Starter Switch Problems

[DonMountain]

My 1959 International Cub LoBoy stopped starting yesterday. Unless I use the crank. I am in the process of removing the starter switch, of which I seem to have troubles. I have to take it off every couple of years and file down the contacts inside to make them work again. Are there better quality starter switches around than the Chinese made ones I have purchased from Tractor Supply? My Farmall Super C has the same starter switch and the same problems. But I seem to be using the Cub much more often. Mowing, running the trash cans out front for pickup, hauling fire wood out of the back woods, hauling brush away when clearing all these weeds/brush that are crowding my fields, etc.

[Eugene]

Are there better quality starter switches around than the Chinese made ones I have purchased from Tractor Supply?

Perhaps, might try the advertisers on this site. And probably not. My recent purchases, all of the frames were constructed from stamped sheet metal.

I elongate the two mounting holes on the starter switch, just a tad, permitting the switch to move toward the contact post on the starter.

[inairam]

I had this problem on a loboy and it was more the post on the starter than the switch. It was just too banged up and too small for the switch to make a reliable contact.

[ajhbike]

Huh, I have never had to do that to either the cub or the SC...are yours kept outside?

[DonMountain]

Of course not. I keep both my Super C and the Cub in the house, in the living room. But my wife always complains that she can't see the TV screen past them? Just kidding of course. Both of them are kept in the barn under cover. I am not sure how these switches even work. It looks to me like when you push the starter contact down that it would short the power coming in from the battery terminal to ground through the movable actuating button and frame?

[staninlowerAL]

The contact moving parts are supposed to be insulated but I saw one a new one at the recent LA Cubfest that was arcing due to insulation failure. So much for import parts quality control. It is possible to convert the switch to an electrical solenoid/key switch control but it also requires modifying the starter post. JMHO Stan

[Matt Kirsch]

Short answer is no. Longer answer, the switches are all made in the same place on the same line by the same people. They manufacture a container full, put them on a boat over here, where they are distributed to anyone who wants to sell them. The only difference is packaging and price.

Unfortunately there just isn't enough of a market for these, even with as many of them out there, to have a "cheap" and a "better" option. Besides the market overwhelmingly said "Cheap, please!" many years ago.

These switches were never great to begin with, hence why modern starters have solenoids. Dad got so sick of replacing the switch on his Super M back in the 1970s that he installed a stud in the starter and used a Ford style solenoid. Still wasn't great until we 12V converted it.