Starter engaging from moisture

Scott1ky

Member
I had probably the "freakiest" experience I've ever had with a tractor ever today. Background: My 2N was really dirty after bush hogging this summer, and not covering it up while in storage, so decided wash it today. After washing it, I parked it in the barn as always. I always turn the gas off and put it in gear (usually in reverse), and set one of the brakes (to prevent it from rolling.) I walked away from the tractor and did several other things that I needed to do around the farm. About an hour (or more) later, I was standing in the barnyard and heard a very strange sound.

It sounded like someone was trying to start my tractor!! But who?! Nobody was anyway around the barn except for me!! I thought, who in the world is pushing the starter button on my tractor?! Yes, the sound I was hearing was definitely the starter motor on my little 2N coming from inside the barn!! So... I start walking from the barnyard up towards the barn. When I get about halfway there, I see the craziest sight! My little gray 2N was backing itself out of the barn. It was backing itself out of the barn, with every crank of the starter (12V so moving a decent pace) and pushing the barn door out with it!! I thought "OH NO! It's going to tear off the barn door!!" (Still not having any idea how the starter could POSSIBLY be engaged, having not touched the tractor in over an hour?!!?!) I start running towards the barn, to try and get on the tractor before it tears off the barn door completely. I get on the tractor and put it in neutral. Can't get the starter to disengage, so I put it in 1st and allow the starter motor to "drive" the tractor forward, to release the barn door from the rear tires (Which by this time is pushing outward and upward!)

Now that the tractor is safely in neutral, I grab a wrench to loosen the battery cable terminal. Pull off the cable from the battery, and FINALLY get the starter motor to stop (it's nice and WARM by now!!) SOOO... What the heck?!!

Figured out what MUST have happened: MOISTURE from giving the tractor a WASH must have built up inside the starter switch (the OLD style linkage switch) causing it to arc across the terminals. It was still wet on the outside, so evidently some of that water found its way inside the little round can switch.)

Talk about freaky... anyone else ever have a similar experience with something like this happening??
 
I always park my tractor out of gear but a few years back had something like that happen on a D-17 A/C. I had a key type ignition/start switch and the switch went bad and I found it spinning over on it own. But it would do it of and on so I could hear it one time and try to find what was going on but then it would stop. Took me a good hour or so to find which machine was doing funny things
 
I park EVERYTHING in neutral for this reason. I had a friend in high school that had an early 60's VW Beetle. He came out of the house one morning to find that it had shorted out and cranked itself all of the way around the house and up against a tree. I'm sure it was a fluke, but as many 50 year old machines as I have here I don't take chances.
 
Yes, but it was a '39 9N (no safety starter) converted to 12 volts by a PO and had a key start. Key start was bad. That tractor gets it's ground cable removed from the battery every time I park it - even for a few minutes!
 
(quoted from post at 09:31:03 09/27/15) Yes, but it was a '39 9N (no safety starter) converted to 12 volts by a PO and had a key start. Key start was bad. That tractor gets it's ground cable removed from the battery every time I park it - even for a few minutes!

me too
when I walk away from a tractor...especially in my buildings...
gas off (shutoff verified that off is...off).....battery disconnected...dead hunk of steel.
my worry is fire...(old tractors...no fuses, no fusible links....gotta call em like I see em...just plain dumb)
usually can rig up something to make it quick.
(just yesterday on a side post battery, I cut the head off a 3/8 bolt to make it a stud. 3/8 wingnut, takes 5 seconds to dis-connect the battery neg cable.)

tip..from my old car days....emergency...your big lopping/pruning clippers will cut even the biggest battery cables quickly...without getting too close!
 
hmm.. arcing across the terminals? 12vdc doesn't arc very far.. and the current capacity of the 'shunt' would need to be high.. in the 50+ amp range.

If it was me.. I'd pull the start switch apart for a looksee.
 
(quoted from post at 18:41:11 09/28/15) I have battery disconnect's on all of my equipment, even the boat
ITA every time you or a family member want to jump in the car or truck & run up the road, isn't it??
 

Years ago the highway dept. of a neighboring town had a truck start up in the garage during the night, go out through the door and up onto their sand pile where it stalled.
 

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