my first int154 had me ready to give up.

[BigBill]

Ok here's a refresh on what I've done.

The electrical system wasn't charging. I found a frayed wire under the dash board. The tractor Sat till I found the time to fix it. Along came the cancer and it sat for over a year with everything else. I replaced the whole wiring system. Replaced the starter/generator and regulator. I was thinking I was all set. Nope it continued not to start or charge the battery. We ohm' d out the system. The s/g was charging 13 volts. But it wasn't getting out to the battery because of a bad ground connection. Ok we finally had 13 volts at the battery. We're all good now right? Nope again the new s/g was turning slower and slower when trying to start the engine. It would be slow like a hand crank. It would start finally but when hot the s/g wouldn't crank at all. Ok it finally died yup a brand new s/g from sleezebay. This last Sunday my son came over and replaced the brand new starter with the old one. It works perfect. I figured replacing everything with brand new parts I wouldn't have a problem right?
It really tested me. I beat it finally.

When the electrical system wasn't charging correctly the engine would slow down when engaging the pto. Now it's stays at a steady speed when I engage the pto, I guess it's happy, happy now.

I didn't sell it but I was thinking about it. She runs like when I first purchased it.

[gitractorman]

Bill,
That's all pretty common stuff on the 154 tractors. Unfortunately, it's probably one of the weaker points of the 154 setup, using a starter/generator from a Cub Cadet to try to turn over the C60 engine is just a lot for that little Delco starter to handle. Add on 40+ years of use on the engine and the overall wear and tear, not starting really quickly and needing to crank a little more, and it's just a bit more than the S/G can handle. A new set of brushes in your old S/G will probably bring it back to life, but making sure the C60 engine is in tip-top tuning will also help a ton!