford. Before the shroud, the water temp would increase by 10-20 degrees when I stopped at a stop light on a hot summer day. Now, with a shroud installed, the water temp will actually drop 5-10 degrees.
75 Tips

 

[8NHENRY]

I have one with and one with out. The one without I have plowed with and put a bunch of hours on, no problem thus far.

 

[4play]

Mine does not have a shroud, when I bought it I also noticed half way around the radiator the fins are smashed shut from the fan contact at some point in the past. There are also several rows of the core that have been cut off and bypassed, this radiator look like it should be in the scrap pile. I often mow in 90-100 degree days, 3' tall grass at WOT 1st gear and this tractor has never showed signs of getting hot or steaming. It has a 4lb radiator cap, 180* stat and 50/50 coolant mix. After saying this I still wish I had an undamaged radiator and a shroud on it though.

 

[allenlane]

Same here. My 45 2N has no shroud. Been through 3 Texas summers of 95+ heat and no overheat issues. Same with my 63 2000.