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farmall h what voltage

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 7:58 pm
by brian kov
when i bought my house it came with a farmall h 1953 i believe . i checked it over and did a few maint. items .when i went to start it again to bring it into the garage it didnt want to start .i cranked a few more times and smoke came out of the starter switch ,probably a bad ground at that point but i dont know if i messed any thing else up .i had a 12v battery on it but didnt know what voltage it is for sure. this tractor has been a sid eproject to the 2 cubs .but i have been gathering parts for it as $$$ permitted . how do i tell 4 sure if it is 12 or 6 volt so that i can pick up a battery. thanx in advance

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 8:31 pm
by Bigdog
Brian, all of the letter series tractors were 6 volt from the factory. Your H would have been 6 volt positive ground from the factory. You can check the coil and bulbs in the lights for any voltage markings. (can tell by the light bulb type number) That may give you a clue as to whether someone converted it to 12 volt.

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:27 am
by brian kov
Bigdog , i wont be able to tell by the lights because some one ripped the light bar and lights off a long time ago .i picked up a used one to replace it along with some descent lights . but maybe like u said i can tell by the coil . thanx BD

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 10:34 am
by WKPoor
Since you don't have lights and I'll assume your gen doesn't work as many don't unless someone has kept it up you can use a 12V and it won't hurt a thing. If you have a mag and since there are no lights you could operate with just a batt for cranking. I've operated mine that way for 5yrs. Just charge the batt once a month or so.
As for the starter sw, you must have a ground or the current wouldn't be high enough to damage the starter button. Are your cables worn and possibly shorting out against the chassis somewhere? Good cables are essiential to reliable cranking an H or M on 6V especially. Should use 1/0 or greater cable.

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 9:08 am
by brian kov
i forgot to mention the generator being gone .some one replaced it with an old alt. of some sort .i will have to run a check over the cables .

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 9:19 am
by George Willer
brian kov wrote:i forgot to mention the generator being gone .some one replaced it with an old alt. of some sort .i will have to run a check over the cables .


Brian,

Now you've answered your own question! With an alternator it's nearly 100% certain the be 12 volt and somewhere near 100% to be negative ground.