taurus fan

[NKau]

Just had a couple questions about the taurus/lincoln mark 8 fans. I'm actually looking at putting one of these on a tractor, and was wondering how large of an alternator I will need to power this (tractor currently has a 12V GM alt. of unkown origin/output), and if these fans are variable speed, or if they are just kind of an on/off thing. Thanks for any help.

 

[HISSIN50]

Taurus fan should be low and high speed. The 3.0L fan, when on low speed, reportedly sips juice nicely. The only hard number I know of: Jerry Beach once reported the consumption of his.

I don't know much about tractors - would a fan off of some 4 banger with a small OEM output alternator work (one would deduce that the fan should not require a lot of amps if the car had a small engine and crappy alternator)...........

Good luck.

 

[NKau]

Taurus fan should be low and high speed. The 3.0L fan, when on low speed, reportedly sips juice nicely. The only hard number I know of: Jerry Beach once reported the consumption of his.

I don't know much about tractors - would a fan off of some 4 banger with a small OEM output alternator work (one would deduce that the fan should not require a lot of amps if the car had a small engine and crappy alternator)...........

Good luck.

Cool, thanks. It's just an old '58 Oliver gas tractor with a 265 c.i. 6 cyl; the clutch type fan just doesn't do the job on 90+ degree days with no wind when you're working it hard or it's under load. I'm guessing any electric fan that I can put on will be a considerable improvement, but I figured more may be better in this case. The only 'accessories' on this tractor are a stereo and lights. It wouldn't be a big deal to upgrade the alternator though, so long as I knew of a good one to look for in the junkyard.

Also, from the factory, how are the various fan speeds on say the taurus fan controlled? Does a thermostatic switch of some sort control fan speed? Thanks.

 

[HISSIN50]

Hmmm, I stand corrected. With that relatively large motor (the 6 banger), little ambient air flow and hot summer temps, your idea for the big Taurus fan sounds real nice.

A J/Y alt if needed sounds like a good plan.

The OEM two speed fans are generally controlled via the computer. For instance, on a 94-95 GT, there's a high and low speed relay and the EDF relay control module (solid state). Simply however, it's the puter that controls things.

I don't know what you have planned for controlling the fan, but a toggle switch and relay for each speed would likely work pretty well. You'd want a toggle for each speed since having both engaged at once really stresses the motor (and makes the fan spin only a hair faster than low speed anyhow). Slantman's site has a diagram for how to wire such a beast up (with LED's to let ya know what speed is on).

Good luck bud.

 

[Mustang78]

since it's a tractor i would just put on a flex fan and be done with it, they make new versions that arent so loud, and much cheaper, save the electric fans for cars/trucks that actually need em for performance

~Mark~

 

[NKau]

since it's a tractor i would just put on a flex fan and be done with it, they make new versions that arent so loud, and much cheaper, save the electric fans for cars/trucks that actually need em for performance

~Mark~

It's not the performance I'm worried about; it's the cooling. The engine only spins like 1700 rpm when it's 'working', and I'm not sure a flex fan is going to do much more than what the factory fan is. The thing is only moving at a few miles an hour pulling a baler, so there is virtually no air being pushed past the radiator like a car going 20 mph through town.

I've got a pretty good idea of what I'm going to try and do now; I'll make sure I get some pics when it's all done

 

[fastranger347]

electric fans are on everything because they operate at higher efficiencies reguardless of rpm, i put a 3.8 v6 in my 1960 john deere 1010 backhoe and i cool it with a radiator from a 84 subaru, with two 12" fans, jsut put a toggle on it and walk away, just use the high speed also, if you have a gm alt. they are normally rated for 60 amps or higher, which is plenty for what you or i is going to do with it, then you wont have to worry about boiling it over because you forgot to toggle from low speed to high speed