TO30 burning up starters

golferjones

New User
Hi everyone- I have a TO30 which has now burnt up a 3rd starter this year. It seems I get about 10 or so cranks on it before toasting it. I'm wondering if perhaps the battery I got this spring is the problem and it's too strong? I have a 650 or 675 CCA battery. Any suggestions on if this is too strong or is there something else I can check? It's a 12V conversion. Thanks guys!
 

Need more info. Are they original starters or aftermarket. How hard is the engine to start? The 6 volt starters will not take a lot of grinding to get the engine started on 12 volts.
 
It's got a 12V starter on a 12V system. I just tried starting the tractor again and it started! So it's not the starter which is great. Bad news is it's something else- either a short or bad switch solenoid? Is that what you call the mechanism that attaches from the battery to the starter? Sorry, I'm a novice at this stuff- I've had the tractor for 3 years and I'm slowly learning. Whatever that is, when it won't start I hear a distinctive click coming from that component.
 
It sounds like you have a bad solenoid. They are cheap enough and easy to change so try that. Use your digital camera to take a picture of how it is wired now and to show the parts man and refer to the picture when you wire in the new one.
 
I'm going to tractor supply tomorrow and picking up a new solenoid switch, new ignition key and a negative battery cable. All these looked rather sketchy to me, all pretty corroded. I'll borrow an ohmmeter too just to be safe. It's gotta be one of these components right? Thanks everyone for your input, this tractor has been driving me nuts this year!
 
Like Inno told me once is to make sure the surface area where the starter mounts is free of paint an also where the
solenoid mounts.
 
(quoted from post at 23:21:08 07/26/15) I'm going to tractor supply tomorrow and picking up a new solenoid switch, new ignition key and a negative battery cable. All these looked rather sketchy to me, all pretty corroded. I'll borrow an ohmmeter too just to be safe. It's gotta be one of these components right? Thanks everyone for your input, this tractor has been driving me nuts this year!

Sounds like your tractor has been butchered. Do you crank it with the gear shift? I'm asking because a TO-30 does not have a solenoid. Just a switch that is operated by the gear shift lever.
 
Ya whoever had this thing before me really did a number on it. I wasn't sure what people are calling a solenoid...I just turn the key and sometimes it starts and sometimes it doesn't. I'm really hoping it's either the negative battery cable or this switch that goes to the starter. Hoping to find out today.
 

Yes it definately sounds butchered. A TO-30 does not crank with a key. The key just turns the ignition and lights off and on. To crank it you would turn the key to on and move the gear lever to the S position and it cranks. That was a safety feature that Harry Ferguson insisted on so his tractors could not be started in gear. My advice is if your tractor is no longer wired this way I would get rid of the mess somebody has installed and hook the original starter system back up. No solenoids, very simple and safe system. Yes it works fine with 12 volts also. You just have a 12 volt cable coming from the battery to one side of the switch and the other side of the switch goes to the starter. It doesn't get much simpler does it?
 
Agree with Jason, the correct starter is expensive likely cheaper in long run, the new starter will mechanically move in and out to engage the gears of the, I think Fly wheel. check to make sure the mechanism is smooth.
 
Does anyone have a wiring diagram? I am going to try tackling this thing tonight if I can get off work in time.
 
(quoted from post at 15:20:47 08/04/15) Does anyone have a wiring diagram? I am going to try tackling this thing tonight if I can get off work in time.
size=18:1a4977245b]I think this is the one you want?[/size:1a4977245b]


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[size=18:1a4977245b]This link has another one & some info...[/size:1a4977245b]

[color=darkred:1a4977245b]http://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=ferg&th=108952[/color:1a4977245b][size=18:1a4977245b][/size:1a4977245b]
 

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