Hard Starting 300 Farmalls??

Anonymous-0 · Dec 17, 2013

Zach's 300 block heater question & several responses seem to peg the 300/400 as hard starting. Should this be? Not sn IH guy, but the H/Ms don't have such a reputation. Is there something difrerent in the carb/intake manifold/head design which would explain it? Curious.....

Glenn F.

Janicholson · Dec 17, 2013

No real difference, cable size, bat capacity, oil in the crankcase, and temps are the real thing. Ms and SMs (not MD/SMD) as well as smta/400-450 with 6v are slow crankers unless equipped with the good stuff. Getting going with assurance is somewhat more important for some that may need to feed, or plow the white stuff. Jim

IAtractorKid · Dec 18, 2013

Never had a hard starting 400, but the 300 I used to have had to be put away for the winter because you couldn"t get it started. A friend of mine that grew up working at an IH dealership owned by his dad in ND told me to drill out the load jets on a 300 carb and replace them with those from a 400 and the hard starting problem would be gone. I never got around to trying it before I sold the tractor but might be worth a try for someone.

JimB2 · Dec 18, 2013

We had a 300U in the late 1950s that we would park on a hill in our wood lot, no electricity within a mile or two for block heater. We use this tractor all winter until the snow got too deep. Very often we would be starting it in -25 to -20F without problem. One time I remember it was below -30F and the battery would just roll the engine very slowly. We let it roll down the hill in 5th gear, cranked the starter and popped the clutch and it started. The worst thing was the carb would frost up and it would spit and cough and almost stall out until it warmed up and we had front of rad and sides of engine covered.

JimB

Dude with a 300 · Dec 18, 2013

[b:4e0077a2d3]My 300 RC fires up at any temperature. Usually don't even need the choke unless it's really cold. I let it warm up for a few minutes then off it goes. It has been converted to 12 volts which makes cranking very easy.

Bruce[/b:4e0077a2d3]

mkirsch · Dec 18, 2013

Hard starting on a 300 can be cured by getting the ignition and carburetor tuned right, unless the engine is just plum wore out and has no compression.

As long as the carb and ignition are anywhere near right, those old 4-cylinder IHs will fire up and run if they will turn over.

The problem is they usually run fine once they're running and warmed up a little, so we don't want to mess with anything. So we put up with hard starting, and then when it gets a little bit cold we complain about it, and start thinking about evil things like coolant heaters.

The Super M I bought last year had a coolant heater on it. The timing was also way off and the carburetor was way off. No wonder it wouldn't start in the cold! We tuned it up, and I took that ugly thing and its rats nest of hoses off!

If anyone wants that coolant heater, they can have it for the price of a US Post Office Flat Rate box.

Zachary Hoyt · Dec 18, 2013

I don't know, but my H was much easier to start in the winter, even by hand. Once it fired I knew that I could play with the choke and it would run. When the temperature is below 20 or so my 300 starts right up and runs on all cylinders for about 5 seconds and then dies, and I can't get it to fire again no matter what I do. It has gas in the carburetor but it is not getting to the plugs since they seem to be dry when I check them. I have checked for manifold leaks and checked for spark and have not found anything. I have not checked the compression but I suppose that could be the problem. One thing that is very different from the H is that my 300 has the hydraulic pump and the IPTO connected directly to the engine, where if I blocked the clutch on the H it would isolate the engine from all loads. I bought a 600W lower hose heater in town yesterday and am planning to put it in today. I also got a set of new plugs since my old ones are not as clean as they should be.
Zach

David G · Dec 18, 2013

I do not think a heater should be needed on a Farmall, but it does easy the wear and tear. If it starts and dies, it is a mixture/choke issue.

rustyfarmall · Dec 18, 2013

A fully charged battery is the trick to getting these old Farmalls started in cold weather. A battery maintainer (trickle charger) can be your best friend.

todd hamilton · Dec 18, 2013

we had a 300U when I was a kid. It was a cold natured booger and started hard. We used to put a block under the loader so it would not be on the ground when we had to pull it. IH gas tractors generally don't run well until into operating temperature. The 656 and 706 were cold natured as well but ran great after five minute warm up.

Bill in IL · Dec 18, 2013

I have the same type of problem with my 400 at least this season I have had. Last season it fired right up on the coldest of days. If it wont start after that first fire I just walk away. I have converted to 12 volt too. I just put a new O ring in my distributor to keep the oil out of the cap. I was thinking that may be the source of my problems. We will see since its staying in the warm shop for the next few days.

rhtx55 · Dec 18, 2013

I have had two F300's, the first one was hard to start, even after placing an aftermarket manifold, and rebuilding the carb.
Acted just like you described, when it was cold I had to remove the air breather and cover the carb with my hand to get it to start.
The one I have now started in the recent 19 degree we had during an ice storm on the third revolution. I believe a correct tune up where it starts easily is the trick.
So many tractors now have the 3 9/16 fire crater or stepped pistons put in them and I believe many people are unaware of the distributor advance differences, carb setting/ jetting between original flat top piston equipped engines & the new higher compression ones.
I believe the issue is in the slow jet side of the carb, I also know the choke butterfly in the carb has a small "flap" built into it to prevent over choking. That may be the culprit, but you will need to ask someone much more experienced than me that knows the issue and how to fix it.

Anonymous-0 · Dec 18, 2013

My 300 is the easiest starting tractor I've ever owned. Converted to 12V. I can't get finger off button quick enough and its running!

GordoSD · Dec 19, 2013

Flooding. Too much choke, or too rich idle screw.

Hard Starting 300 Farmalls??

Anonymous-0

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Janicholson

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IAtractorKid

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JimB2

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Dude with a 300

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mkirsch

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Zachary Hoyt

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David G

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rustyfarmall

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todd hamilton

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Bill in IL

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rhtx55

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Anonymous-0

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GordoSD

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