[Farmall] RE: [AT] Starter motor: troubleshooting?

[Robert L. Holtzer]

The M 6 volt system is marginal.  My suggestion is to use the largest, 
shortest cables possible on the most powerful battery you can find.  Run a 
ground cable directly from the battery to a mounting bolt on the 
starter.  If you are not too concerned about the correct police, I suggest 
using a 6 volt starter solenoid in the non-ground side of the circuit, 
using the original foot switch to activate the solenoid.  It makes a nice 
low resistance starter system.

Bob Holtzer

At 07:23 PM 9/17/2006 -0400, you wrote:
>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
>
>
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