[AT] shop time (Now Kill Switch)

jtchall at nc.rr.com jtchall at nc.rr.com
Sun Feb 1 19:53:27 PST 2015


C'mon Dave, he's referring to tractors built prior to keyswitches were the 
norm.  Then again, even after switches became the normal method of 
controlling the ignition, most manufacturers only had 2 or 3 different 
designs.

John Hall

-----Original Message----- 
From: David Rotigel
Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2015 8:20 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] shop time (Now Kill Switch)

Is there a problem with stolen tractors at shows? If not, would not simply 
taking the key out work just as well?
Dave

On Feb 1, 2015, at 11:23 AM, charlie hill <charliehill at embarqmail.com> 
wrote:

> If you've ever been around a personal water craft (jet ski) or a
> lot of different types of motor sports vehicles you've no doubt
> seen a little orange or red lanyard hooked to the drivers shirt.
> At the other end of that lanyard is a spring loaded kill switch
> that is held open by a plastic clip.  When the clip is removed
> it grounds out the ignition kill wire.  It might be a good idea
> for all of us to put one of those on our tractors that are going
> to shows.  Put the spring loaded kill switch in a hidden location
> and remove the plastic clip when the tractor is on display.
> Those switches are relatively cheap and can be found at boat supply
> stores and probably at Walmart.
>
> yep I decided to check.  here it is:
> http://www.walmart.com/ip/Boat-Kill-Switch-Keys-Lanyard/37514258
>
> Charlie
>
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Indiana Robinson
> Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2015 10:52 AM
> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
> Subject: Re: [AT] shop time
>
> On Sun, Feb 1, 2015 at 9:39 AM, <jtchall at nc.rr.com> wrote:
>
>> With more to do than time to do it in, I've had to draw the line at
>> waiting for warmer weather to begin winter maintenance. I get dad to cut
>> the heat on in the shop about mid afternoon so it is comfortable enough 
>> to
>> get some work done before supper. It took all week but managed to get the
>> master cylinder and brake equalizer rebuilt on his IH 454. As for now 
>> they
>> appear to be working, had a little more trouble than we anticipated
>> getting
>> them bled properly.
>>
>> Saturday it was time to pull the Farmall M in the shop, it had quit
>> charging. Since it has a magneto, no big deal as long as you didn't cut 
>> it
>> off with a weak battery. I can hand crank it, but the mechanism to do so
>> is
>> generally too gunked up to turn free.  The field had already been 
>> grounded
>> years ago to make it charge. Checked for broke wires, no problems there,
>> time to look at the generator. I had a buddy stop by and we pulled the
>> band
>> off that covers the brushes. Polished that section of armature real
>> careful
>> with fine sandpaper on a stick with it running. Pushed on a couple of the
>> brushes and it charged for a split second. Pulled the generator and took
>> it
>> apart. It was a very greasy mess to say the least. I guess the majority 
>> of
>> it was the residue form the brushes. Cleaned all that up, greased the
>> bearing, checked conditions of wires etc. The brushes are worn very bad.
>> Put it back together anyway. Had to free up the adjustable pulley so we
>> could tighten the generator belt. Put it back on the tractor, still not
>> charging. Grounded the field again, still not charging. Noticed one of 
>> the
>> brushes was so worn it  it was not making contact. Loosened the screw and
>> slid it away from the tensioner a bit, jackpot, its charging. I'll pick 
>> up
>> a set of brushes this week and hopefully call this problem fixed. Going 
>> to
>> leave the field grounded, been that way for a long time. Looks like I can
>> change the brushes with the generator on the tractor. Also have a new
>> off/on switch coming for it. Seems everybody wants $50 for one. My
>> grandmother bought this tractor new so I don't want to disrespect it by
>> sticking on a $5 switch from a parts house. The starter and generator and
>> magneto all came on the tractor, of course all have been rebuilt, but
>> never
>> exchanged. This tractor hadn't been cranked for 2-3 months and cranked
>> very
>> easily in 35 deg weather with the 6 volt system barely spinning it over.
>>
>> John Hall
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>>
>
>
>
> I have always kind of disliked that many of my tractors do not use even a
> simple key to start them. At tractor shows I usually pulled the rotor out
> of the distributor to avoid possible accidents. I've seen it happen 
> several
> times over many years.
> One year at our county fair a kid playing fired up a brand new Farmall Cub
> and it did a pretty impressive job of plowing a furrow clear across the
> asphalt drive before someone could catch up with it and shut it down. It
> could have been a lot worse...
> I've not priced them in a long time and the price might trigger seizures
> but I have considered buying some of those key switches with the lid that
> they used on the number series IHC tractors. My 400 LP had one as did the
> 300 Utility. That would give the protection of a key and still look
> "reasonably" appropriate.
> I did a good job (on purpose) of teaching son Scott that you "NEVER" stand
> directly in front of or behind a tractor being sold at an auction sale. 
> I'm
> not sure that even with my shoes off and my pants unzipped that I could
> count up the number of times that I have seen someone jump up on a tractor
> to fire it up and start it in gear. I've thankfully never seen anyone
> seriously hurt but some serious close calls. I have seen a couple of guys
> knocked down. The most scary was a guy that started one from the ground 
> and
> if another guy on the other side hadn't hit the switch he would have been
> toast. I've also seen guys start stick-shift trucks in gear at sales too.
> The N Fords were ahead of the pack with the starter interlock. My TO-20
> Ferguson has the starter built into the gear shift lever positions at the
> "S" at the top right. You have to lift the lever a bit to get to the right
> side for S and reverse.
> The only problem with the safety interlocks is that you still MUST 
> maintain
> the habit of shaking hands with the gear shift lever because the next one
> you start may not have the safety interlock. Out of 17 (not all running) 
> my
> MF-165, the two 8N's, the Ferguson TO-20 have interlocks. None of the
> others do. My Deere 4020 did but I sold it when I retired. Son Scott's
> Oliver 1755 did but he sold it when I retired. He now has a MF-175 and of
> course it has an interlock.
> People get weird at auctions. I have seen guys swing pitch forks around in
> a crowd like they were standing alone in the middle of a 20 acre field.
> Just nuts...
> -------------------------------
> Somewhere I have a list I made not long ago of what tractors and garden
> tractors I have and and whether they are running, need minor work or are
> basket case project tractors. That was probably a good idea except I have
> lost the list... I should make a list of where I keep my lists...
> :-)
>
>
>
> -- 
> -- 
>
> Francis Robinson
> aka "farmer"
> Central Indiana USA
> robinson46176 at gmail.com
> _______________________________________________
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>
> _______________________________________________
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