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6 volt electrical

A

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
I have a 1945 Farmall A that runs on 6 volts. I want to add a 12 volt winch. I am thinking of having 2 - 6 volt batteries in parallel for the tractor and having a switch to switch the batteries in series to get the 12 volts needed for the winch. Has anyone tried this? Any sugestions? I want to keep the 6 volt system. Also will the tractor continue to run when the battery is disconnected after starting?
 
Same is done on many military vehicles and some Deere tractors. Series-parallel switch to make two separate voltages.

Even the Chevy K5 CUCV Blazer has it in military form. Deere 1010 and 2010 diesel crawlers also have it.

You just need a series-parallel switch.
 
As noted by LJD, a switch system is needd. the regular battery and charging system are left alone, The switch changes only the second battery. common grounds are used. The switch myst handle full stall load of the winch. The system will be limited to the capacity of the new battery in terms of total working time, as the original battery will be the only one being charged when in 12v mode.
If you require continuous use for pulling logs or other long on task operations, I would put a 12V alternator and battery system that could be removed easily. Jim
 
If I wanted to go with an electric winch, I would go with a 12 volt battery charged by an alternator powered by a PTO or flat belt pulley. My personal choice would be a hydraulic powered winch. They can run forever without overheating.
 
My neighbor had the same problem adding a winch to his BN Farmall. After a lot of thought, since this is not a tractor that will be shown, I converted it to 12 volt. This has been covered many times on this and other boards. Cost was about the same as adding another battery & alternator and the whole system is simpler. Just keep all of the 6 volt stuff and don't destroy anything you would need to put it back sometime. I'm not a fan of 12 volt conversions, a lot of times they just mask poor maintenance, but for this application it made sense. The winch does save a lot of work cutting firewood and he loves it. Just a thought.
 
The winch will have minimal load because it is part of a 3 point system to lift a plow or a tiller. I thought of a separate 12 volt deep cycle to do the job but was unsure of how long it would go with out a charge. The series-paralle switch sounds interesting. Where can I find one?
 
with Respect---The issue will be complex for these reasons.
Cable systems will be slow to lift and that is tough to deal with even if just doing gardens. If it were geared to be fast, it would either be too weak to lift the implement, or too many amps to be reasonable.
The system will not have limit swithhes to prevent over lifting.
Cables would need a spiral wound drum for fairlead to prevent backlash and cable issues when used repeatedly.
Lifting a plow takes dramatic effort when it is socked into soil.
Unless care is taken in the shielding, a broken cable is nasty on people.
Setting up a complete charging system will work with a battery and alternator to charge it. If just a switch, the tractor would need to have a magneto if both tractor and extra battery were used to make 12v, and or only one would be charged if the switch was used. A 6v generator cannot charge 12 volts, or 2 six volts while hooked up as 12volts. No way.
Using a add on hydraulic pump is the best, and allows real control and power.
Rotary tillers cannot be used successfully on that tractor due to the speed of first gear.
Jim
 
Does your tractor have a distributor or a magneto?

If a mag, it will continue to run once started no matter WHAT you do with the rest of the electrical system 'cause a mag makes it's own power and is independent of the rest of the tractor's electrical system.

6/12 Volts series/parallel switches (relays) used to be readily available, (and probably still are SOMEWHERE), but LIKELY will be costly. A quick 'net search didn't turn up any immediate sources, but I'm sure some are out there, in the antique vehicle field.

To give you an idea of price, the more common 12/24 Volt units are in the $100 to $200 range.

If you were to get a small, unobtrusive Hitachi (or similar) alternator and switch the battery to a 12 Volt unit it would be a LOT simpler and the smaller alternator doesn't really stick out like a sore thumb at the side of the tractor like using a full-size alternator.
 
You could do the "series-parallel" thing by using several mechanical battery "on-off" switches. It would be a real Rube Goldberg setup.
You'd have to remember exacty what order to it and with one mistake, you might get a lot of smoke.

Self-contained series-parallel switches are still use new on many military vehicles that run 12 and 24 volts. Even the Chevy Blazers. But those Delco switches are 12/24. I've never seen one offered in 6/12.

Delco 1119845 series-parallel switch is $140 new and often found for $50 used on Ebay.

As other have mentioned - a $25 12 volt alternator and 12 battery would be much simpler and cheaper.
 
You used to be able to buy (I had one years back) 6/12 series paralell switching solenoids that sat on top of a 6/12 battery so 12 votls was available at starting then they switched back to 6 for running. It can be done using regular solenoid switches with sufficient duty cycle but thats still a lot of "stuff" to jury rig to switch two 6 volt batteries from series to paralell.

HOWEVER Id agree it so much cheaper and easier and less jury rigging to just convert over to 12 volts and a 12 volt negative ground alternator with minor and easy modifications and be done with it

John T
 
Thanks everyone for the advice. It looks like my best option is to convert over to 12. The tractor has a magneto. Would I need to change the starter?
And what about the wiring and plugs?
 
Starter will be fine. Magneto, wires and plugs are totally separate of the battery electrical system and will be unaffected.
 
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