RedBarnNate
Member
Hello!
We own a 950-4 row crop tractor that is used for mowing pasture. When I went to start the tractor tonight, the battery was dead. I pulled my truck up next to the Ford to jump start her. Even though the truck is 12V & the ford is 6V, I've always been told it's ok to connect + cable to + terminal on 12v truck, and - cable to - terminal on 12v truck...then I connect the other + cable to the - battery terminal on the 6v battery...hold the remaining - cable & simultaneously press down on the tractor starter & thought the - cable to the + battery terminal on 6v battery.
Tonight I did this exactly as described above and the tractor roared to life. I mowed 1/2 the pasture...roughly 30 mins...and suddenly the lights on the tractor start to dim and the tractor starts to slow down & eventually died.
Well in the truck I hopped again and drive into the pasture to park next to the tractor. Pull out the cables again for the same routine. This time I noticed what I thought was a slightly loose fan/generator belt so I snugged it up a bit. Back on the tractor I go with jumper cable in hand.
Here's the strange part. Previously when I would touch the last remaining unattached "-" end of the jumper cables to the 6v + side of the tractors battery and pressed the starter switch, it would start & keep running. This time, it ran for a second and died again. Another attempt to start this way & same problem. The ONLY way I could keep it running was when it started to die, I would briefly touch the jumper cable to the tractor battery and it would not die but pick up speed to an idle again. I could wait for 15-30 seconds for it to start to slowly lose rpm and get ready to shut off then briefly touch the cable and vroom! back to idle speed. If I didn't do this over & over it would eventually die completely.
How weird, right? Hmm. The batter is over 7 years old, and isn't used much. The amp meter showed 0 while it was exhibiting these problems...not sure if it was showing different before.
Head scratcher.....help?
We own a 950-4 row crop tractor that is used for mowing pasture. When I went to start the tractor tonight, the battery was dead. I pulled my truck up next to the Ford to jump start her. Even though the truck is 12V & the ford is 6V, I've always been told it's ok to connect + cable to + terminal on 12v truck, and - cable to - terminal on 12v truck...then I connect the other + cable to the - battery terminal on the 6v battery...hold the remaining - cable & simultaneously press down on the tractor starter & thought the - cable to the + battery terminal on 6v battery.
Tonight I did this exactly as described above and the tractor roared to life. I mowed 1/2 the pasture...roughly 30 mins...and suddenly the lights on the tractor start to dim and the tractor starts to slow down & eventually died.
Well in the truck I hopped again and drive into the pasture to park next to the tractor. Pull out the cables again for the same routine. This time I noticed what I thought was a slightly loose fan/generator belt so I snugged it up a bit. Back on the tractor I go with jumper cable in hand.
Here's the strange part. Previously when I would touch the last remaining unattached "-" end of the jumper cables to the 6v + side of the tractors battery and pressed the starter switch, it would start & keep running. This time, it ran for a second and died again. Another attempt to start this way & same problem. The ONLY way I could keep it running was when it started to die, I would briefly touch the jumper cable to the tractor battery and it would not die but pick up speed to an idle again. I could wait for 15-30 seconds for it to start to slowly lose rpm and get ready to shut off then briefly touch the cable and vroom! back to idle speed. If I didn't do this over & over it would eventually die completely.
How weird, right? Hmm. The batter is over 7 years old, and isn't used much. The amp meter showed 0 while it was exhibiting these problems...not sure if it was showing different before.
Head scratcher.....help?