a not starting

My A is a 12 volt. I never had a problem with it staring. I tried to start it to move it in the barn and it spun the starter once then stopped. Normal. But when I tried to start it again nothing. I charged the battery and then tried again still nothing. So today I broke down and bought a new battery and still nothing.The lights do not even work. Can a bad alternator cause this or just a lose wire some where. I am stumped. Thanks for your input

Bad Ground

Depends on how you mean it when you ask if a bad alternator could cause it.

The alternator charges the battery while the engine runs. If the battery is dying because it's not getting charged, then yes, the alternator could be at fault.

But this case sounds more like it's not a charging issue.

On an A, the circuit is pretty simple. You've got the battery grounded to the tractor. And you have the other terminal running to the starter, and that's interrupted by the starting switch.

So you're missing something in that circuit.

It could very possibly be a bad ground connection to the body of the tractor.

It could just as easily be a bad starter switch, but the fact that your lights aren't working would suggest the bad ground is much more likely.

A pair of jumper cables comes in real handy to test with. Just connect on clamp to whatever terminal is ground on your battery (whatever one the ground cable is attached to) Attach the matching clamp to a clean bare metal spot on the frame of the tractor somewhere.

You should at least be able to see the lights work that way, and if you do, it proves you're not getting a good ground on the ground cable.

Unbolt it - sand it and the area it contacts down to clean metal.

If that doesn't work let us know, but I think it will.

Thanks will try in in the pm. Wind chill in NW ohio is not good tonight so I will try it friday and let you know. Thanks

Yeah cold and raw here in MA too, don't blame you for waiting. Good luck with it.

i agree and also could be any conection including a loose starter

Can also be battery cables where they connect to the battery posts. I am assuming you have a "push rod" to the starter switch, which is mounted on the starter frame. If the ground cleaning & checking the battery posts doesn't help, take the starter switch & battery lead loose & try putting the cable end directly to the starter post which was under the switch. If the engine turns over now, you probably have a bad switch. Check that the starter hot post is not loose. If loose, take the starter apart & tighten the nut from the inside.

Be sure to clean both cabels ends real good,I have a problem with my super c ,if it sets for a period of time the positive cabel will crode up and has to be cleaned, does the same thing yours does.

groud is what Id check 1st

If he has the original starter there is no nut to tighten.

If you have 12v on the A what else has been changed is the starter ans sw still have the push rod and are you sure the bendix isnt locked to the flywheel.

Thanks every one. I cleaned all the cable ends and put new washers on the ground after I cleaned it. First push on the starter rod and it fired up. I do not keep it out all summer but the neighbor had his green things sitting out show I wanted to make mine stand out since his blended in with the grass. lol Thanks again for all your info and help Todd

My B does the same thing every once in a while, I grab fan blade, turn it backward, str gear pops out of flywheel and am good to go until it happens again.