Farmall Cub

After leaving the Cub (1955 Farmall) out in the field for a few nice/dry/fine days, and running a load of weeds over to a compost pile, she decided to be uncooperative. Pulled the starter and nothing--not a thing, no nudge, no groan, no little something. Sprayed the little rocker connector with an anti-oxidzing fluid in case there was an electrical contact issue. That didn't help. Scratched my head. That didn't help. Tighented up the nut on top of the rocker. That didn't help. Battery connections ok. Lights worked. Amp meter showed juice. Got out the crank and that got her going. So, what are the possibilities? What are the solutions? This came out of the blue....

Thanks for comments, hold hand, scratching yer head!

DickB

check your battery cable you may have corrosion or a break in the cable. If you have a set of jumper cables try to bypass the cable and hook it directly from the battery to the lug on the starter.
Steve

forgot to ask what year is your tractor

Check and clean the connection between the starter and the engine, where the starter bolts on. That's the other electrical path. I had one that needed that area cleaned. Ed

always check the state your answer comes from , example : eds answer will only work on yankee cubs coppersmythe ( regardless of manufaction location)

In addition to the previous thoughts and suggestions.

Check battery charge and condition. A weak or mostly discharged battery.

Some of these cubs are spiteful. You left it in the field, so it left you high and dry.

Had a dachshund that was a great dog, but if he wanted to go for a ride, when you left and you told him he had to stay home, he would look at you, turn around and go take a dump in the corner. Like a kid throwing a temper tantrum.

Once you make up with your cub, remember, it has feelings too.

DickB wrote: Scratched my head. That didn't help.

Whaaat?? That always works!

If you've done as the others suggest and still nothing, I'd slide the cover off and check the brushes on the starter.

If the other checks don't provide an answer remove the pushbutton switch from the starter body and clean the switch contact and the stud on the starter. There is an arc created there every time you pull the starter and eventually there is enough build-up to prevent good contact.
It is also possible that the starter has a bad segment on the rotor. I had one that would start about 4 out of 5 times until the starter motor stopped on the dead segment. If you physically turned the rotor off of that segment the motor would run.
My money is on the switch contact.

DickB wrote:After leaving the Cub (1955 Farmall) out in the field for a few nice/dry/fine days, and running a load of weeds over to a compost pile, she decided to be uncooperative.
DickB

I'm with Dale on this one!!

DickB wrote: Battery connections ok.

Did you actually pull the cables from the battery and go over them with a battery brush? I recently had the same problem. The battery connections looked fine, but when I pulled the negative cable, there was hidden corrosion.

We've got heavy weather coming in, so there's not time enough to dig into the problem and get a bunch of tomato plants in the garden, some things rototilled. This morning, after running it last night into the barn (hand crank start), tried the pull and...nothing. So, based on all that's been said, when the weather will let me get to it, check electrical lines, check pull swith on console, and dig into starter if (gulp) needed. I had noticed, in the days before, that the battery was sluggish. Well, I scratched my head on that one since it charges all the time. Maybe I'll just charge up that battery?

I guess daschunds were never my favorite dogs, and now I know why! I've always preferred cats who leave the work to us while they conduct important snoozing experiments when they aren't tracking down mice and such.

coppersmythe wrote:always check the state you answer comes from , example : eds answer will only work on yankee cubs coppersmythe ( regardless of manufaction location)

Good one VAL. I missed picking on the old coot at the bash this year.

Here chew on these.

Most likely to be a bad ground connection. Least likely to be a problem in the starter.

The lights and ignition take very little current to operate, and are tolerant of a bad/iffy connection.

By comparison the starter takes a huge amount of current. If your connections aren't good enough you get nothing.

Starter switch