Distributor

[Tb20]

I just picked up a farmall a and it has a mag on it no spark. I have the opportunity to buy a distributor off an H with a 6v coil for 150$ my my thoughts instead of sinking a bunch of money in a mag would I be better off buying the distributor and going electronic igniton? Also can I put a 12 v coil on the dist. In place of the 6v?

[Lt.Mike]

No need to replace the mag coil with 12v.
It’ll be a little bit of a learning process to get the mag right, Dale Finch can attest to that as she just finished rebuilding one, but once set you’ll like the mag. I have one on my ‘46 A that gave many years of great service. I’ve just encountered an issue with it and am about to go through that learning process myself.
I know conventional distributors pretty well but mags have their advantages so I’ll be rebuilding mine.
Look into Dales posts, she’s pretty good about documenting the work she does.

[Dale Finch]

I will admit, that when I started rebuilding the H4 mag last month, it was with great trepidation. Having eavesdropped a bit at cubfests while others were working on a mag, what hit me were words like "don't trip the mag without a way for the spark to discharge" (probably wrong terms!) or you'll burn up the coil...or "watch out, you'll zap the sh#t out of yourself, if you're not careful"...or "you must have the gears aligned correctly"...etc, etc, etc. All I remembered were the warnings, but since I had no tractors with a mag, I never listened to the solutions!!! So I used the manuals, did some online research, watched the Rachel video on H4 rebuild, and finally jumped in. It took me a few tries, but it works great! Next cubfest I go to, though, I'm paying more attention so I DON'T do anything stupid WHEN I work on another mag!!

My best advice is attend a cubfest like DSCF (Deep South Cubfest in Sneads, FL in Feb) and go ahead and get yours working with assistance from some extremely knowledgeable and nice folks!

[Tb20]

Can you “bench test” a mag?

[Eugene]

I just picked up a farmall a and it has a mag on it no spark. I have the opportunity to buy a distributor off an H with a 6v coil for 150$ my my thoughts instead of sinking a bunch of money in a mag would I be better off buying the distributor and going electronic ignition?

The only advantage of the battery powered ignition over the magneto is that parts for the battery powered system are available at auto parts stores 6 or 7 days a week. Magneto, coil has to be ordered.

If you choose the battery powered ignition system, get the tractor running with it before going with the electronic ignition.

Also can I put a 12 v coil on the dist. In place of the 6v?

Yes if you use a 12 volt electrical system.

Can you “bench test” a mag?

Yes, see Dale's post above.

Edit. Since the tractor is not running, conduct compression tests before deciding anything - - and certainly before buying parts.

[Tb20]

Yea I already checked compression it’s got 100lbs in each hole and I’m looking for dales post but have not found it yet

[Tb20]

does anyone know what the title of dales mag rebuild is? And is it under the farmall A or cub? I’ve tried to search with no luck and scanning through the topics without knowing the title is impossible since it doesn’t tell you who originally posted it just who the last person to comment was.

[Bob McCarty]

I think this is the one you're looking for, if not, I'm sure Dale will correct me: viewtopic.php?f=170&t=106062&p=840575&hilit=Magneto#p840575

[Dale Finch]

This post is not very concise, so my apologies.
http://farmallcub.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=170&t=106062
It rambles a bit, but there is a link to the eBay source for the Mag rebuild kit, which seemed quite good. I also bought a mag gasket kit. The main thing is to get the engine to TDC on #1 cylinder before you pull the mag, and don't move it again until you reinstall the mag. The SA Service manual has a pretty good description for working on the mag...if I get a chance tomorrow, I'll try to post some links.

Watching the Rachel H4 rebuild video helped with my confidence, too. (Hopefully this link will work!)
https://youtu.be/0uIVu2SPRuY

[Tb20]

Thank you! I’ve got a service manual coming so hopefully that will help also I’ll give your post a read thanks for the help

[Dale Finch]

You will find the SA Manuals via the QUICK LINKS in the above left corner. Click on it, then PDF Manuals...then SA Manuals, eventually you will find SERVICE MANUALS, and SA (or maybe it's A-B, not sure). I believe it starts on page 14...MAGNETO.

P.S. I generally copy the pages I need from my paper manual, so I have them handy and can get them all nasty without worrying! I have 2 Service manuals, so had lots of pages! Holler if you need help...there are qukte a few more experienced folks out there than I!!

[Tb20]

Thank you very much for the offer and if I have questions I will be sure to do so. I feel pretty confidant after reading your post. Might as well take a stab at it. And thank you for the info on the manual section

[Tb20]

Does anyone know if the lower panel on the grill can be bought as a replacement. I’ve been looking all over with no luck. Or does anyone know of one that’s close that can be made to work

[Dale Finch]

If I'm not mistamen, Steiner Tractor Parts USED to sell all 3 sections of the grill, but no longer do. They were quite expensive!

[Dale Finch]

Here is one of the posts regarding the grills that I had remembered reading...
https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=farmall&th=1022524