Farmall Cub

My 154 tractor has a rough time starting. The old starter/generator seems very weak and barely turns the motor over. I see on the frame a place where there could be an traditional type starter but my flywheel has no teeth. Can I purchase a starter and ring gear for my flywheel to solve the starter problems or is there an option where I can boost my starters performance?

My 154's seem to have no problem starting as long as there tuned properly, have a good battery, a good starter/generator and good cables/connections. A bad connection or a bad battery or worn brushes in the S/G can give us starting problems. If the system is in good condition it works most of the time with no problems. I would check the battery connections or just run one jumper positive cable from the battery to the starter terminal to see ifa direct connection makes it start and turn over better. Then you can get an idea if its the battery or the starter. If you fully choke it and have the throttle in the idle speed position it should start within a few revolutions of the engine. A low battery will make it grunt more.

The farmall cub flywheel gear and the starter is suppose to fit the 154's engine and flywheel. Ralph the cub parts guy did tell me we have a gusset to cut out of the frame near were the geared starter goes into the hole to mount it. When you remove the hole cover you will see this gusset we need to cut out.

Thanks BigBill. I'll try these suggestions.

If i go with the new starter config I suppose there would be some extra wiring as well. i wonder if you know anyone who has ever made this swap?

Thanks again.

Agree with BigBill. Least expensive route, in time, money, aggravation, is to solve your current S/G problem(s).

The S/G can be rebuilt - cost effective. Either do it yourself or have a local shop repair it - providing that is the problem. Valu-bilt (2010 catalog) lists a rebuilt starter for $186.56 and $100- core.

Even if you did manage to change over the starter and associated parts, you still need some sort of electrical generating system - meaning you will still need the generator and regulator.

There is a s/g rebuild kit offered on ebay with two bearings and the brushes you will need for the rebuild. If your going to change the s/g over to a geared flywheel and starter and altenator setup, you'll need to install a heavier battery cable to the geared starter and if you install a 10si alternator you can covert it to a one wire alternator and just run that one wire to the amp gauge to the battery side of the solenoid and its done, one wire does it all. I just did this one wire alternator on my gas engine welder. On my project 154 with the FEL/Backhoe is going to get the geared starter with the one wire altenator also. I'm going to change out the stator too a 105 amp output too. This way i can run the extra lighting. But for a standard/stock int154 i find the s/g's work ok if there in good condition. I would also checkout your wiring too. I do find some of my wiring thats starting to fail because its cracking and old, plus it needs to be replaced sooner or later. These are awesome machines but there starting to show there age. Bill

After your first reply i looked at the wiring and agree that it's pretty ragged. i haven't tried to hook the wire directly from a hot battery yet either to see if it is in fact the starter/generator. i'll keep you posted. after this weekend i should know how it worked.

John