Gravely has me stumped!

[Toad]

Hello all, This is my first post here. I have been reading for a few months, and love the site. You guys have one of the best message boards I have ever seen. Everybody is so nice and helpful.

I do have a 48 Cub, but have not had to post about it yet, because I have hat very few problems with it, and any problems I did have, I found the answer to in other messages.

However, I just bought a few old Gravely walk behinds, and thought you guys could help be out, on a problem that has been bugging the heck out of me. The Gravley I bought have not been run in quite a few years, so I took the one that looked most likely to run, and started to work on it. I checked the basics, the motor rolls freely, it has good compression, carb looks clean, and so on. So I get to checking for spark. put a battery in hit the started button, and nothing. Thought maybe my battery was dead, so I get the charger out, charge it for a while, still nothing. So I take my jumper cables, and go from the positive of the battery to the starter, and it began to crank. It cranked at what seemed like a decent speed for about 3 seconds, fast enough the impulse in the mag did not click. Then it slowed down, and, and cranked slow for about 5 seconds, then quit. I am fairly certain the battery is not bad.

A gravely has about the easyist wireing I have ever seen. a ground cable, a cable from the battery to the starter button, and a cable from the button to the starter.

So my question is why will the starter run with the jumper cables, and not the button? I have tested the button with a meter, and I am getting good continunity. Also, some things I have noticed. When I put the meter on the battery side of the switch, with the switch open, I am getting 14 volt, when I push the switch in, it drops right to 0. So my current is going somewhere, but it does not seem to be to the starter, it seems to be shorting to ground.

Thanks for any help.

Sorry is this is confusing, or I have bad grammer, it is late, and I am frustrated. It seems so easy, but yet, I can not quite get it.

[Donny M]

Welcome Toad,

I know nothing about Gravelys' but your problem sounds like a bad ground or bad contact between the battery and the starter. I'd check these areas before anything.

Again welcome to the best place on the net

[Jim Becker]

Sounds to me like a bad cable from the battery to the starter or a bad connection where it is conencted on either end. Try hooking a jumper cable from the battery to the battery side of the starter switch. Then hit the switch and see what happens.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

With the meter on the battery side of the switch, and it going form 14 volts to ) volts when you hit the button, I would look for a bad cable form the switch to the battery, or a bad connection at the battery terminal. it isn't a case of the current going some place it isn't supposed too, it is a case of a faulty connection not carrying the current it should.

[Jim Becker]

Yeah, what John said.

Just noticed I said "bad cable from the battery to the starter" and meant "bad cable from the battery to the starter SWITCH".

[Bigdog]

Should be easy to find the spot. It should be getting warm where the voltage drops across the load.

[Toad]

Thanks for all of the ideas guys. I will have to check my cables and connections. I did check to see if anything is getting hot, and I can not find anything getting warm. They have been sitting outside for the last few years, so bad connections are a definite posibility. I am going to try to work on the tonight, and I will let you know what I fine.

Thanks again.

[beaconlight]

Lurker Carl is big on Gravelys. Could it be the starter it self?

Bill

[Toad]

Beaconlight, I am really starting to lean toward the starter. Especially after I looked at things real close, and it looks as if the starter has been taken apart before. The starter is also about the only part I did not get a spare of. When I run the jumper cables directly to the starter, the starter gets real hot. I am not sure if it is because I am useing jumper cables. or if I got something wrong there.

Thanks for all of the thoughts and ideas.

[Lurker Carl]

What model is your Gravely? Different models could be very different.

I would suspect bad cables or bad connections first. Starters don't usually "partially" fail.

[Jack fowler]

Toad,

Sometimes resistance checks will not identify problems with systems that use a great deal of amperage to run something like a starter motor. Try a voltage drop method with your meter. Hook your meter up from terminal to terminal, connector to connector and select the voltage scale on the meter and try operating the system under normal operation. Any reading over .2 voltage drop is a bad connection or a bad ground.

A quick check to see if you have a bad ground in the system, hook the negative side of the voltmeter to the negative post of the battery and hold the positive side of the test lead of the voltmeter on the starter housing or engine block and activate the starter. If you have a high voltage reading you have a bad ground.

Always remember when using the resistance checking method (ohms scale on the meter) disable the voltage source. This case would be the battery.

[junkman1946]

If memory serves me right some of the first electric start Gravely L models were 6 volt. Could have fried the starter with 12 volts. Also I cannot Impress upon you enough the importance of keeping you hands/fingers out the way of the starter chain. Gravely was a good machine but their engineers were not very safety concious.

[Toad]

Thanks for all of the help! I found a bad positive battery clamp. When I tightened it down to the battery, all seemed good, but I losened the bolts holding the cable to the clamp, and it fell apart. I put a new clamp on, and it cranks like a champ now!

However, I may need some help with the mag. Not getting any spark. I took it apart, and found the points were corroded, and not closeing, so I cleaned them up, and tested them, and put the cover back on, but still no spark. I have not looked into it anymore, but anyg tips would be great!

Also to Lurker Carl, I am not sure what the model of the one I am working on is, but it is one of the newer White and square hooded ones. I will look for the model tomorrow.

Thanks!

[Rudi]

Toad:

First, to the greatest forum on the internet, and to the Cub Family. You will find that all the folks on this forum are kind, helpful and just full of Cub info and knowledge. They also happen to be the finest folks I have ever met

Thanks for all of the help! I found a bad positive battery clamp. When I tightened it down to the battery, all seemed good, but I losened the bolts holding the cable to the clamp, and it fell apart. I put a new clamp on, and it cranks like a champ now!

However, I may need some help with the mag. Not getting any spark. I took it apart, and found the points were corroded, and not closeing, so I cleaned them up, and tested them, and put the cover back on, but still no spark. I have not looked into it anymore, but anyg tips would be great!

Also to Lurker Carl, I am not sure what the model of the one I am working on is, but it is one of the newer White and square hooded ones. I will look for the model tomorrow.

Thanks!

You will find many of the answers you seek in the pages of the server below. One of most ignored sections seems to be the Maintenance Tips and Techniques section, and I am not sure why, as ALL of the really good stuff from our members are posted here.. such as Carl's wonderfull treasties on Lurker Carl's Cub Carb Fixes and the article you will be needing to answer your latest questions Magneto Clean-up and Rebuild by Donny Millar. If you need to do the seals, then Replacing Magneto Seal by Dave Smith is a good read as well.

One of the things I noticed is in your first paragraph, and my suggestions would be to Clean ALL the Contacts and Ground points on your Cub very well. That is a source of many peoples electrical headaches and it is a quick, simple cure.

Also, check the ATIS link below specifically paragraph 13 to determine the year or general year of your Cub. It sounds to be a 60's model square nose...which was one of the last incarnations of the breed.

Enjoy your Cub

Ok, so here is the spiel :

I would suggest that you read this thread: New Members and Visitors, Please READ Prior to Posting. There are many great links to informative pages such as the ATIS FAQ's 1 and ATIS FAQ's 2, The Best of H.L. Chauvin who has written very interesting articles on troubleshooting common problems with your Cub.

Also, you might want to visit the Cub Manual Server as there is tons of info on servicing, maintaining and re-building your Cub. In addition to this basic information, there are also a number of other useful tools available on the server. There is the Specialty Services page which has contact info for neat stuff like getting your seats recovered, buying quality Decals, Serial Number tags and a host of other neat items. Also there are the Parts Pages - both Used Parts Suppliers and New Parts Suppliers pages with links to quality dealers. I am always looking for YOUR favourite dealers for New and Used Parts to include here. These pages are intended to complement our Official FarmallCub.com Website Sponsors:

JP Tractor Salvage
Ralph's Cubs
TM Tractor Parts

I would also recommend that you visit Binder Books and purchase the three most important manuals you can own for Maintenance, Repair and Rebuilding your Cub. These are the Owner's Manual, the GSS-1411 Service Manual and the TC-37F Parts Manual. Although they are available on the Cub Manual Server, it is better is you also have your own paper copy. Binder Books is the only Authorized IH Publication Reprint House and they have the best quality manuals available. Most other's are not of the same quality. Just a personal thought here, the I&T Shop Manuals, although helpful in some areas, really are not sufficient for the job. If you wish though, they are good additional reference works.

IF you really want to get the skinny on all things Cub, might I suggest you get a copy of Ken Updike's Farmall Cub and Cub Cadet's . While you are at it Original Farmall Cub and Cub Cadet is Ken's latest addition to the series. Along with Guy Fay's Letter Series Originality Guide, these are three must have's in anyone's collection.

In addition to the above information, don't forget to check out the various articles that are available to help with your Repair, Restore, Rebuild or just your Maintenance Projects. There are a number of sub pages such as Electrolysis or Rust Zapper's, Maintenance Tips, Jigs and Techniques, Implement and Part Sketches and of course the Paint, Decals & Other Finish Questions which has the Paint Chart and the Paint Committee Decisions links.

Oh, and while the program still lasts.. you might want to check the Announcement: Navistar Free Gas Cap Offer - On-Line Form thread at the top of the Cub Forum and send away for the new style safety cap before that program runs out as well.

I truly hope that you enjoy your Cub and that you will be a frequent contributor to the forum. Again, to the Cub Family

[Toad]

Thanks for the info Rudi. I will read over the Mag information. I am sure it will be helpful.

Also, check the ATIS link below specifically paragraph 13 to determine the year or general year of your Cub. It sounds to be a 60's model square nose...which was one of the last incarnations of the breed.

I know the year of my Cub, it's a 48, S/N 19384. I am not sure about the year and make of the Gravely I am working on.