My last purely mechanical (tractor) post had a picture of the clutch mounting bolt. Folks in the know (and idiots like me) know that this is a good sign that the “split” tractor is soon to be a “whole” tractor. Shortly after the clutch it’s time to re-assemble the tractor, hit the starter, and see if it coughs to life.
So I spent a couple hours putting engine/clutch on transmission/rest of tractor and then more time putting on the front axle/radiator/hood. Everything must go on one at a time. (Apparently the concept of “hood” wasn’t yet invented.) Henry Ford was batshit crazy but usually a good engineer…disassembly of his tractor is one of the few times I curse the man. On the other hand, I’m getting better at splitting/joining tractors. If nothing else I can disassemble with the best of them.
Then filled it with fluids, said a silent prayer, saddled up, and hit the switch.
Nothing.
The damned starter was shot. (I’d forgotten about this.) After another on-line mugging I had a new starter (made in India). I’d salvaged a 6 volt battery from the other tractor (which is completely dead now) and I wondered if it was weak. After some musing over the wiring harness I gave her another shot and CLUNK. The starter Bendix extended, did nothing, and stayed extended.
These old starters are a bit weird. Once the starter is “extended” to engage the flywheel they don’t “retract” unless they spin a certain speed. (Insert dirty joke here.) An “extended” starter Bendix is supposedly “a bitch” (that’s the technical term) to retract on the bench.
So I coughed up $35 for another Bendix and tried again. CLUNK. Apparently the damned thing wasn’t getting enough juice to do the deed. I brought my battery in to be tested and indeed it was shot. Time to cough up more cash. New 6 Volt battery. Then I got clever and took the Bendix from my old (shot) tractor starter. Plus I put on shiny new cables because…why not?
Nothing.
Then I found a broken resistor…it’s a tiny little part but apparently it’s important. I replaced that.
No go.
So I said “fuck it”. Time to “go redneck”. Starters are for pussies. I decided to use a truck to pull the son of a bitch until it coughed to life or I got my frustrations out.
If you don’t know about it already, go browse around http://www.tractorbynet.com their a wealth of information about tractor repair.
Shhhhh….. this is top secret. When I was a kid at home, dad was a cop. Nice shiny new Dodge Monaco with a 440 in it got to come home from work. Wow, that thing could scratch in every gear. Anyway….. our old 8N wouldn’t crank, and I bet we put 40 miles on the D…. pulling that Ford around the section lines getting it to start. To this day, I don’t like gas powered small tractors. If they had feelings I’d cut’em in half to hear them holler. PS…. when dad and mom went out I’d………. oh my gosh that was so much fun…….. Nice to grow up in the county, long ways away from pavement. again…. shhhh……..top secret. PPS… dad finally bought a Massey Furgeson diesel. It was a 40 I think. That would start run and pull no matter what. I wish I couldda kept it after dad passed away. it was a beauty. Good luck and Godspeed.
In all honesty the little tractor that has broken my heart so effectively is probably not at fault. When it was running it did a mighty amount of work. I expect (hope) that it’ll earn it’s keep again when it’s fully “on-line”.
That said I prefer diesel engines in every way…they’re just beyond my tractor budget.
Ah, the old New Guinea starter! There are some drivers here that do not have either a battery or a starter on their vehicles. Instead they rely on a dozen or so passengers to give them a push.
Tractor in the header (again)–yay!
I thought you’d appreciate that.
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