Posted: 7/4/2026 1:21:35 PM EDT
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I have a Kubota B3200 hydrostatic transmission with a 5' rotary mower. It will overheat when mowing high grass on warm days after about an hour of cutting. Is this normal? How often does your tractor overheat? How quickly? Tractor Mike talks about this and tractor/mower matching in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29Bivj8gXpI He makes it seem this is more common than I would have imagined. |
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Originally Posted By Ops: First thing, blow the cooling air passages with compressed air. Blow thru the radiator with compressed air and follow up with a water blast. That will take care of most overheating problems. I did half a dozen diagnostics on my MF compact tractor trying to solve the same issue the OP is having with no progress. I was convinced my radiator was clear. I saw a post somewhere that said you should be able to see a flashlight through your radiator fins and sure enough I could not. I blasted it good with the garden sprayer and presto it was fixed. Now when the mowing is dusty and unpleasant, I watch the water gage and as soon as it starts climbing I stop and hose out the radiator fins. |
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Originally Posted By Ops: First thing, blow the cooling air passages with compressed air. Blow thru the radiator with compressed air and follow up with a water blast. That will take care of most overheating problems. Originally Posted By Martlet: Are the interior and/or exterior screens getting covered in chaff? |
| Neighbor has an old Kabota that size. Remember him telling me that it likes to get hot fast in the summer. Something to do with its size and what it’s doing. On cleaning the radiator with air. They make wands to chuck up to your air hose. Basically looks like a piece of pipe with some holes drilled in it. That way you can stand to side and blow it out and not have to reach your hand in there. If some chance it’s bad dirty. After you blow it out. Spray water from the back side to get the smaller stuff out. If you want to take it another step forward. Go to your local hardware store or big box chain. Usually around the air conditioning stuff you will find coil cleaner. Get the foaming concentrate that you mix in a pump up sprayer and make sure it is acid free. Spray the front and back with it. You’ll see it foam up and the crud come out. Then just rinse from the back side. Works same way in AC coils. I’ve gotten where I use it on radiators on big trucks during love bug season and anytime I’ve been in some good stuff that clogs radiators. |
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Originally Posted By Ndenway1twicetimes: Clean the grass chaff screens & radiator fins. Then hose or pressure wash the gunk/dirt out of the radiator fins. Also check waterpump belt tention and coolent level. this |
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| There's probably a screen in front of the radiator, behind the perforated cover. Clean it...and the radiator if needed. |
"A mass production economy can neither be created nor sustained
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without a leveled population, one conditioned to mass habits, mass tastes, mass enthusiasms,
predictable mass behaviors." John Gatto
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Do the usual. Clean or wash all the heat exchangers first. If the hydraulic coolers are next to the radiator they can overheat the cooling system when grasss is sandwiched between them. I had an issue on one of my tractors, a jd 5065e . The oil filter screws onto an aluminum block that has oil in half and coolant in the other. This is where the oil cooler is connected. Inside that block was a tiny crack that was allowing some oil into the coolant but not coolant into the oil. It coated the radiator enough to cause it to overheat under heavy load. Couldn’t flush it enough. New block and radiator, good as new. |
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I have a 26 year old JD 4300 that is about 30 hp and I mow with a same size rotary mower and it’s never overheated. After mowing I always blow off the whole tractor and mower with a leaf blower and use a water hose to spray through the radiator fins a couple times a year. That may help but you might have other issues as well. I’ve been mowing when the grass/weeds were really tall or when there was a lot of broom sedge and the radiator would get completely covered and still not have any issues. |
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Whenever my JD 455 starts running warm I know my screens are getting plugged. I can swip them off a few times but eventually I have to blow out the radiator and really clean the screens. Eta The older diesel mowers would kick off the pto if the temp light came on. A feature to save the engine and let less observant operators know something was wrong. Im not sure about the older gas powered units but the newer ones do according to a neighbor. |
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I have a BX2350 and it runs hot as hell while mowing in the summer. I clean the screen religiously, and I've also changed the thermostat and radiator. It still runs hot. I've had to stop and let it high idle before. Mom has a 1025R. She was mowing thick grass last weekend it it was running hot enough for here to carry around a blower while mowing. Just lame. Insufficient cooling. Same as my Deere 6405. I'm going to end up having to change the radiator on it as well because I've tried everything else. |
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Made it this far and nobody told him to check if the owners manual was blocking the radiator? Also, when it overheats, let it idle while it cools rather than letting the same hot water sit in the engine block and not circulating to the radiator. |
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Originally Posted By giantpune: Made it this far and nobody told him to check if the owners manual was blocking the radiator? Also, when it overheats, let it idle while it cools rather than letting the same hot water sit in the engine block and not circulating to the radiator. @giantpune how would the owners manual block the radiator? Are you asking if the paper manual covering the machine is in the engine compartment next to the radiator? |
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Originally Posted By Deuskid: @giantpune how would the owners manual block the radiator? Are you asking if the paper manual covering the machine is in the engine compartment next to the radiator? There was a recent thread where an owner had never once popped his hood and found thats where his manual came from the factory. |
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Originally Posted By giantpune: There was a recent thread where an owner had never once popped his hood and found thats where his manual came from the factory. Originally Posted By giantpune: Originally Posted By Deuskid: @giantpune how would the owners manual block the radiator? Are you asking if the paper manual covering the machine is in the engine compartment next to the radiator? There was a recent thread where an owner had never once popped his hood and found thats where his manual came from the factory. You don't know how many times I've resisted the urge to ask that question since this thread was started 
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I owned a Kubota B7800 for almost 20yrs, that was very similar to your B3200. Couple things: I kept a 3in cheap paint brush on the tractor, the vents in the grille/hood would get blocked with chaff. Knock it off with the paint brush every hour or so. Behind the battery is a wire screen. There is a little tab at the top of the radiator. Pull this out and knock the chunks off. Once everything is cooled off pop the hood and tanke a garden hose with your thumb over the end and wash out the radiator fins from back to front. Possibly some debris in there that made it past the front screens. DONT use a pressure washer here, just a forceful rinse. I had the coolant bubbling/puking in that B7800 more than a few times. Still ran like a champ. Should have kept it but I wanted soemthing a little bigger. |
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Originally Posted By JP_in_STL: I owned a Kubota B7800 for almost 20yrs, that was very similar to your B3200. Couple things: I kept a 3in cheap paint brush on the tractor, the vents in the grille/hood would get blocked with chaff. Knock it off with the paint brush every hour or so. Behind the battery is a wire screen. There is a little tab at the top of the radiator. Pull this out and knock the chunks off. Once everything is cooled off pop the hood and tanke a garden hose with your thumb over the end and wash out the radiator fins from back to front. Possibly some debris in there that made it past the front screens. DONT use a pressure washer here, just a forceful rinse. I had the coolant bubbling/puking in that B7800 more than a few times. Still ran like a champ. Should have kept it but I wanted soemthing a little bigger. @JP_in_STL thanks! Why no pressure washer? This one below is highly rated. There isn't room behind the radiator for a hand with a hose reach down into the engine compartment so I need a wand. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GTYD1VGL?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1 |
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Pressure Washer is too aggressive, force will bend the aluminum fins in the radiator. I'd just park the tractor nose down hill/ditch Pull/Remove the front screen between the battery and the radiator Flush with the garden hose from the engine side of the radiator by the fan Or use an air gun on the compressor I wouldnt spend $50 for a fancy wand Hell your coolant likely needs flushed twice/three times by now on a B3200 given age. Drain the coolant, remove the hoses, remove the radiator for easier access. |