Electric fan setup for a C International

Our C has a 6ft Woods belly mower,I was wondering if anyone made a kit to put an electric fan on it. It has no water pump, and an invention to run the alternator. Thank you for your time. Billybob-Ia.

I think you're headed for more headache than anything you gain might be worth.

On the front end, the link below is to BobM's wiring diagrams, which includes both original 6v wiring and 12v conversions. If you doa quick search on this board on conversions you'll find some pretty detialed instructions on things that need to be done, recommendations for types of alternators and the like.

As far as the fan goes, I'm not sure what you'd be gaining, if you could even find an electric fan to fit up. Those old thermosiphons (no pump, no thermostat) wre wicked efficient, made to run and run hot all day without overheating. The original fan was key to that, along with the radiator. I well recall hearing those tractors working from a distance and apart from when the governor would grab hold and make her bark, you never heard the exhaust on them. What you did hear, steadily, was that fan howling. It's made to move a lot of air across an oversized radiator for the motor. That's one factor in why they're so hard to heat up in the first place. I know I've taken one of mine after a few hours mowing and the top of the radiator would be so hot you couldn't rest your hand on it, while the bottom was quite cool and comfortable.

If you're having problems with overheating just running a belly mower, I'd suspect you'd do more to solve the problem by flushing out the radiator and the cooling jacket in the head and crankcase. Even the motors with water pumps would do it, but the slower flow of the thermosiphon has a tendency to build up sludge, especially toward the rear of the cooling jacket in both the head and crankcase. agood fluching by getting water under pressure in through both the upper oulet and the lower inlet can improve things a lot.

Other things to consider if you want to try the electric fan, apart from the fit issue, will be that you'll have to find a place to mount a sending unit and relay to trigger the clutch on the fan and, I would question whether you could find an electric fan that will move as much air as the original.

So that's what I'd offer as free advice. If you do go for it, I'd love to hear/see some pics of how you did it and how it works out.
Bobs most excellent wiring diagrams

Are you having problems with the engine overheating?

If so, and if you are running the stock belt-driven fan, an electric fan will gain you nothing....except perhaps a little quicker warmup if you control the fan with a thermal coolant switch.

Reason: The stock fan can move more air at governed RPM than any electric fan you can make fit. Also unless you install a high-output alternator an electric fan will likely consume more amps than the alternator can provide at lower RPMs (= a dead battery if you don't run at full RPM!).

So I’d forget about installing an electric fan. Rather if the tractor is running hot the problem’s a partially clogged cooling system. Get the radiator clean inside and out. You'll find the engine will then cool just fine with the belt-drive fan!

I agree with the others that if you're having overheating issues, you need to clean the cooling system, but I recall reading an article about fitting a pump from a Maytag washer to a Ford Model A engine for use in a homebuilt airplane (Pietenpol Air Camper) to help keep it cool. The little Farmalls work just fine with the thermosiphon system, but it might be fun to fit a pump to one just for grins.

I agree with the others. If you are having problems with overheating, an electric fan will not solve that problem. If the cooling system is clean, the thermosyphon system can run all day under heavy load and not overheat. The C can be fitted with a water pump which would do far more to solve a heating problem than the electric fan. Also are you certain you are not overfilling the cooling system? If you don't leave a couple inches of room in the radiator, it will just burp out when the engine gets hot so that it has the needed expansion space. I have a C with no water pump and work it pretty hard on occasion. It never gets too hot.

Thank you for all the replies,I am sorry I did!nt explain it better.I was trying to get awayfrom the old style fan and bearing,it does not get that hot.I will leave it alone,and grease it.Thank you again for the knowledge and help it saved me from apeck of trouble. Sincerly Bill Fleck