Farmall Cub

I had something happen Saturday that I have not seen before. I was using one of my cubs to cut the onions that had grown up in my yard when it stalled. As I sat there wondering what was going on, I heard a noise coming from the front of the tractor. I got off the tractor to see what was making the noise, and found the generator turning like a motor. The belt was just loose enough for it to continue to turn. I disconnected the battery terminal on the voltage regulator and it stopped. I guess that some of you cub guys have seen this before, but this was a new one for me. Was the regulator shorted out or is there something else that I need to look at?

The problem of the generator "motoring" was caused by the regulator. But the regulator probably did not cause the stalling episode.

regulator probably did not cause the stalling episode.

I knew that the problem with the stall was not with the short, but have you ever had this to happen to you? This cub has had problems with fuel and electrical before, but runs good at times. I have not had time to go through the usual checks to see where the electrical problems are, but I think that there is a problem with the switch. Some times there is no power to the coil so I know it time for the hood to come off. This is a 67 lowboy with a 12 volt generator. It was owned by TVA at one time and they had painted it with several coats of paint and primer so I could have ground problems also. Thanks for your reply.

the generator was motoring because the cutout contacts in the voltage regulator are/were stuck and the belt was loose. with the belt being that loose, the battery may have run down, which when it gets low enough it will stall due to no spark.

The generator was charging when I started to mow, because I checked it when I started the tractor. With a volt meter it checked at 14.3 volts, which surprised me, and the belt would not let the generator start turning again after I had disconnected the battery. When I put the wire back against the terminal there was sparks but no turning of the generator.

I also considered that low voltage could have caused the stall. But probably voltage that low would not "motor" the generator against any sort of resistance, such as the belt. In any event, any generator that has been motored should be polarized before being run again. In this case, it probably is correctly polarized-- but being sure is harmless.