[AT] Starter installation trick on the later two cylinder JD Tractors.

Cecil Bearden crbearden at copper.net
Mon May 18 07:07:47 PDT 2020 

A 4020 is the highest priced tractor for its age at all the Farm sales 
around here..
Cecil

On 5/18/2020 9:04 AM, Dean Vinson wrote:
>
> Thomas, 4020s with Detroit Diesels?   Must have been after-market 
> conversions.   And I’d wonder why.   Although I haven’t (yet) owned a 
> 4020 I include them in my general sense of “hard to find a better 
> engineered, better built…” etc.
>
> Dean Vinson
>
> Saint Paris, Ohio
>
> *From:*AT [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] *On Behalf Of 
> *ustonThomas Mehrkam
> *Sent:* Monday, May 18, 2020 6:48 AM
> *To:* Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group 
> <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [AT] Starter installation trick on the later two 
> cylinder JD Tractors.
>
> JD seems to have a following so they must have done something right 
> over the years.  I have never owned one just observed some of the 
> trials of neighbors.  We never had that much trouble on the other 
> brands. Maybe the neighbors were just bad mechanics.
>
> We had a big land owner that raised thousands of acres of rice. They 
> had all JD.  4020's and such. Plus JD combines.  I drove the combines 
> when they were in a pinch for a couple of summers.  I have no problem 
> with the combines and the 4020 tractors.  Except they looked like a 
> steam engine with all that black smoke coming out of the stack.  Boy 
> those Detroit Diesels could scream and blow smoke.
>
> On Sunday, May 17, 2020, 7:40:09 PM CDT, Dean Vinson 
> <dean at vinsonfarm.net <mailto:dean at vinsonfarm.net>> wrote:
>
> I like pretty much all the old tractor makes, and have a red one, 
> green one, and a newer (~1980) blue one, and all three get pretty 
> regular use.   The green one is a 620, same model Dean VP was 
> describing.    Difficult starter access aside, my guess is you’d have 
> to hunt pretty hard to find a better engineered, better built, more 
> reliable, tougher-down-to-the-last-breath series of tractors.
>
> Not that I’d kick an Oliver 77 out of bed, so to speak.
>
> Dean Vinson
>
> Saint Paris Ohio
>
> *From:*AT [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] *On Behalf Of 
> *ustonThomas Mehrkam
> *Sent:* Sunday, May 17, 2020 10:38 AM
> *To:* Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group 
> <at at lists.antique-tractor.com <mailto:at at lists.antique-tractor.com>>
> *Subject:* Re: [AT] Starter installation trick on the later two 
> cylinder JD Tractors.
>
> Why do you guys LOVE those pain in the ass John Deer tractors so 
> much.  I have owned international, Massey Harris, Massey Ferguson, 
> Oliver and Miniapalious Moline tractors. All were acceptable. All of 
> those tractors still run. :-}
>
> There was always a lot of Cussing, Wrench Throwing, Pulling etc from 
> the JD owners. :-}
>
> Now I did it and insulted your Religion. :-}
>
> On Sunday, May 17, 2020, 2:46:43 AM CDT, deanvp at att.net 
> <mailto:deanvp at att.net> <deanvp at att.net <mailto:deanvp at att.net>> wrote:
>
> I just went through a few days of hassle that caused me to 
> remove/reinstall
>
> the starter on my 1958 JD 620 high Clearance tractor. There is an
>
> abbreviation for this procedure called a complete PITA unless you know a
>
> trick I knew at one time and had completely forgotten about. My situation
>
> was compounded by a 10" shorter battery cable than what is supposed to be
>
> installed. Mine was 54", the std is 64" that makes it a triple PITA.  I am
>
> referring to all the late Two Cylinder tractors, letter and numbered 
> series,
>
> that have the starter inside a cast cavity in the underside of the main
>
> case. The battery cable is fed to an anodized copper semi-ridged 
> ribbon the
>
> connects to the starter switch mounted on the starter. To use the proper
>
> terminology on a JD 620 it is called a cranking motor. To pull the started
>
> one is supposed to disconnect the battery cable from this copper ribbon
>
> before trying to remove the starter.  Well folks unless all the 
> planets are
>
> in alignment and the nut that needs to be loosened is oriented such 
> that you
>
> can get to it between the flywheel and the main case there is no way 
> in hell
>
> that is going to happen.  Well, unless as JD very casually mentions 
> that the
>
> flywheel may need to be removed. That is not a casual decision.  So if you
>
> have to remove the starter with the cable still attached, the battery 
> cable
>
> needs to be worked forward and downward to provide enough slack to 
> slide the
>
> starter out of the cavity so one can get to the nut that holds the battery
>
> cable to the copper ribbon.  That in itself can be difficult. But now lets
>
> say you are ready to reinstall the starter with the cable attached 
> removing
>
> the slack at the starter in inserted into the round hole in the main
>
> casting. Here come the trick that will save you all kinds of grief and 
> time.
>
> As you slide the starter cone into the hole you will all of a sudden hit a
>
> dead stop and are unable to get the starter further into the hole.
>
> What you will discover is either the copper ribbon and bolt/nut tied 
> to the
>
> battery cable is hitting the casting or the lever that actuates the button
>
> on the starter switch is hitting the cavity hole casting or both. The
>
> cable/copper ribbon and the starter switch lever go through an oblong
>
> horizontal hole above the hole the starter goes into. So one comes to the
>
> conclusion that somehow the battery cable/copper ribbon is bent to go
>
> through that hole and then somehow pry the switch lever up high enough to
>
> get thought the upper hole.  I can assure you that just plain doesn't 
> work.
>
> BTW, this is all hidden behind the flywheel. But what completely fools you
>
> is the starter can be raised another 1/2" or more in its hole because the
>
> whole cone isn't in yet and the lever simply slides over the interference
>
> and all is cool, I will guarantee you will convince yourself that the
>
> starter can't go higher because it is in a tight hole.  Wrong it will go
>
> higher. I used a floor jack to get the starter up close to the cavity and
>
> tiled the starter to get it started in the hole and then carefully 
> found the
>
> center of gravity of the starter and lifted that whole sucker up the extra
>
> half inch or so and boom the lever and cable/copper ribbon fall into place
>
> by taking the slack out. Once I did it the right way I realized I had been
>
> here before but probably 20 years ago. And then all the lights started
>
> blinking. This trick will save you hours of frustration and heartache.
>
> I also changed the cable to a longer version even longer than standard
>
> version. I went to 72" rather than the std 64" I wanted more wiggle room.
>
> I never could really firmly establish whether the original cable size  was
>
> 2/0 or 1/0 from the factory but since there are places where the cable 
> goes
>
> though that are tight fits the OD of the cable cannot be much over 0.5" I
>
> went out cable hunting at all the local Auto Parts stores as well as Napa.
>
> I found out there is a bunch of different cables out there with varying
>
> thickness of insulation. None fit my requirement until I found some 1/0
>
> Welding cable. That fit four requirements. High current carrying 
> capability,
>
> OD wasn't too big, the cable was reasonably flexible and it was less
>
> expensive than anything else I had looked at. Now where do you get that
>
> stuff? Of course at a welding supply store except the closest one for 
> me is
>
> a bit of a hike so I went to a "Batteries Plus" dealer. Sure enough had
>
> exactly what I needed. Cable cut to length.
>
> So I hope this might save you some time and grief you when you work on the
>
> late letter series and numbered series Two Cylinder JD starter issues.
>
> BTW, the thing that caused me to remove the starter to begin with was a
>
> complete misdiagnosis on my part. !@#$%^&*(  Starter went dead. Made the
>
> assumption the starter switch had gone bad because I knew I had a good
>
> battery and 12 Volts at the starter switch. The real problem was I had a
>
> resistive ground between the battery cable and the battery box and then to
>
> top it off an even more resistive ground (15K ohms) between the 
> battery box
>
> and the rest of the tractor.  Now why did this all seem to happen when I
>
> thought I was going to go to a plowing day .   I Power Washed the tractor
>
> which I hadn't done in a long time. Rust developed immediately where it
>
> doesn't belong.  So the moral of this story is to never wash your tractor.
>
> Dean VP
>
> Snohomish, WA 98290
>
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