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

Cecil Bearden crbearden at copper.net
Wed May 20 04:51:56 PDT 2020 

I am glad to hear that!!   I just bought a Farmall H .   I have to go 
pick it up.  I don't know anything about it but the generator has been 
changed over to an alternator..
Cecil

On 5/19/2020 11:13 PM, Jim Becker wrote:
> Farmall H and M were similar.  You could do the clutch through the 
> bottom of the bell housing.  You had to uncouple the flexible joint at 
> the transmission input shaft.  Then the clutch could come out.
> Jim Becker
> *From:* Cecil Bearden
> *Sent:* Tuesday, May 19, 2020 10:18 PM
> *To:* at at lists.antique-tractor.com
> *Subject:* Re: [AT] Starter installation trick on the later two 
> cylinder JD Tractors.
>
> Touche Dean!!!!!    The easiest tractor to repair the clutch was the 
> 1200 David Brown.  You could remove the top transmission cover and 
> pull the PTO shaft and pull the transmisison shaft and the clutch 
> without splitting the tractor.  The 1850 Oliver was also built so that 
> the engine could be pulled by removing the coupling to the 
> transmission and set engine and hydrashift crosswise on the frame and 
> remove the clutch..  But, as far as ease of clutch rebuilding the 
> 2cylinder JD had them all beat..
> Cecil
>
> On 5/19/2020 10:03 PM, deanvp at att.net wrote:
>>
>> Shall we discuss doing a complete overhaul on a clutch on a JD Two 
>> Cylinder vs any other upright 4 or 6 cylinder in line engine tractor?
>>
>> Dean VP
>>
>> Snohomish, WA 98290
>>
>> *From:* AT mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com *On Behalf Of 
>> *ustonThomas Mehrkam
>> *Sent:* Sunday, May 17, 2020 7:40 AM
>> *To:* Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group 
>> mailto:at at lists.antique-tractor.com
>> *Subject:* Re: [AT] Starter installation trick on the later two 
>> cylinder JD Tractors.
>>
>> Oh I left out Case from the list.
>>
>> On Sunday, May 17, 2020, 9:38:02 AM CDT, ustonThomas Mehrkam 
>> <tmehrkam at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>>
>> 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 
>> <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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