12v battery in 6v tractor

WayneMo · Oct 26, 2016

Just wondering, what would happen if you put a worn out 12v battery that only held 6 to 10 volts charge in a 6v tractor with an A circuit charging system? Could you then hand crank the tractor and run it? The regulator should prevent the generator from trying to charge it beyond its 7v setting would it not? The coil and points should be able to handle the slightly higher current flow in the ignition system wouldn't it? I realize you could not turn on the lights.
What do you electrical guru's like JMORE have to say?

HCooke · Oct 26, 2016

Wayne, I've seen many 6 volt tractors with a 12 volt battery in it. I'm not sure a worn out 12 volt battery will start it, but won't hurt to try. If it works you will have to charge it ever so often.

Den N Ms · Oct 26, 2016

Wayne,Excessive may/will damage your coil over a extended period of time.If your charging system is working why damage it ,get a new/good 6 volt battery and don't create more problems.

WayneMo · Oct 27, 2016

I did not plan on starting it with the battery, I intended to hand crank it. The idea was to use the worn out 12v battery to just fire the coil. I don't see why it would hurt the charging system since it would be just attempting to charge the battery up to 6v and disconnect after it reached 7v or so. I would use this only on a tractor that I seldom use and for short time periods. The 6v batteries are $80 now and I have several tractors that I seldom use, and have a lot of 12v batteries that only hold a charge of 10 or 11v.
It is true that I would be overloading the coil but they are pretty robust. I just wondered if anybody else has tried this and what their result was..............

HFJ · Oct 27, 2016

i've got 75 to 100 hours on a 6 volt coil in a 12 volt 2N. i have no additional ballast resistor in place, just the OEM. it's still working.

Bruce (VA) · Oct 27, 2016

Put that battery on a 6v front coil and you'll see just how robust they are.
75 Tips

JMOR · Oct 27, 2016

(quoted from post at 18:23:04 10/27/16) I did not plan on starting it with the battery, I intended to hand crank it. The idea was to use the worn out 12v battery to just fire the coil. I don't see why it would hurt the charging system since it would be just attempting to charge the battery up to 6v and disconnect after it reached 7v or so. I would use this only on a tractor that I seldom use and for short time periods. The 6v batteries are $80 now and I have several tractors that I seldom use, and have a lot of 12v batteries that only hold a charge of 10 or 11v.
It is true that I would be overloading the coil but they are pretty robust. I just wondered if anybody else has tried this and what their result was..............

have not tried that, so no first hand testimonials, sorry. However, I personally would be more concerned about hurting my arm/hand cranking a distributor tractor which has no 'retard' function as do the magneto tractors, than I would be about harming the tractor. Just my 2¢.

HFJ · Oct 28, 2016

ps/disclaimer:

my 12v conversion kit came with a ballast resistor which has too much resistance - iirc, it's 3.5 ohms. this was removed since the tractor would not start. i have another ballast resistor with much lower resistance - it was hanging on the side of my WD's block, unwired. that one will get installed during the offseason. i've got a laundry list of minor things to do for the N, and that's one of them.

12v battery in 6v tractor

WayneMo

Member

HCooke

Well-known Member

Den N Ms

Well-known Member

WayneMo

Member

HFJ

Well-known Member

Bruce (VA)

Well-known Member

JMOR

Well-known Member

HFJ

Well-known Member

Similar threads