Replacing hydro fan on a Super
 

Due to a real bone headed move on my part, I have to replace my cooling fan. Do I absolutely need to remove the driveshaft? I really don't want to unbolt the engine and everything else that goes with it just to slide it forward a few inches.
Can this be done without fully removing the shaft?

I was thinking that I could just loosen the rag joints at the engine and then unbolt the rear rag joints, carefully remove the rear roll pin, slide the couplers and rags forward on the shaft to clear the input shaft and let the shaft drop (or raise) enough to slide off the couplers and rags to get at the fan. I know I have to avoid damaging the input when removing the roll pin but how much wiggle room will I get by loosening the front couplers?

Am I missing something or overly optimistic?

Weave

It's generally easier to unbolt the engine and driveshaft and remove the driveshaft coupler on the bench than not unbolting the engine.

I done think if my memory is correct, you have to slide motor head. You might be able to drive the roll pin in the front of the shaft and slide it in to the motor. I always loosened the motor.

So it can be done. Let me get into it and see. Wish me luck.

EDIT:
Ah nuts, I can't be done!

Either the motor has to be unbolted and moved forward or the rear had to be unbolted and moved back. I started to unbolt the engine mounts, nuts and bolts but the nuts are so impossible to get at and hold on to with tools made by normal human beings that I quickly reassembled all the friggin engine shrouds, hood and side panel and started in on the rear end. This was a significant PITA too but not as bad as moving that Magnum forward. I blew an entire day on his project and the worst part was that I f'd up the fan I had to replace because of my own stupidity.

All in all I learned a little. Some of the engine mounting bolts were loose so they got tightened and I learned that the engine mounts were poorly designed but other than that, all I got was a spot in the driveway where hytran leaked out of the axle bolts, but the good news is that the Super does now runs superbly.

Just ranting a bit here guys, I could have been doing a lot more productive things today than lying on cold asphalt for 6 hours. I need a beer.

Weave

I'm about tempted to buy a 12 volt electric fan and installing it instead of going through this to change one little fan. Why doesn't Cub make a split fan for this?

It's really NBD to replace the fan. It sounds like a lot of work, but you can do it in an evening (3-4hrs). I've got several machines with the original fan. They only fail when they don't get cleaned and dirt builds up, or something gets into them. I really don't see how your going to get an electric fan in there so that it will do any good at all. Compared to the fan on the driveshaft, they don't move much air. I strongly suggest using the correct parts. A cool hydro is important to it's longevity.

What tractor are you working on? It's a simple job on the Cyclops series.

If his sig is correct, it's a 2072 but apparently you and I were thinking the same thing :beerchug:

And removing the engine leads to hard to get to nuts and bolts? I've never had to deal with nuts and washers when removing an engine. I unbolt the 6 bolts from the engine mounting plate and slide that forward if I need to. WAAYY easier than messing with unbolting the engine from the plate. Just my :TwoCents:

3-4 hours is a generous amont of time, I'd think it could be done quicker than that, but maybe I'm overlooking something :bigthink:

Edit: Just looked at the date stamps on this thread. Guess I'm a little late to the party here. But, as far as this is concerned:

I would strongly suggest you don't do an electric fan. First off, where would you put it? Second, as J-mech said, it won't move nearly the volume of air that the one on the drive shaft does. As far as a split fan, I've seen some guys split the fan, then use a metal coupler to put it back together around the drive shaft, but of course I can't find it now. I'd just take the couple hours and do it right the first time. The fans will last the life of the machine if you keep stuff out of them.

There was a post today Ryan, so your not late. :biggrin2:

Yeah, I think that's a generous amount of time too, but if you've never done it, it will take a while.

I agree with Sam, the cyclops is easy as pie. If you have one of those..... what, maybe an hour to change the fan? :bigthink: