[Lovesthedrive]

Well I went to a tractor pull last night. Being a complete newbie and not knowing how to do it i went 69'.

Alas as I was waiting my turn I tried to start my tractor and it failed to start. Here I was doing a one step dance of sorts on my tractor when a club member came over and suggested that we had to bump start it. Good thing I just bought fuel as the tractor was going to be idling for some time. First it was myself and one other, next I knew the whole club was manually pushing on my tractor to get it to start.

So now that it is home and in my garage I need to remove the starter. I figure I just need to clean up the contacts on the starter mechanism.

So I realize I must undo my battery cable and unwind it so that the cable can provide some slack when I lower the starter. Also the foot lever has been unpinned to let the pull shaft come out with the starter. The plate has been removed from the underside of the tractor.

I was hoping I could read about the rest of the removal. So I opened my useless I&T shop manual and found it was even more useless by declaring "if your starter doesnt work, it needs to be removed". Well yeah! But there is no info on it. What a terrible publication!

When I have the money I will probably try to buy one of those $40 manuals I see on Ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/John-Deer-60-Se ... 58935d5747

So what I need to know is, how the heck am I supposed to get this silly thing out?

Suggestions please, preferably some one that has removed one. And yes I realize it means getting dirty and items require unbolting. HAHA very funny. Grin

 

[Lovesthedrive]

silly me, never actually looked at the ribbon. Guess I made second place.

 

[JohnGree]

For the tech manual, you can get it from John Deere Parts online. For the hard copy it is publication # SM2008 ($50) or the CD SM2008CD ($30). I find the CD best as one can print pages, get them geasy and still have a "new" manual.

 

[Ernie N Ky]

Starters don't typically just go out. Have you checked the status of the battery and charging system? Cables good? Switch/linkage good? My 8n won't start right now and the starter is brand new :roll: so check everything before replacing the starter. All connections need to be nice and clean and tight too.

 

[JJ. in B.C.]

I agree with Ernie, I fought the starter on and off twice on my AR only to find a bad cell in a brand new battery :evil:

 

[Lovesthedrive]

Got the starter off. Starter contact looks ok but where the copper square is supposed to make contact with the copper stud from the battery it is dark and full of dirt. Looks as tho the former owner may have tried to clean and reuse. At $10 to replace, I will replace it.

As to the battery, its only 6 months old and connections are fresh. Ammeter pegs over to 20 amps for first 5 seconds of starting and eventually drops to maybe 2 amps. Alternator is also 6 months old. If you had been reading my rebuild thread you would have known about this. But here is the charging pic again since you missed it.

 

[clampdaddy]

What weight class did you pull in? It sure is fun to hear the oldies work. I've pulled my "A" twice now, in the 4500 pound class. Took last both times but it was a good time none the less.

 

[Lovesthedrive]

6000, if there is a next time I may do the 6500. Some old timers there were saying something about the weight allows better gearing or something.

 

[Lovesthedrive]

Well the fellow whom owned this tractor before me must have had it out. Starter looks very clean with light rust on it. However, the starter mechanism that bolts to the top of the starter looks older than the starter. I looked a starter up on ebay and found mine does not have the preformed copper do-dad, that instead mine the wire from the battery connects directly to the starter. The former owner must be internet illiterate as he said he could not find parts.

When I took the switch off the top of the starter I found that the rectangle that the button pushes is no longer rectangular and the button no longer pushes in the middle of that copper plate. As in it is so badly worn on the starter side from cranking, there is 0.125" missing from the copper.

I am really surprised at his difficulty to find the switch. As my local NAPA sells it still!

 

[Lovesthedrive]

Well it is easier to take a starter out than it is to put one back in. It definitely takes two people to put a starter back in.

The bendix on the starter is activated with your foot (bendix drive is what pushes the gear into the flywheel). Alas to put the starter back in, you need a wire run through the hole on the end of the lever. I used a piece of 16 guage electrical wire, about 5 feet long. You pass it through the upper hole and have your friend lift up. Then the starter will slip right in.

The design of the tractor, there is a web of casting above where the nose of the starter slips in. The lever likes to drop and hit that web.