[AT] Easier to Start?

[Mike Sloane]

The old Farmall tractors don't care whether you use the crank or the 
starter motor. And it doesn't matter whether they have electric ignition 
or magneto. One advantage of those old Farmall gas engines is that they 
were very, very simple - nothing that you wouldn't recognize out of 
VoTech text book describing generic 4 cylinder in-line engines. There 
was no vacuum advance, nothing sophisticated at all. The smaller 
tractors came with a crank that sat in special clips in or on the 
operator platform, while the larger machines had other arrangements. The 
Cubs, and A/B/C's were very easy to crank, but I have never tried to 
crank an M or H. I think those might be more work. Incidentally, when I 
needed to turn the engine over on my Ford 2N, I discovered that the 
Farmall Cub hand crank fit perfectly. The only "trick", as others have 
mentioned, is that you don't just spin the handle around. You engage the 
crank in the "down" position, keep your thumb close to your index 
finger, and pull up smartly on the handle. Of course, it also requires 
that the gas be open, the ignition on, the throttle about half way, and 
maybe the choke closed (the first time only). 9 out of 10 times, the 
crank is the only way my '48 Cub will start.

On 7/19/2012 3:50 PM, Tyler Juranek wrote:
> Hi Ben and all,
> On the farmals with electric start, how can you crank them? Do they
> come with a crank?
> Do you have to have some kind of switch on that tells the tractor that
> it'll be hand cranked?
> I know that on the late model T cars, they had both electric start and
> a crank, and you had to have a switch on either magneto or electric.
> Just wondering.
> Take care,
> Tyler
>