SteveB(OH)
Member
I am embarrassed to admit that it has taken me 18 years to figure out how the choke is supposed to work on my 48 8N 
I bought the tractor in 2000 and while it always ran well during the summer, starting it in the cold was a real problem. In the 30's it was difficult to start, in the 20's it was very difficult to start, and forget it below 20 degrees.
When I could get it started in those cooler temps it would stumble and fire on just 1 or 2 cylinders for a while then then finally settle down and smooth out.
For years I have tried to figure out the problem, but I never made any progress on finding a solution.
Yesterday I got frustrated and once again started looking around when I noticed that when I pulled the choke knob all the way out the choke arm on the carb was only 1/2 closed at about 45 degrees up from horizontal.
Further examination showed the the rod between the choke knob and the carb was bent and twisted in a myriad of different contortions such that it got caught on the oil Tee at the back of the block. It was a simple matter to bend it somewhat straight so that I could close the choke all the way, which resulted in the knob traveling twice as far from the dash !!
This morning it was 30 degrees out and with the ability to use all of the choke my 8N fired right up without any doubt whatsoever. There was no stumbling or coughing, it just fired up and held a nice solid idle.
If only I had figured that out 18 years ago !!!
I bought the tractor in 2000 and while it always ran well during the summer, starting it in the cold was a real problem. In the 30's it was difficult to start, in the 20's it was very difficult to start, and forget it below 20 degrees.
When I could get it started in those cooler temps it would stumble and fire on just 1 or 2 cylinders for a while then then finally settle down and smooth out.
For years I have tried to figure out the problem, but I never made any progress on finding a solution.
Yesterday I got frustrated and once again started looking around when I noticed that when I pulled the choke knob all the way out the choke arm on the carb was only 1/2 closed at about 45 degrees up from horizontal.
Further examination showed the the rod between the choke knob and the carb was bent and twisted in a myriad of different contortions such that it got caught on the oil Tee at the back of the block. It was a simple matter to bend it somewhat straight so that I could close the choke all the way, which resulted in the knob traveling twice as far from the dash !!
This morning it was 30 degrees out and with the ability to use all of the choke my 8N fired right up without any doubt whatsoever. There was no stumbling or coughing, it just fired up and held a nice solid idle.
If only I had figured that out 18 years ago !!!
