Truck radiators plugging at harvest

[poorboy]

I am thinking of retiring my old gas tandem and looking at options for harvest. I am thinking either a highway tractor with a 20 foot box, or a used highway tractor with a grain trailer behind. Do grain trailers work at harvest as well and are they ok in hillier fields? I was told that lots of the newer trucks have very fine cored radiators and air to air aftercoolers in them and they plug easily with chaff. Are certain models better for plugging than others, or should I only look at older units that don't have air to air coolers?

Has anyone found a foolproof system to add to help keep the radiators clean?

I will be looking to dump on the go with the grain truck, and sometimes a little dust will blow towards the truck.

[r.reid]

I'd go with the truck/trailer option personally. It's a better deal by far. Worn out $15,000 hi-way trucks with a $10,000 box on them are often sold to guys for WAY more $25,000.

If your land is close to your bin yard you could even find a set of dollies for a grain trailer and pull it behind your tractor like a grain cart. No more hot rad problems, and get more use out of your tractor too.

[cris]

I have seen a couple different rads for trucks as well. some are fine core but some are fairly wide. If you buy an Eastern truck you may have a choice a choice in rads sooner than you'd like.
I like the trailer option, very handy to use in spring for seeding,(2 big hoppers) better for hauling to the elevator,(can haul legal) and it doesn't cost that much more than a frame stretch and a new box. It's great in harvest if you have a big enough auger to get the truck back to the field in time. It takes a good 20 minutes to dump with a 10 in. auger. Just a few thoughts.

[sawfly]

we have 2 ex highway l9000 fords streched and boxed, with 3406s,screen the grilles,and their better than a 3 ton .fan dosent run all the time any way,

really check the air to air for corrosion and holes, rad too.
our 88 is a rust bucket and youd expect those problems, but the 90 looks great like it hasent seen much salt, but the air to air was full of pinholes too.
bigger anoyance is single element air cleaner on passenger/combine side
power and stability is awesome , get air not spring suspension

[dalek]

Can you put the Clean-Fix reversible fans on truck rads to blow them back out? I know Sunova implements is putting them on SP harvesters and combines.

[nicolaas]

I'd stick with truck and box. Better for wet fields and can keep that combine going nonstop during harvest. Got a IHC 8200 series, and unload on fly, never have rad problems. Truck's got air, just blow it out every once in a while.... same as for combine. One thing to remember, keep the combine full of crop, and that does not happen if you have to walk the combine half a mile to unload in a semi trailer.

[rosco]

We were in the exact same spot. Buying a diesel truck and box will allow you to keep on doing what you are doing now. Dump on the go, zip to the yard, dump quick and get back without the combine stopping. Buying a semi changes everything. My brother got a truck and a tridem triple last summer. We still dump on the go, but when he is full, he takes longer to dump at the yard, and the two combines still have to stop and dump into the old truck(s). Then when he gets back, the combines have to stop and dump in the semi while he is gone dumping the tandem. One more operater would help, or a grain cart. A 13" swing would speed up dumping as well. But these things all cost. The semi is sure nice for longer hauls in the winter. Air gauges are also nice for loading legal and for loading railcars.