Eaton Hydro Fan

[Damien Walker 246]

My understanding is that if you wish to use a rear mounted vacuum bagger that is pto driven on the Eaton Hydro tractors (C175 on?), then you need a smaller plastic fan.....which as far as I am aware, is no longer available!

 

I have been running a home brew vacuum bagger and thought I had managed to improve the fan to belt spacing but clearly hadn't, following the discovery of there no longer being any blades on my fan!

 

The problem is mostly caused by the lack of clearance and it is not helped by the fact that the belt is very long and there's  no lateral control of it (no guides). As the fan has hook type leading edge blades, they are prone to grabbing the belt and not leaving go...until the blade comes off.

 

My thoughts are that if I can remove the ability of the blade to hook onto the belt, the problem will probably be solved. The odd occasional belt/blade  strike should not then be a problem if the fan can't grab it. My solution then was to use a fan with a rim that acts as a shroud to protect the blades should the belt get too close.....but have been unable to find such a thing.

 

Solution = CAD and 3D printing!

 

So here's the latest version. It is unfortunately just a little too deep and the rim fouls the transmission drive belt so there's a revised version now printing.

 

My very first attempt was ineffective, but this one produces a gale when running at 2200rpm (the fastest my lathe will go). I think the transmission runs at engine speed (3600rpm max) so I am hopeful that this fan will work well. Whether it survives the belt proximity, remains to be seen, but I'll update this post when I have the final version and have tried it for real.

 

I haven't thought about what price to charge yet, but I'd be happy to print more if anyone is interested. My guess would be $25-40...they take hours to print and the cost depends very much on how solid you want the print to be (you can control the amount of infill and it's trade off between strength and weight and ultimately cost)

[c-series don 8,687]

I’m not sure if it would work, but the older Sunstrand transmissions had the pulley and fan all built in one. I don’t know about putting that type of pulley on an Eaton ? 

[Damien Walker 246]

12 hours ago, c-series don said:

I’m not sure if it would work, but the older Sunstrand transmissions had the pulley and fan all built in one. I don’t know about putting that type of pulley on an Eaton ? 

 Hi Don,

 

Thought of that! The pulley is about the same size but that means the fan is tiny by comparison. Another problem is that the eaton pulley is bespoke with an offset to fit over the oil pump and making a replacement would not be that easy. My conclusion therefore was that the Sundstrand method would not work. My recollection is that on the Sunstrand tractors, the pulley and fan hide behind the belt guard so they are immediately better protected.

 

Unfortunately the new print failed (though it is useable) so I'll try again when I have tried it for size and fit.

[19richie66 17,500]

I like the solution 👍 I haven’t had any issues with fan blades hitting belts on mine but I have replaced my fan on my mower from previous owners neglect. Nice work. I’ll keep this in mind. I made one with a grasshopper mower hydro fan. It works great. I bolted it to a spin on oil filter wrench  and the bolt sits snugly in the hole. No issues yet in 5 years.

[Damien Walker 246]

5 hours ago, 19richie66 said:

I like the solution 👍 I haven’t had any issues with fan blades hitting belts on mine but I have replaced my fan on my mower from previous owners neglect. Nice work. I’ll keep this in mind. I made one with a grasshopper mower hydro fan. It works great. I bolted it to a spin on oil filter wrench  and the bolt sits snugly in the hole. No issues yet in 5 years.

 

Neat! 

[davem1111 2,030]

6 hours ago, Damien Walker said:

 

Unfortunately the new print failed (though it is useable) so I'll try again when I have tried it for size and fit.

 

Interesting topic. I have 6 Eaton hydros here on various tractors, and at least one of them needs a new fan. I had thought about trying to 3-D print them. My daughter's boyfriend has a 3-D printer and has successfully printed headlight bezels that are pretty decent. I think modelling the stock fan would be pretty easy, and adding the rim around the fins should be pretty easy too.

 

What kind of material are you using?  Is it nylon?  I think without the rim the fins would need some flexibility; with the rim probably not so much.

 

[Edited to add:]  I just noticed that you might consider selling them.  I may be interested, but I see a "GENUINE OEM TORO PART #108393 NYLON FAN-L-CW FOR TORO/WHEELHORSE GARDEN TRACTORS" on FleaBay for $25.62 with free shipping, so I don't think I could justify paying much more than that. 

Edited August 29, 2023 by davem1111
more thoughts

[Damien Walker 246]

2 hours ago, davem1111 said:

 

Interesting topic. I have 6 Eaton hydros here on various tractors, and at least one of them needs a new fan. I had thought about trying to 3-D print them. My daughter's boyfriend has a 3-D printer and has successfully printed headlight bezels that are pretty decent. I think modelling the stock fan would be pretty easy, and adding the rim around the fins should be pretty easy too.

 

What kind of material are you using?  Is it nylon?  I think without the rim the fins would need some flexibility; with the rim probably not so much.

 

[Edited to add:]  I just noticed that you might consider selling them.  I may be interested, but I see a "GENUINE OEM TORO PART #108393 NYLON FAN-L-CW FOR TORO/WHEELHORSE GARDEN TRACTORS" on FleaBay for $25.62 with free shipping, so I don't think I could justify paying much more than that. 

 

Hi Dave,

 

I'm using ABS...it's probably the strongest and most common engineering plastic used. PLA is probably the most common 3D print material but it's not very environmentally stable if I recall.

 

Modelling is reasonably easy with a decent engineering CAD package, but as with everything, you have to look at it a while to work out how to draw it...and warning, this can be addictive! You also need a fairly big printer, this thing is approx 8" in diameter.

 

As mentioned, I've not given too much thought to pricing, it was more of 'I might be able help' thing. I'm in the UK so there'd be postage too unfortunately. I'll make certain the thing works and fits and doesn't disintegrate and will report back. I'm not into it to make money so hopefully the price would be reasonable!

[Damien Walker 246]

I had to tweek some dimensions...the outer rim was fouling the transmission drive belt jockey pulley (ie outer diameter was too large) and I think the rear offset was also too big, meaning that it was likely the transmission drive belt would rub on the fan. I have also filled in the central hub hole so that fan covers the end of the shaft as per the original:

 

I'll hopefully be able to take it for a test mow over the weekend when the weather is forecast to improve...and will report back.

 

I have added a flat idler pulley on the transmission input shaft to help guide the pto belt past the fan and below the tank mounting...hopefully this will help keep the two apart.

 

 

[kpinnc 11,994]

On 8/28/2023 at 7:38 PM, Damien Walker said:

 

Solution = CAD and 3D printing

 

Very nice work!

 

How does the printed version handle heat? 

[Damien Walker 246]

1 minute ago, kpinnc said:

 

Very nice work!

 

How does the printed version handle heat? 

 

'Don't know' is the honest answer, but it's ABS which is probably what the original is made from. My guess is that it should be good up to 120C, perhaps a bit higher.

 

Other than the pulley hub itself, it shouldn't see heat though because it's sucking 'cool' air in.

 

Let's see how the weekend mow test goes....it is supposed to be going to be quite warm here (that's probably 'chilly' by US standards  )

[ineedanother 1,369]

Looks great @Damien Walker but it also looks like the cooling fins are packed full of grass cuttings and debris. Probably worth sliding that tank back and blowing that mess out of there  Maybe it's not as bad as it looks in that pic.

[Damien Walker 246]

1 minute ago, ineedanother said:

Looks great @Damien Walker but it also looks like the cooling fins are packed full of grass cuttings and debris. Probably worth sliding that tank back and blowing that mess out of there  Maybe it's not as bad as it looks in that pic.

 

Thanks for the advice....it looks worse than it actually is but does need a clean. Double whammy of a burst oil pipe and a scarifying session which was very dusty...and all immediately after the full rebuild (it's a 518H). 

[Damien Walker 246]

My 3D printed fan survived the mow test run. I had it running for around 30mins in our current Indian summer @ around 27 degrees C ambient....which is quite warm for us!

 

As far as I can see without taking the wheel off again, I suffered no belt strikes and the fan is clearly intact and running smoothly so it looks like a winner at this time.

 

Unfortunately, I also collected a puncture in the left hand front wheel which reduced my speed and hence the stress on the tractor somewhat, but when I finished, the transmission wasn't overly hot to the touch and there seemed to be quite a breeze blowing in the under-fender area. (I blew the accumulated muck out of the cooling fins with an air line!)

[Damien Walker 246]

Quick update: Mowed a reasonably large area of long lush grass this weekend, the longest grass I have cut to date. The mower performed faultlessly, but as I put it back on the trailer I could see through the wheel arch that my rimmed fan was badly clogged.....and I think the rim is the cause as the usual centripetal force now doesn't clear the cuttings.

 

Perhaps I should rethink and make the same fan but without the rim....I'll report back if I make progress.

[c-series don 8,687]

@Damien Walker Are you still running the factory PTO driven vacuum in the rear? 

[Damien Walker 246]

On 9/4/2024 at 2:26 AM, c-series don said:

@Damien Walker Are you still running the factory PTO driven vacuum in the rear? 

Hi Don, I have never actually used the vacuum due to the lack of a suitable bag .....and the fact that I was very lucky to acquire a 520lxi with quiet collector so there's not much need for me to finish the restoration of the vacuum at the moment.

 

I could swap back to the original fan, but then I couldn't use the vacuum if I decided to use it after all!