how do I use the traction booster?

bobgent

New User
I can't be sure my traction booster even works, but somehow I can't understand the instructions in the manual. Is the booster lever supposed to stay put when I set it? Mine just drops right back down. Also, the instructions tell me to push the lever up 'till I feel or hear something engaging. I don't hear that happening.
I finally got a two bottom plow to mostly work in my D14, but it kept acting as a very effective anchor instead, so I went along trying to raise and lower the thing manually, which you can guess wasn't much use.
 
An Owners Manual would be helpful and it needs to be appropriate to the s/n of the tractor, as there was at least one change made to the Traction Booster operating linkage from 1957 to 1960, that sometimes required adjustment. With the Lift-Lower lever in the down position and LOCKED in the lower window, slowly raise the Traction Booster lever one notch at a time until you see the Traction Booster gauge begin to rise and be active. Now, this assumes you have a working T.Boost gauge. It also assumes your T.Boost lever, its locking notches and all the linkage underneath the tractor is there and working correctly. The Lift-Lower lever pin and window have to be there and in good order. The Lift-Lower lever has to remain "down" for the T.Boost system to work. When you find the sweet spot on the T.Boost lever, change it one notch at a time to keep the plow in the ground or to add more weight transfer. At the age of 12 I figured out how to operate one on a WD-45, and a D-14 is easier than that. The late model tractors had an adjustment screw underneath the fuel sediment bowl that controlled the speed of implement drop when using the mounted plow. Early models didn't have that feature. Only adjustable with Lift-Lower lever in the down position.
 
First: I assume you do have a snap couple plow, not 3pt hitch plow hooked to an aftermarket 3pt hitch adapter.

When I had my 1957 model D14 I had a snap couple 2x14" plow.

I kept the traction booster lever in the down position, when the rear wheels started spinning, pulling hard, I raised the traction booster lever, this
placed the extra weight of the plow on the rear wheels for more traction, normally it pulled right on through.

Note to file on these plows you adjust your plow depth with the top link on the plow, you have three adjustments that must be free to turn, one
on each lift arm and the center one that adjust your draft angle, if these are not free and adjustable you are going to have a hard time plowing
unless some old farmer had you set just right from years ago.
As you slowly go up with the traction booster, you should hear a clicking noise, if my memory serves me correct, but that was 30+ years ago.

You must understand all your traction booster and draft control are engineered in the pull on that underbelly snap couple hook, not the lift arms
 
Thanks guys, that helps some. I do have a three point adapter, and was hoping since the lift arms are attached to the snap coupler, they'll give the system the feedback it needs.
I hadn't thought of moving the TB lever when the plow gets stuck. that makes more sense.
I see the notches by the lever, and yet the lever itself isn't engaging with them. There must be something missing.
Can't tell if the TB gauge is working, it's so corroded. A new set of chinese gauges is on my wish list.
Something else that confuses me:
I know it's a 6 volt system, and I"m working with that, but I noticed that there is a little decal near the aux plug near where I put my top joint that says "12 Volt" What the heck is that? from the wiring diagram, that is supposed to share power with the tail lights, which I assume are also 6v. The decal looks original.
Going to go out to the farm in a little bit, armed with your feedback

Never a dull moment
bob
 
If the 3-point adapter is truly pulling from the snap-coupler bell and not bolted solid, it should work. When plowing, you'll find the T.Boost lever probably about half-way up the quadrant. You don't leave it down and then get into a tough spot and raise the lever. A Veteran operator could get by without a T.Boost gauge. If you raise the T.Boost lever all the way to the top, it should actually (very slowly) raise the plow up off the ground with engine throttled up.
 
How would the 3 pt adapter work and not have it attached to the rear of the tractor
Over the years I was around a number of top quality 3 pt adapters for the old snap couple hitches, they all had to be attached at the back of the
differential

Am I wrong, but I assumed the ac system draft worked on the pressure being placed on the snap couple hook

You set the traction booster lever at a set point and the system tried to raise lower the load to keep it at that setting.

I have seen my neighbor with D14 pulling a 8ft snap couple wheel disc, tractor start to sink in a wet spot, he would raise that traction booster
lever an the load of the disc would be placed onto the tractor, it would pull right on through. That is when I decided I wanted one some day.
 
I would guess more add-on 3-point hitches are bolted solid and do not connect to the snap-coupler bell. You are correct.....the snap-coupler bell has a huge coil spring underneath the brake pedals that compresses when put under a load, which signals the hydraulic pump via a link rod under the belly. Your Traction Booster lever position is the variable control between the coil spring and the hydraulic pump to fine tune the amount of activity the lift arms get to work up and down. It is a simple system, that when used correctly, increases the pulling performance of the tractor in tough conditions.
 


My experience is with a WD-45 but should apply..

Your Hydraulic Lever should STAY where ya put it...

The "Position" of that lever for TB is dependent on the Soil AND the condition of your plow Shares..the better the Shares or the Harder the ground, the Lower the lever will be before you start to lift the front end or raise the plow...
I have plowed in places where the lever was completely DOWN and I had to Hold Back heavily on the Hand Clutch lever to help keep the front closer to the ground..!!
You did not say if your plow is Mounted or Pull-Type..

If Pull-type, set the drawbar control for just That (NO TB )... If Mounted, set it for TB..

Ron..
 
I went out there today and tried again, but now I'm looking at the length of my lift couplers. I can barely lift the plow enough to travel without it dragging.
I bought an adjustable coupler for the right side, and made a solid one for the left based on the length of the other. Now I think I'll take a few inches off of them both.
Looking more closely at my TB lever, I saw that there's a broken spring that I'm sure is there to keep it in place. Sadly, I couldn't get the lever off 'cause the pin that holds it on has just enough rust to keep it firmly in in place as well.
My wife goes between "I'm so glad you can work on this stuff and can get us a working tractor on the cheap" and "is all this really going to work?"
 
bob,
you may know all this information
but look at this picture of a AC snap couple plow,

it has two lift arms rods, one on each side that go up and connect to the lift arms on your tractor

the lower tongue with the ring coupler goes into the hook under the tractor.
that is the three connection points.

you adjust the front to rear angle of the plow with the adjusting screw you see in the center of the plow.

on a normal 3 pt hookup you would run the top link in/out to make this same adjustment.

I had a number of pieces of AC snap couple equipment, also had a 3 pt adapter

the pieces of AC equipment that I used the traction booster, what few times I ever used it.
was the plow, it just worked better using an AC plow

I could use all the other pieces of 3pt point equipment with my adapter.

I had the following pieces of AC snap couple equipment:
2x14" flat bottom plow
2 disc plow
8ft pick up disc
2 row corn planter
pond scoop
two row cultivator full set front and rear

was a very good tractor,
a204811.jpg
 
How do you know it's a 6 volt system. The 57-58 D14 was 6 volt, later ones are 12
volt. Pull a light bulb and check the number to get the voltage. I bought a D15 with
a 6 volt battery in it, PO thought it was 6 volt. Also you can check the starter or
generator model# tag. If the tag is red it's 6 volt, if the tag is black it is 12
volts.
Your traction booster lever should stay at any point that you put it. The lever is
spring loaded. If the sping is broken it will not work. Once you get it to stay where
you put it, you select the setting by experimenting when polowing, then leave it at
that setting. When you hit a hard spot, the TB will raise the plow just slightly to
apply extra weight to the rear wheels. LOL Bob
 
Okay, maybe it is a 12 volt, I didn't know they made those. I didn't look that closely at the battery, but I thought I saw four filler ports, as in four cells. Now I'm going to have to look again. This after I bought 6v headlamps. Good thing I don't have them hooked up yet.
If I were to get a reproduction gauge set, will the ammeter be wrong?
for now, it's a matter of figuring out the hitch and plow. the electrical is doing a good enough job in spite of all the loose wires from unhooked stuff
 
my 1957 model D14 came with a 6 volt system,

however someone had stuck a 12 volt battery on it when I bought it, so I thought it was a 12 volt system, could be why all lights and generator charging system was not working, .

we also own a 1957 TO35 Ferguson and it has a 12 volt system.

my experience, if you change it over to a 12 volt system, the 6 volt starter will work fine, mine did, it also kicks it over much faster, always started right up fast.

if you have to buy new parts anyway, I suggest you change it over to 12 volts.

you can thank me later for this advice.

good luck with it!
 
Oh, I hate to put things off, I'll go ahead and thank you now.
Having gone to the trouble to mistakenly get six volt headlamps, I'm tempted to wire them in series. They should get lower voltage that way, shouldn't they?
Still haven't gotten to go out to the farm to try it, but I did take a few inches off of my lift links. Now I'm looking at the top link and thinking it should be shorter, too. Not as easy to take metal off of a turnbuckle. Wonder if the store will have a shorter one. I guess I could also raise the top link anchor on the tractor
Maybe I should have looked harder for an AC plow.
bob
 
If you are using a snap couple plow, do you have the lift arms attached properly.
They swivel from the bottom of the cross bar, not from the top. This will raise the
plow about 4" higher. LOL Bob
 
Nope, I have an old Ferguson Two bottom plow that I found at an auction. it's three point. Seems to be a lot taller, as my current configuration can't lift it high enough
 
there is a traction booster gauge on my tractor. what else is supposed to be on it, so traction booster will work?


(quoted from post at 05:06:59 11/01/15) I can't be sure my traction booster even works, but somehow I can't understand the instructions in the manual. Is the booster lever supposed to stay put when I set it? Mine just drops right back down. Also, the instructions tell me to push the lever up 'till I feel or hear something engaging. I don't hear that happening.
I finally got a two bottom plow to mostly work in my D14, but it kept acting as a very effective anchor instead, so I went along trying to raise and lower the thing manually, which you can guess wasn't much use.
 
(quoted from post at 07:55:37 11/04/15) there is a traction booster gauge on my tractor. what else is supposed to be on it, so traction booster will work?


The "Traction-Booster" is a built-in feature, that was standard equipment, of the tractors hydraulic pump and hydraulic system. WD's didn't have the TBoost gauge. WD-45's had the gauge. Many WD's had the gauge added. The gauge allowed the Operator a way to determine the setting and effectiveness of how the system is working. It has nothing to do with HOW it works or WHY it works. The only external parts to the TBoost system are the coil spring and fork and the linkage that goes from the spring/fork up to the hydraulic pump on lever "A". Everything else is inside the hydraulic pump.
 
So I finally managed to get back out there with the shortened lift links, and the raised toplink attachment point. Armed with the knowledge about how the booster works, I hooked it all up and she plowed like a dream. Such fun to hear it bogging down, then hearing the booster take hold and the ground opening up like a zipper- two zippers in fact.
Thanks for all the advice! Now I just need a better disc harrow. the one I've got isn't doing all that well. It's in pretty bad shape.
Guess I'm going to slog through it with the walk behind tiller to get it leveled out better
bob
 
that's what we want to do, but there's a few things, bulbs mostly, that we wanted to get in now.I managed to strap a huge log to the disc and drag it around the plot today, which leveled it out enough to get the gravely tiller through a little bit of the ground.
I look forward to seeing how the ground looks come Spring
 

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