Tractor Air Cleaner Helps Riding Mower

Tractor Air Cleaner Helps Riding Mower FARM HOME Lawn Mowers (31h,38) 30-4-38 The 18 hp engine on Bob Bugger's White FR18C riding mower is running on cleaner air since he added an oil bath air cleaner off an old late 1940's Massey Harris tractor. The Effingham, Ill., farmer welded a clamp-style mount to hold the old cleaner and bolted it to one side of the mower frame. It lines up between the mower's front and rear wheels. "I bought the mower from my son-in-law, and when I got it the original engine had already been replaced," says Bugger. "After using the mower just once I knew why - the air cleaner was already dirty after one use. The air cleaner was mounted in an enclosed area and had a pre-cleaner passage which was sucking in dirty air and blowing it into the engine. The pre-cleaner was a good idea, but not when it's enclosed like that because the engine had access only to dirty air. "To solve the problem I had to block off the pre-cleaner passage without blocking the air flow to the engine." To do that he cut a hole into the side of the air cleaner housing and welded a length of exhaust pipe into it. Then he clamped a 12-in. length of flexible rubber hose onto the pipe, inserted it through a hole in one side of the mower's frame, and fastened it to the outlet of the oil bath air cleaner that was mounted to an outside frame rail. To seal the top of the original air cleaner, he cut a vacuum hose lengthwise and slid it onto the edge of the top plate. "I added the air cleaner five years ago. Without it, I'm pretty sure I'd have gone through an engine or two by now," says Bugger. "I've never had to change the air cleaner, and the oil stays cleaner so I don't have to change it as often." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bob Bugger, 8971 E. 1025th Ave., Effingham, Ill. 62401 (ph 217 536-6516; fax 217 347-5331).

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