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Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

Tractor starting by itsself

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zoom3x

01-05-2006 18:01:54




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One of my staff guys said his wife called him to say that his Ford diesel tractor was running in his barn and she did not know how it got started...no one else was there. When he got home, he found the tractor running at idle and the ignition key was in the off position. Has anyone heard of this happening before???




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Bgoathill

01-06-2006 17:50:06




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
Had a Mack dumptruck that did it once. Luckily it was in nuetral or it would have come right in the trench on top of us. Starter shorted over. Wouldn't believe it but I saw the smoke puff out the exhaust myself.



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joe e-tx

01-06-2006 17:00:15




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
had a hd 3 dozer start one night. had rain storm that night and lighting struck neer by. i also have a ford tractor that wont restart if fuel shut off is in off position very long, so i kill it and then push to start position. i now do this on most equipment.(too some one to steal it thay think off is on).also old wifes tail is lighting can make a electrical circut. i park everything in netural fuel on my ??cents worth
joe

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Buck D.

01-06-2006 15:24:15




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
I'm an equipment operator for a construction co.I always get to the job site way early to have coffee and read the newspaper.This one morning I pull up to the excavator I was running and parked my pickup.I turned on the interior light (it was still dark)to read the paper when I thought I heard something.I shut the truck off and rolled down the window.One of the Terex pans was sitting there idling.Kind of scared the hell out of me.I thought any second the headlights would flash on and that Detroit would start to scream... Anyway,my boss told me it had done it once before.The mechanic fixed it that day.

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Bernie in MA

01-06-2006 14:23:57




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
When my Hesston SP moco caught fire last summer the Wis V4 engine started cranking over. The key was off so it didn't start but it cranked til the battery went dead. Actually, I think that's what saved the engine from melting or seizing. It totally melted the aluminum carb and fuel pump as well as burning the belts and wires.



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RodInNS

01-06-2006 14:17:36




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
If it's not a short in the wires, then it's probably a bad ignition switch. I've had a few of them go bad on various tractors, and cranking over when they shouldn't is one of their games. It's a good reason to leave a Ford in gear, as the neutral safety switch will keep the circuit open when the transmission is in gear. This will prevent cranking, unless there is a bare wire on the starter side of the neutral switch.....

Rod

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Mike M

01-06-2006 06:48:22




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
WOW ! Usually everyone posting here can't get them to start. LOL Seems to be alot of this happening by the amount of responses. I better go unhook my battery cables.



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JDknut

01-06-2006 06:39:05




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
I had a Plymouth Duster with the slant six do that once. It started cranking it's A off while I had the key in my pocket, It didn't start because the ignition was off and I had the key in my pocket. I had to undo the battery cable to stop it from running the battery down. Something in the starter solenoid. It only did it once.



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hayray

01-06-2006 05:37:05




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
A buddy of mine used to be an engineer for Massey back when they were making tractors in Detroit and before they went belly up. He said they had a call about a Massey that started up by itself and I think he said they did something with the silinoid, but if you really want to know I can find out for you. He has all sorts of funny stories of the junk they were building back then. He had one engine that rotated the wrong way and made all the forward gears reverse.

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Dick A

01-06-2006 05:27:46




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
Sounds like one of ole'Rogers stories. Some thing about a mud dauber building too big a nest on the fly wheel.



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Dave_Id

01-06-2006 06:10:39




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to Dick A, 01-06-2006 05:27:46  
..... .or leaving the crank in the upright position, and the weight of the handle starting that old Alys' of his



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ShepFL

01-06-2006 19:03:12




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to Dave_Id, 01-06-2006 06:10:39  
Yup!
Just got done re-reading that un!
Grins from chilly FLA :-)



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skipper

01-06-2006 05:17:32




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
I bought a Farmall 300 and the fellow I bought it from told me it had tried to start with no one around and he just let the starter run the battery down. I havn't had a problem with it yet.
Skipper



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Majorman

01-06-2006 00:07:41




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
Used to be a common problem with the early '000nd series. Wiring loom used to run in two clips up under the bonnet. Could drop out of the clips or not be fitted into them and fall down onto the exhaust manifold where it would melt and short out. I have replace lots of looms because of this on early tractors.



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Dean Barker

01-05-2006 22:04:15




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
Long time ago, a White 4-150 started in a dealers showroom at night. It went thru the parts department and straddled a post in the shop. It sat there spinning until mechanics came in the morning. Left kind of a mess.



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JMS/MN

01-06-2006 10:21:34




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to Dean Barker, 01-05-2006 22:04:15  
Straddled a post? Sounds like a personal problem.



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Davis In SC

01-05-2006 21:12:34




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
I knew a guy that had a Long Tractor, went out to the shed one day, & found it had started & ran til it ran out of fuel... It totally melted the starter, evidently it stayed energized... This sounds like the Steven King Movie, I saw on TV recently, I think it was called "Maximum Overdrive".. About trucks starting up on their own, & running over people...



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cornfarmer

01-05-2006 19:43:51




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
I had a fire start in the cab of an International 403 combine, so I shut it off and climbed out of the cab to get some dirt to throw on the fire. While I was on the ground, the combine started up. Of course, I had jumped out so fast it was still in gear. As it drove past me, I went up the back ladder to the motor and yanked the coil wire. Then I finished putting out the fire. Had to get back to work, so I cut all the wires to the cab that had shorted out or melted. That was a few years ago, but I think all I had to do was run a wire to the coil and then short the solenoid to start the 403 back up and go to work. Not much electrical equipment in those old combines. Last year for that machine, though.

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fixerupper

01-05-2006 20:43:19




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to cornfarmer, 01-05-2006 19:43:51  
One of my neighbor's 8820 Deere's was stuck in the mud in a wheat field and someone drove a pickup across the stubble to help him out but the pickup set the stubble on fire. It was a windy day so the fire got away from them and before long the combine was on fire too. The fire eventually shorted some wires and the engine started up and ran wide open until it blew up. He said he had nightmares for a long time after that. Jim

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R. John Johnson

01-05-2006 19:25:06




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
I saw a skid steer loader try to do that once. It had come off the primary assembly line and was awaiting final paint. It had been pressure washed just before the shop guys went home. I was working in the experimental area and heard this engine cranking intrmittantly. Went over to see what was going on thinking someone was having trouble starting the machine. I guess water caused a short and engaged the starter relay. It was equipped with an electric fuel shut off solenoid, which did not energize, so the engine did not start. I took the ground cable off. Next day the shop guys reconnected it and everything was OK.

John

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rgv tx

01-05-2006 18:50:02




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
So wiring around the nuetral safety switch and then leaving your tractor in gear isn't a good idea? Hmmm, I need to go out to the barn. I'll be right back..... ..



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NC Wayne

01-05-2006 18:35:44




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
I've heard of many pieces of equipment shorting out and starting by itself over the years. That's one of the reasons you usually see heavy/construction equipment equipped with a master switch that breaks the ground to the battery. No ground, no potential for a short. Problem is not everybody uses these switches....I've known of several machines that developed a short that started the machine. One in particular, a dozer, also started a fire in the belly pan which burned a hole in the fuel return line first thing. It then set there, running, feeding fuel to the flames til it burnt itself up. Not a pretty site, what was left of it that is.....

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dan67

01-05-2006 18:29:06




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
Had a to-20 last summer start buy itsself, was left in gear by employee,no brake set. It drove about 50 feet and into the lake. Pulled it out and dryed it out, found the starter swith shorted out.



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Gary Mckenzie

01-05-2006 18:19:32




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
It's actually very common in my area this time of year, especially the Ford Thousand series... Remove the rat nest from behind the instrument cluster and repair the wires the rats have chewed the insulation off of. I repair two or three of these each winter.



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msb

01-05-2006 18:15:34




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
Yep.Friend's 3020 diesel parked up near the house.Awakened at 3 o clock in the morning .Engine being cranked over.He thought someone was trying to steal the tractor.Nope,Starter just shorted out.Tractor didn't start since the fuel was turned off with the throttle in the off position.



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billonthefarm

01-05-2006 18:14:54




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to zoom3x, 01-05-2006 18:01:54  
Sure. Only takes a little electrical short. Had a neighbor go out one morning and find that his tractor had started up. Of course he had left it in gear so it tried to exit his shed but when the tires dug into the dirt floor the motor died. You can still see the dents in the tin on the side of the shed.



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504

01-05-2006 20:26:28




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to billonthefarm, 01-05-2006 18:14:54  
One of the first things I was taught about parking semis was to not park in gear, one winter we had three differant trucks start them selfs overnight. Sure makes you glade you put oil back in them before you went home for the day.



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rustyj14

01-07-2006 08:38:50




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 Re: Tractor starting by itsself in reply to 504, 01-05-2006 20:26:28  
had an old ford ranger that didn't want to start readily. one day it was setting in my driveway-no start condition. suddenly, it started cranking, the engine roared to life, and it promptly ran into a big oak tree in front of it. I stood there, jumping up and down, shouting:"Go ahead you stubborn bas- start up now- hope you choke on that oak tree!" the front bumper looked like a big U! But, with a new solenoid, i cured the trouble! And, the back bumper from an '88 dodge mini-van cured the front bumper problem, with some ho-made brackets!

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