[AT] Starter motor: troubleshooting?

[Dean Vinson]

Thanks, everyone.  It's running again although I don't know precisely what
made the difference.  I tapped on the starter, rocked the tractor back and
forth, took a wire brush to all the connections, still didn't move.  Took
the starter off, rotated it by hand, hooked it up to a battery for a second
and watched it spin, put it back on, nothing.  Came back a few minutes later
and tried again, and it started right up.

I'm a little suspicious of the main battery cable, since the insulation had
been frayed and rotted completely off in a few spots.  Steel stranded wire
looked okay and I wrapped it all with electrical tape, but it probably
wouldn't hurt me to replace it--I'm not sure all those strands are really
continuous.  (Where do you buy heavy cable like that?  Home Depot?)

Strange moment of the day:  When I pulled the starter motor off, it had a
bunch of gunk stuck up around the inside edge of the housing.  Looked like
animal fur.  There was even a little feather.  How the heck did that stuff
get in there??

Dean Vinson
Dayton, Ohio
www.vinsonfarm.net