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<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">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. :-}<br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">There was always a lot of Cussing, Wrench Throwing, Pulling etc from the JD owners. :-} <br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Now I did it and insulted your Religion. :-}<br></div><div> <br></div>
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On Sunday, May 17, 2020, 2:46:43 AM CDT, deanvp@att.net <deanvp@att.net> wrote:
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<div><div dir="ltr">I just went through a few days of hassle that caused me to remove/reinstall<br></div><div dir="ltr">the starter on my 1958 JD 620 high Clearance tractor. There is an<br></div><div dir="ltr">abbreviation for this procedure called a complete PITA unless you know a<br></div><div dir="ltr">trick I knew at one time and had completely forgotten about. My situation<br></div><div dir="ltr">was compounded by a 10" shorter battery cable than what is supposed to be<br></div><div dir="ltr">installed. Mine was 54", the std is 64" that makes it a triple PITA. I am<br></div><div dir="ltr">referring to all the late Two Cylinder tractors, letter and numbered series,<br></div><div dir="ltr">that have the starter inside a cast cavity in the underside of the main<br></div><div dir="ltr">case. The battery cable is fed to an anodized copper semi-ridged ribbon the<br></div><div dir="ltr">connects to the starter switch mounted on the starter. To use the proper<br></div><div dir="ltr">terminology on a JD 620 it is called a cranking motor. To pull the started<br></div><div dir="ltr">one is supposed to disconnect the battery cable from this copper ribbon<br></div><div dir="ltr">before trying to remove the starter. Well folks unless all the planets are<br></div><div dir="ltr">in alignment and the nut that needs to be loosened is oriented such that you<br></div><div dir="ltr">can get to it between the flywheel and the main case there is no way in hell<br></div><div dir="ltr">that is going to happen. Well, unless as JD very casually mentions that the<br></div><div dir="ltr">flywheel may need to be removed. That is not a casual decision. So if you<br></div><div dir="ltr">have to remove the starter with the cable still attached, the battery cable<br></div><div dir="ltr">needs to be worked forward and downward to provide enough slack to slide the<br></div><div dir="ltr">starter out of the cavity so one can get to the nut that holds the battery<br></div><div dir="ltr">cable to the copper ribbon. That in itself can be difficult. But now lets<br></div><div dir="ltr">say you are ready to reinstall the starter with the cable attached removing<br></div><div dir="ltr">the slack at the starter in inserted into the round hole in the main<br></div><div dir="ltr">casting. Here come the trick that will save you all kinds of grief and time.<br></div><div dir="ltr">As you slide the starter cone into the hole you will all of a sudden hit a<br></div><div dir="ltr">dead stop and are unable to get the starter further into the hole. <br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">What you will discover is either the copper ribbon and bolt/nut tied to the<br></div><div dir="ltr">battery cable is hitting the casting or the lever that actuates the button<br></div><div dir="ltr">on the starter switch is hitting the cavity hole casting or both. The<br></div><div dir="ltr">cable/copper ribbon and the starter switch lever go through an oblong<br></div><div dir="ltr">horizontal hole above the hole the starter goes into. So one comes to the<br></div><div dir="ltr">conclusion that somehow the battery cable/copper ribbon is bent to go<br></div><div dir="ltr">through that hole and then somehow pry the switch lever up high enough to<br></div><div dir="ltr">get thought the upper hole. I can assure you that just plain doesn't work.<br></div><div dir="ltr">BTW, this is all hidden behind the flywheel. But what completely fools you<br></div><div dir="ltr">is the starter can be raised another 1/2" or more in its hole because the<br></div><div dir="ltr">whole cone isn't in yet and the lever simply slides over the interference<br></div><div dir="ltr">and all is cool, I will guarantee you will convince yourself that the<br></div><div dir="ltr">starter can't go higher because it is in a tight hole. Wrong it will go<br></div><div dir="ltr">higher. I used a floor jack to get the starter up close to the cavity and<br></div><div dir="ltr">tiled the starter to get it started in the hole and then carefully found the<br></div><div dir="ltr">center of gravity of the starter and lifted that whole sucker up the extra<br></div><div dir="ltr">half inch or so and boom the lever and cable/copper ribbon fall into place<br></div><div dir="ltr">by taking the slack out. Once I did it the right way I realized I had been<br></div><div dir="ltr">here before but probably 20 years ago. And then all the lights started<br></div><div dir="ltr">blinking. This trick will save you hours of frustration and heartache. <br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">I also changed the cable to a longer version even longer than standard<br></div><div dir="ltr">version. I went to 72" rather than the std 64" I wanted more wiggle room.<br></div><div dir="ltr">I never could really firmly establish whether the original cable size was<br></div><div dir="ltr">2/0 or 1/0 from the factory but since there are places where the cable goes<br></div><div dir="ltr">though that are tight fits the OD of the cable cannot be much over 0.5" I<br></div><div dir="ltr">went out cable hunting at all the local Auto Parts stores as well as Napa.<br></div><div dir="ltr">I found out there is a bunch of different cables out there with varying<br></div><div dir="ltr">thickness of insulation. None fit my requirement until I found some 1/0<br></div><div dir="ltr">Welding cable. That fit four requirements. High current carrying capability,<br></div><div dir="ltr">OD wasn't too big, the cable was reasonably flexible and it was less<br></div><div dir="ltr">expensive than anything else I had looked at. Now where do you get that<br></div><div dir="ltr">stuff? Of course at a welding supply store except the closest one for me is<br></div><div dir="ltr">a bit of a hike so I went to a "Batteries Plus" dealer. Sure enough had<br></div><div dir="ltr">exactly what I needed. Cable cut to length. <br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">So I hope this might save you some time and grief you when you work on the<br></div><div dir="ltr">late letter series and numbered series Two Cylinder JD starter issues. <br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">BTW, the thing that caused me to remove the starter to begin with was a<br></div><div dir="ltr">complete misdiagnosis on my part. !@#$%^&*( Starter went dead. Made the<br></div><div dir="ltr">assumption the starter switch had gone bad because I knew I had a good<br></div><div dir="ltr">battery and 12 Volts at the starter switch. The real problem was I had a<br></div><div dir="ltr">resistive ground between the battery cable and the battery box and then to<br></div><div dir="ltr">top it off an even more resistive ground (15K ohms) between the battery box<br></div><div dir="ltr">and the rest of the tractor. Now why did this all seem to happen when I<br></div><div dir="ltr">thought I was going to go to a plowing day . I Power Washed the tractor<br></div><div dir="ltr">which I hadn't done in a long time. Rust developed immediately where it<br></div><div dir="ltr">doesn't belong. So the moral of this story is to never wash your tractor.<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Dean VP<br></div><div dir="ltr">Snohomish, WA 98290<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">_______________________________________________<br></div><div dir="ltr">AT mailing list<br></div><div dir="ltr"><a ymailto="mailto:AT@lists.antique-tractor.com" href="mailto:AT@lists.antique-tractor.com">AT@lists.antique-tractor.com</a><br></div><div dir="ltr"><a href="http://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com" target="_blank">http://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com</a><br></div></div>
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