John Deere True or False?

Fritz Maurer · Feb 21, 2012

My neighbor picked up a nice 'B' a couple days ago. He told me you shut it off by chopping the throttle, as there was no ignition switch. It had a Wico mag on it, but not what I've seen on Bs before. It had a short external H.T. lead between the coil and what looked like a distributor cap (like a F-M mag). I looked around it, but I saw no place to put a ground wire. What goes on here? Thanks, Fritz

teddy52food · Feb 21, 2012

Sounds like a Wico C mag. There was no ground terminal to stop it.

old · Feb 21, 2012

When I got the B I own it had a mag like that but you shut it down by turning off the gas at the tank and let it run out of fuel. So not sure if he is doing it right but I know that is how I have done it and my dad did it and my grand father who owned it did it. Also you should always drain the gas out of the carb and leave that valve open so condensation does not build up in the carb and freeze and then in turn break the carb

Sam from WA · Feb 21, 2012

My '48 B doesn't have a kill switch on its Wico XH mag, just cut the throttle back to fully closed.

Anonymous-0 · Feb 21, 2012

Teddy52food is right its a Wico Model C mag. I have one on my John Deere Model D and to stop it I turn the fuel off.

rustred · Feb 21, 2012

same as the D's , you had to shut of the fuel to stop. usually you shut it off ahead of time otherwise it sat there poppin for about 2 min.

big jt · Feb 21, 2012

Wico C or the lesser known AP like my 39 B has.

We always shut it off by turning off the fuel and letting it run out. With a Mag nothing to lose as there was no battery to run down.

The shutting off the fuel method dates back to the days of Tractor Fuel. Tractors needed to be started on Gas so it was advantagous to have the fuel system empty for the next fire up.

jm2cw

jt

tjdub · Feb 22, 2012

Wouldn't it be better to just turn the fuel back on after the engine stops? I have no experience with these machines, but it just seems like it would be better for the carb than leaving it dry.

BushogPapa · Feb 22, 2012

If you ever had a Gasoline tractor Inside a building and tried to start it and all it did was Shoot what looks like a Full Gallon of Gas up, into the rafters..you would KNOW why you should Shut the gas off and leave it off...!!

I was Lucky, it didn't catch fire..!!

To stop the engine during the day when you are using it often, I just stall the engine from slow Idle by putting it in 4th or 6th and kill the engine. leaving the gas on..but I never let one set in my tool shed with the Gas turned on for any length of time..

Ron..

Fred Rogers · Feb 22, 2012

You should never leave the fuel supply turned on when not in use with a Waterloo built JD, if the needle in the carburetor sticks whatever amount of fuel you have in the gas tank will wind up in the crankcase.

Leroy · Feb 22, 2012

Normal on a gas burner was the throttel was pulled back and shut the fuel down (even on distributor models) but every time you wanted to idle the engine it would shut off, most were readjusted on the throttle rod so they did not do that and then you just put in a high gear and used the brakes. Now on the all fuel models when you were burning kerosine or distelate then you had to drain the carb to get gas in for starting the next time so draining to stop was the simplest. If you did not do it then you had to do it at starting time. I have had the 2 cylinders starting in 1957 to about 2000 and some never had the fuel shut off for as high as 30 years. never shut of on 38 A, 46 B, 49 B, 50 AR & 51 A. The A & AR were new enough they came with a distributor and the 49 B was converted in a couple of years.

RayP(MI) · Feb 22, 2012

Yup - no ground wire on magneto. Just pull the throttle lever all the way back. Closes off the carburetor, engine stops in a few revolutions. If you want, you can close the valve at the bottom of the fuel tank, run it out of fuel in the carburetor. This will take several minutes, handy to drain carb, for long term storage. But yes, tractor shut down by fuel starvation, not by shorting out magneto.

Mathias NY · Feb 22, 2012

On my '49 B, when the throttle is pulled all the way back a small spring on the top of the carburetor is opened. This lets in more air and 'leans' the mixture out to the point that the engine won't run. There is no need to shut the fuel off (although I still do anyway).

Hope this helps some.

James Howell · Feb 22, 2012

We turn the gas off at the tank/sediment bowl on all our tractors and let them run out of gas.

Mike Aylward · Feb 22, 2012

Mathias, that "small spring" has nothing to do with the mixture. It is simply a cushion for the throttle to keep it steady at a very low speed. The spring is deflected when the tractor is shut off. Most of these tractors have had the stop peg bent so the tractor won't shut off when the throttle is pulled back. If the peg is straight and the throttle disk and bushings tight, the tractor will shut off. Mike

Sam#3 · Feb 22, 2012

You didn't say what model or engine type the tractor has so I'll relate WHAT I REMEMBER.
The older models had all fuel engines and a good many were run on distillate or kerosene. Those would not start on gasoline so it was recommended that the fuel be shut off at the fuel selector AND THEN the carburetor be drained. It was further recommended that the engines not be killed by choking (flooding)or by stopping by maladjustment to allow killing by reducing the throttle. So say the good book.
In practice you would find everyone devised their own method. If they were running gas, so staring was not a problem, it didn't matter much.
I can't speak about the later gasoline engines about having a kill switch. Although I have seen such a switch mentioned on this forum in the past.

old · Feb 22, 2012

No with fuel in the carb it in turn can turn to varnish is you do not use it often and or the fuel can have water in it and then you have a broken carb if it where to freeze.

RandyB(MI) · Feb 22, 2012

Depends on what year it is. My '50 B you just pull the throttle all the way back. That's not just a way to do it , it is the way THE MANUAL says to do it~!

John Deere True or False?

Fritz Maurer

Well-known Member

teddy52food

Well-known Member

old

Well-known Member

Sam from WA

Member

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

rustred

Well-known Member

big jt

Well-known Member

tjdub

Member

BushogPapa

Well-known Member

Fred Rogers

Member

Leroy

Well-known Member

RayP(MI)

Well-known Member

Mathias NY

Well-known Member

James Howell

Well-known Member

Mike Aylward

Well-known Member

Sam#3

Member

old

Well-known Member

RandyB(MI)

Well-known Member

Similar threads