'46 H won't run past 5 minutes

So... first thing I did was replace the terminal clamps to the 12v battery because one was broke. (it was Jerry rigged on) But that had nothing to do with the problem. There is no air filter hose, so we sprayed starting fluid in the carb and cranked it. It puttered and tried for a while, but wouldn't turn over. Finally after messing with the fuel shut off and tapping just about everything, we got it to crank up and run. (It sounds pretty good I guess. Like something out of Willy Wonka) So we just let it idol, and moved the throttle up a small chunk at a time. The oil pressure seemed good. The gauge showed about 3/4 to the right side. Not sure about heat because it never registered. I guess the guage is broke. Tank is about 1/3 full, but I don't have a clue how old that fuel is. We would have to shut the fuel off, and turn it back on back and forth to keep the carb from flooding out. But even doing that the engine would just slow down then stop after about 5 minutes. Then we couldn't get it to start again. We found the Solenoid was broken away from it's base. So we are guessing that it wasn't getting it's ground. So we concentrated on that and got it to start cranking again. And that's where we left it, thinking that the Solenoid was bad.
Now, I know the Carb is all kinds of screwed up. So I am going to either get a replacement, or just wait to rebuild it. I was also planning on getting a new cheap solenoid... Well, cheap if it's only for the 12v conversion. I'm looking for other ideas of stuff I can try to get it running past 5 minutes.

The other cause would be a bad coil, it is getting hot and failing. Just replace. Any coil will work, just go to napa and ask for a simple 12 volt coil for a 1980 or so ford pickup.

What and Where?

Mike, you really need to sit down and build up some "book smarts" about the basic components of your new tractor before you start tearing into it, or even trying to get it to run for more than 5 minutes at a time. You need to be able to locate and identify simple things like the carburetor, sediment bowl, air cleaner, distributor, distributor cap, points, coil, condensor. Otherwise, you're liable to get yourself into trouble... "Say, what's this electrical thingy?" ZZZZZ ZZOT! "Do I smell gas?" ZZOTT! PISHHHH! WWWWWOOOOOFFFFF! if you get my drift :(

When you have to ask what a coil is and where it is on the tractor, that's scary to me. It means you're "playing with magic you don't understand," and I really, sincerely do not want to see you or the tractor get hurt.

If it is a Magneto ign, there will be no coil on top, it will be built into the unit and appear as a hump on the top.

If it has no ballast resistor, and it is 12v, it needs one in most cases. a resistor from a 57 chevrolet will work well and is cheap. There are many posts on ballast resistore in the archives. The diagrams from Bob M are also indispensible. Look them up and enjoy. Jimn

Randy