Smoke coming from starter

After hooking up my brush hog and clearing my field for 1.5 hours straight at full trottle smoke started coming from the starter. When I shut the tractor off the smoke stopped but when I started the tractor again it started smoking again. Any idea what causes this?

You don't say what kind of tractor you have, but maybe your PTO clutch is slipping.

Obviously, your starter has a leak... all electrical components RUN on smoke. They all have a finite amount of smoke in them that lasts a long time, but as soon as the smoke is let out, eg, from a leak, they quit. I know this is true from first hand experience with welders, radios, microwaves, starters, and toasters.
Some items evidently ALSO run on flames. Fortunately, these are few and far between, but when the flames leak out, the results can be disasterous. Case in point, my wife's toaster. Not sure what she did, but she managed to let the smoke AND the flames out of the toaster almost simultaneously. Somehow, I believe the electrical cord was where the leak started. That reminds me. Perhaps you should have a fireman look at your starter... One diagnosed the faulty toaster cord as being the source of the problem, so evidently they understand the principles of electricity and smoke and may be of some help.
Insurance adjusters should NOT be consulted howver, as I find they tend to blame the owner of the electrical item in question without even considering the possibility of a smoke leak.


(sorry, I couldn't help myself.)
We really need to know more about the tractor..It might be that the starter is not the source of the smoke, but merely the portal from whence it emminates...perhaps a clutch problem is the real culprit.

"but when I started the tractor again"

Is the starter mechanically disengaging from the flywheel when it starts?

Check the rear main seal to see if your "smoking" oil instead of electrical.

Shouldn't be any "juice" to the starter while it's running, so I question if it's actually starter trouble.......Unless the starter if full of debris and the heat is burning off old oil.

Allan

We really need to know what model it is, and if the starter motor was used to restart the tractor. Oil smoke (as pointed out in the other responses) can come out of the starter even though it is from oil on the clutch, or a leaky seal. if it has a TA it could be a failing direct clutch as well. Does the smoke have an odor? Jim

Yep,

When they toast the field windings and/or armature, re-starting is pretty darned "iffy"; especially on a hot engine. :>)

Allan

It might be that the starter is not the source of the smoke, but merely the portal from whence it emminates...perhaps a clutch problem is the real culprit.

Click to expand...

Clutches quit working if you let all the smoke all out of them too. They contain a lot of smoke.

It is a IH Super C. Smoke also is coming out of hole behind battery box.

Try and get a good whiff of the smoke the next time it happens. Electrical, clutch, and oil smoke all have very distinct separate odors, if you've ever smelled them before.

Not the starter, a failing clutch can be tested by putting it in high gear, full throttle aiming for clear road ahead, and letting out the clutch like you were going to spin the tires. If the engine bogs down immediately and stalls, the clutch is good. if it continues to run fast, and the tractor moseys forward it is toast. If you are a new clutch user with no instruction, (with respect) you may be abusing it. Clutches are to make rapid transitions between stopped and pulling hard one second of slipping is all that is allowed. It is never a speed adjustment. When working to attach an implement, or move carefully, a light slipping is OK for 10 to 15 seconds only. Treat them like a switch. Good luck. Jim

smoke from the starter and the battery box sounds like a short to me. you need to check you battery cables and other wires. smoke goes away when its shut down that sounds like an electrical short somewhere to me.