McConell Marc 425 (Jinma 254) running hot after a couple hours

is the mower you are using a rotary cutter and how big is it? and I would think low second is kinda on the slow side . I can cut with my dong feng le204a all day with a 4 ft. ruff cut cutter in low four or my 5 ft. finishing mower in the same gear and the temp hangs at 180 deg. F

Tip: Put a furnace filter (or bulk filter media cut to fit) in front of your radiator. This will help a lot when it comes to cleaning the radiator.

100 degrees C = 212 degrees F. Pretty warm.

Do you have a coolant recovery system? Are you using a 50/50 coolant mix?

Is your battery mounted in front of the radiator? This has been a problem with some tractors cutting off the air supply to the radiator.

when you blew out the radiator did you blow from the backside to the front side? Sometimes I wash mine with water let it sit to soften the grit wash it again and then blow it out with air . I have never used it but I have seen a additive that you put in the cooling system that is SUPPOSED to improve the ability of the coolant to exchange heat, maybe BOB can give you a name and a idea if it works. By the way a rotary cutter aka bush hog takes less power to run than a finishing mower. Yes a bush hog will cut higher grass but there is a lot of mass when you get it spinning, inertia works.  The reason I went down this road I did not want you to change mowers and think the tractor would be under less load so less heat. And the battery thing I went to a lower profile battery when the old one puked that seems to let more air in, just make sure you get a battery with enough amps to do the job.

DavidPrivett wrote:

when you blew out the radiator did you blow from the backside to the front side? Sometimes I wash mine with water let it sit to soften the grit wash it again and then blow it out with air . I have never used it but I have seen a additive that you put in the cooling system that is SUPPOSED to improve the ability of the coolant to exchange heat, maybe BOB can give you a name and a idea if it works. By the way a rotary cutter aka bush hog takes less power to run than a finishing mower. Yes a bush hog will cut higher grass but there is a lot of mass when you get it spinning, inertia works. The reason I went down this road I did not want you to change mowers and think the tractor would be under less load so less heat. And the battery thing I went to a lower profile battery when the old one puked that seems to let more air in, just make sure you get a battery with enough amps to do the job.

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If I remember correctly, one of the Jinma dealers (I think Affordable Tractor) offered a battery relocation kit for these tractors.

There is an additive called Nalcool 2000 that improves coolant efficiency. I can personally vouch for this additive because we use it extensively in our EMD 16-710G engines throughout our fleet of 27 ships. If you have a few extra dollars and want the best coolant available, try Evans Waterless Coolant.

My recommendations are to give a good chemical flush and rinse, use a coolant like Final Charge or equivalent, install a coolant filter, install a coolant recovery system (this will keep air out of the system), and install filter media in front of the radiator.

Larry D wrote:

DavidPrivett wrote:

is the mower you are using a rotary cutter and how big is it? and I would think low second is kinda on the slow side . I can cut with my dong feng le204a all day with a 4 ft. ruff cut cutter in low four or my 5 ft. finishing mower in the same gear and the temp hangs at 180 deg. F

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Hi David…..I’m using a King Kutter XP 4 footer…it has two blades that swing from a center piece…..makes the field look like a war zone..LOL

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That is precisely why I chose to use a 6-1/2′ flail mower. I recently mowed about 2,000′ of 8′ tall scotch broom (sorry, no video) alongside my road. Had to make two passes though. The flail mower doesn’t scatter, and it’s much shorter and a little lighter.