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

Wed May 20 07:33:07 PDT 2020

Ok, I want to throw my $0.02 in here. Lol.
When I started "playing" with antique tractors, I enjoyed the
two-cylinders the most. Dad brought a JD H home once, with electric
start, PTO, etc, and then we got the John Deere A out of storage where
we had it.
Although I do enjoy the John Deere A, my real love for oliver tractors
comes from my grandfather! I remember the day I first drove the 88
around and when it became mine, I did a little with it, (hayracks,
gravity wagons, just little things), and always loved the pur of those
Waukesha motors.
I bought the 770 diesel mainly because the 88 was getting to be a
money pit, but moreover, my hearing loss was really getting to a point
that I needed something quieter. So that is why I bought it. Best
money I ever spent. Even under heavy load, (including a dyno) it is
very quiet.
I still do enjoy looking at the JD A, and a 4320 at my grandfather's.
Just my $0.02, for what it's worth.
Take Care,
Tyler Juranek
IA

On 5/20/20, Cecil Bearden <crbearden at copper.net> wrote:
> 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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