More work !

[Bob]

well on a "spur of the thought moment" I fired up the tractor and after airing up the rt front tire I went over to the pond and dug a bit to make a bit of a watering hole below the spring for the critters sense the pond had gone completely dry.... just got that done and I hurd a POP and the familiar rattle of the hydrolic pump drive shaft slipping and the Hydrolics no longer functioned!
so back to the house I went... got behind the house ready to make the corner to go up by the welder and everything quit... no spark !  points are burnt so bad I had to take a file and grinder to them to get them to work again.... then after putting the points back in, I ground the battery flat so I had to take it over to the charger....
....
 I'll go re set the points a bit wider and see if it starts when the battery is charged...
 trying to time that thing properly is a royal P.I.T.A.  ! so I just fiddle with the points till it starts easy ! LOL .....( Mickey mouse !)

....

 I tell ya when it rains it pours !  LOL
...this is more like a MONDAY than a Tuesday ! HAHAHHAHAHA!
...
Bob....

[Bob]

Boy this just doesn't end.... I charged the battery , and reset the points tried to start it and it fired and died, tried to start it a few more times and then the starter sounded funny... slow turning and metal to metal sound.... I stopped!  glad I stopped when I did because on pulling off the starter I found that the starter housing broke ! a hunk of metal on the Snout of the starter that holds the bearing/bushing had broken off completely !
... I cleaned it all up and found some cast iron welding rod so tomorrow I will attempt to weld it back on  and hope that holds !
....
 I chamfered the crack with the grinder so the weld will penitrate good... but I know welding cast makes it brittle.   the welding instructions on the rod said to peen it right after welding to relieve stress..... something I've never done before... so it might be a good thing to do ! lol I dunno!
...has anyone ever welded cast before ? I have and I've found that it usually breaks again about 1" from the weld..... evidently due to the "stresses" made by welding.... I'm wondering if "Peening" the weld after welding while its still hot will cure that ? 
...
 I'm going to have to weld it in 3 stages.... top & bottom tacks, then short 1/2" long beads till its all welded up....
   anyone got any better ideas ? my "Cast Iron welding skills" are Very limited! LOL
...
Bob....

[randy]

a little at a time is what I've found welding cast, little bitty spot welds, wire brush, more little bitty spot welds, wire brush, continue. Check that condenser, if it's leaking it'll burn up your points.

[Bob]

thanks Randy !
... I got it all welded up now ...just waiting for it to cool so I can put the starter back together!
... I found at least 5~6 condencers in the shed so yah its a good idea to test the one in that tractor !
 it may well indeed go through them fast as old as it is ! LOL
...
I don't think that starter housing nose will break again.... its welded on there real good... but then again it shouldn't have broke in the first place !
hard to say. lot's of torque on that puppy !
...
Bob....

[Bob]

well... the weld seams to be holding... I have cranked the Fire out of that thing trying to get it to start.... seams I have spark but its not getting to the plugs all the time ... weird !
.... maybe I have water in the gas... it has been setting a while ....all summer !
.... I'll drain the fuel bowl just in case....
 the spark plug lead coming out of the coil was about 3/4 the way out I noticed.... pushed it back in but no change.... time to try the quick start I guess  all it needs to do it hit on more than one cylinder for a second or two and it will take off ! LOL 
....
grumble fuss !
...
Bob....

[Bob]

aurgh ! starter broke again... same crack  my weld wasn't good enough <blush>
so I re welded it ... laid some extra metal down over the crack... re assembled the starter and tried to test it... just arching and no turning.. loosened it up and tried it , same shit...
 I think that the snorkel that I welded has warped far enough off to one side that the armature is now grounding on the field coils ! .... so now I am trying to figure out a way to get around that problem so the starter will work again ! ....
...
 its not like I can run down to the parts place and get a new starter because this is a 1953 or earlier Henery fergison tractor...TO-20...  I think I might be able to Order a starter from tractor supply but I'm not positive...then it will probably cost a fortune!
...
its either the thing warped or the armature is shorted out ... dunno which... but the armature will not turn freely when its all tight... so I think something is amiss ! <GRIN>
...
we had some rain here this morning... not much but enough to dampen my enthusiasm for going outside !
hehehhe
...
Bob....

[Bob]

LOL  Ok guys get this !
I tried everything to get the snout back on the starter for the tractor.... it would indeed go on but it bound the armiture every time.... so it could not spin.
so I resigned to buy another starter at a whopping $167.00 ...well.... the tractor is useless without it!
....
 anyway, I let it set in the shed till I could think of something....
I was burning brush piles today and thought what if I tossed the snout of that starter in the fire and got it red hot ? perhaps that would take the Tension out of the thing and alow it to straighten back up
... I thought "what the hell.... what have I got to loose?" 
so I took the snout off the starter again.... put it in the fire where there was big hot coals... and left it for about 3 hrs.... I went back to check on my fires and chuck in more brush and prodded the starter snout a few times and made sure it was getting hot....
darkness fell and I could see that the starter snout was glowing Red hot to almost pink! I thought great ! if that's going to do it  then that's hot enough! .... I tok the part out of the fire and left it sit next to the hot coals to cool down slowly.... later I took it down to the shop and set it on a cinder block to cool.
 about an hour ago I went out and cleaned it up with a rag and put it back on the starter, took it over to the big charger and hit it with power and it spun like it was new again !
... LOL
 so let that be a lesson to you ...if you weld cast iron  if you can get it all completely red hot it will un-stress it for you !
....
HAHAHAHAHA

Bob....

[Manta]

Bob,

When you did the original weld,  did you heat up the snout to pretty much red heat before you welded it ?

Dave
(Manta)

[Bob]

NO.... and I think that is what caused the warpage.... the center babit bearing/bushing was at least 1/8" off to the back side in stead of being in the center.... it really warped a long way!
....
now after heating it cherry red in the brush fire it spins great... I'm headded out to put the starter back in ....AGAIN !
...
Bob....

[Bob]

well, so far so good the starter has held up for a GILLION trys to start the tractor...
finally I pulled the plugs and cleaned them ...boy were they a MESS!  full of carbon !
...finally I pulled the hose to the air cleaner and gas ran out....
 it has an up draft carburetor on it  an old Stormburg if I remember correctly...
so something is amiss with the carb too so I'll pull it tomorrow and see whats what....
I emptied the sediment bowl under the gas tank and got a bunch of red paint flakes in it...so I expect the carb is all plugged up...
the tractor smokes allot dunno if its oil or fuel but its been doing that for ages... I expect its burning oil...
...
anyway I'm getting closer to getting it running again....I think !
...
Bob...

[Bob]

Boy I tell ya that tractor is trying it's Darnedest to get the better of me !
I got the idea that it could be the fuel sense it's been in there sense spring, so I added about 3 gallons of fresh fuel to it and tried it again.... nothing, no firing at all !
 I checked the spark on No#1 again and it is  intermittent again ! and I thought I fixed that about 3 times already !.... it seams that something is amiss with the points that allows it to work a few times then starts going intermittent again... the points are firing great.... no problem there at all but it isn't getting to the plugs.... I had the coil off already and tested it for shorts with the VTOM and it SEAMS OK... hard to say with a coil after all. there is continuity between B+ and ground terminal like there should be and no continuity between the High tension and ground ...as it should be...I think.
...
 it looks to me to be the COIL but I dunno... I think I'll see if I can scrounge up another coil to swap it out and see if that makes any difference, or pick one up at tractor supply next time I'm in town
....
Usually Intermittent spark can be traced back to the points... almost every time... but in this case I don't think it is the points because they fire perfectly all the time...its quite ODD!
...
 You guys have any suggestions  on what I might check to fix the intermittent spark ?
....
Bob...

[Manta]

Bob,

Check for a crack in the coil,  at the top where the HT head plugs in.

Dave
(Manta)

[Bob]

ok did that already...it looked fine.
anything else ?
...
your right that is usually real hard to find.... usually at night though you can find leaks... and I can see NO electrical leaks at all ....ANYWHERE

...
and thanks ! <GRIN> I need all the help I can get because this o'l Henery Ferguson is giving me hell !
(TO-20, 4spd, 4 cyl)

...
Bob

[randy]

might be them plugs, sometimes they just don't work even though they look good, especially the resisted ones. If the porcelain surrounding the electrode is caked with carbon and oil the spark will travel down this "crud" when under compression instead of jumping the gap, I've had many a spark plug fire just fine outside the cylinder but not run the engine when installed, after hours of fooling around with everything else break down and get new plugs and it fires right up.

[Bob]

yah that is a possibility ! they were FULL of carbon on the inside I cleaned them out with a ice pick
and re set them they SEAM to fire ok now though... it SHOULD be good enough to run on 3 or 4 I think!
...I did notice when I pulled No# 1 again it was black with soot again from just trying to start it
the engine tried to run a few times belched smoke staggered and died like the choke was on  but it wasn't.... I reset the float level 3 times trying to get the carb to STOP LEAKING but even now after the last re setting of the float it still leaks after cranking it over for a second or two...
... I have the main jet adjusted to 2 turns out but I have tried from 1 turn all the way out to 2 turns
... it was at 2 turns before all this took place..... the main jet adjustment has always been touche on this tractor.... with the float re adjustment the main jet setting is sure to be off but it needs to RUN before I can adjust it properly ! 
  I'll dig out the book on it in a bit and see what the initial setting is supposed to be and set it at that ....
it acts like its flooded BUT the plugs are dry as a bone  and giving it full throttle does Not clear it up and make it try harder to start... that's why I am thinking it must be spark.
...
its quite possible that there is only one spark plug that's worth a damm in it now !
 I think I'll go to tractor supply and buy 4 new plugs , points, condenser and a coil and see if that helps any!
   .... I bet it don't ! its just too contrary.... ornery thing wants attention is all !
LOL
Bob....