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farmal H electrical problem

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farmalmarkmark

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I have a 1950 farmal H 6 volt positive ground tractor with electric start. I have placed a full charged battery in the tractor, turned on the lights and they were very bright. I then pushed the starter button and the engine barely turned over. I pushed it again and nothing happened. The lights are very dim now. I have polished the terminals and wiggled the leads from the battery to the starting switch and to the starter-this does not make any difference. Could this be a defective starter? Could I test the starter by touching the battery leads directly to the starter terminals?
 
Battery cables need to be 1 gauge or larger. Connections need to be CLEAN and good tight connections. Sound like at the very least you have bad connections.
 
Bypass the sw and touch the cable to the starters post and see what happens as those sw can go bad and you mite need to have the starter refreshed. Using 1ga cables makes a great difference also. Where is the ground cable connected it needs to be grounded to the frame better yet to the starter mounting bolt.
 
The starter is locked into the flywheel teeth. Put transmission in 5th gear & rock the wheels so you see the fan turning. Or remove the starter & manually rotate the starter bendix drive out of mesh with the flywheel.
Reassemble & try again; leave the lights off.
 
This is the first response correct answer. If it "fixes it" replace the drive pinion and big spring with the improved inertia cushion drive. (no big spring, much better action, and superior to the old style. Jim
 
If/ when you get the starter teeth loose from the flywheel ring gear, re-install it & try turning the engine over with the starter. If it still doesn't turn over, feel all cable & battery connections for heat. This includes the starter switch terminals, & the starter connection bolt. When you feel excess heat, that is where a high resistance is at.
If you don't have a high resistance, suspect a bad battery.
 
(quoted from post at 20:26:02 02/23/12) The starter is locked into the flywheel teeth. Put transmission in 5th gear & rock the wheels so you see the fan turning. Or remove the starter & manually rotate the starter bendix drive out of mesh with the flywheel.
Reassemble & try again; leave the lights off.
Click to expand...

I agree with this analysis, but also, a "freshly" charged battery is not necessarily a GOOD battery. I've had a few batteries that will take a charge, and hold that charge indefinitely, but go totally flat with only about 3 revolutions of the engine when attempting to start.
 
Thanks guys for the help! I do have the ground cable connected directly to one of the starter terminals. I will check this out further and plan to give addtional follow up.
 
I just went through a similar situation with my H. Mine has been on 12 volts for 20 years (that's how old the battery was) when the battery failed. I bought a new one and still had trouble. The new battery finally wouldn't hold a charge so I took it back and got another. Once in a while they make a stinker.
 
Any thoughts on GOOD wiring harness"s. Who makes a good harness that comes with good directions. I know it is best to remove one at a time and replace, but what if your not sure if its correct to start with?
 
Here is the follow up. To review, I had a battery that tested great on specific gravity and put out 6.3 volts per my volt meter. I connected it directly to the starter-nothing happened. Directly to the lights-nothing happened. Got a new battery-problem solved. The lesson for me here is you can have good specitic gravity, good voltage on the volt meter and still have a bad battery.
 
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