43 ford tractor generator help

i'm new to the forums and new to tractors as well. I recently aquired a 43 ford tractor. the generator was garbage on it. it had no windings inside, and was being used as a belt tensioner. I purchased a 6v generator for it, and installed it. after installing I started the tractor, and the battery still read 6v while running. I checked voltage at the generator, and found it was about 28Vdc. also found that the cut out relay was not working. so I bypassed thinking that 28V was a no load state on the generator. but it sits at about 17V when the cutout relay is bypassed. a little to high for charging a 6v battery. I guess I am trying to see if these voltages are correct. I do not want to purchase a relay, and find that the generator is what is burning them up. any help is greatly appreciated.

Possible this is a 3 brush generator?

If it is, what I understand, (having never done it), you adjust the voltage by moving the 3rd brush with a
non conductive (stick) lever until the voltage is around 8 volts running at 2000 RPM, connected to the battery. The purpose of the
cutout is to open the generator circuit when idling so it doesn't draw current.

If this is a 2 brush, you'll need to use a regulator.

Whatever it is, at least your test proves it is willing to work! Good luck!

Did you get the right generator for use with a cutout?
It would have an adjusting screw on the back.
The cutout is just an on/off switch. You adjust the output.

The adjuster should look similar to this one.

First of all some Fords used a Class B Generator and some used a Class A, do you have the correct generator.

The open circuit no load voltage of a working generator is indeed much higher then what it would be if connected to a load and its to what voltage it can raise a battery that really matters. THAT BEING SAID it would take one good generator delivering relatively high amperage to actually raise the voltage of a 6 volt battery up to 17 volts. Is that 17 volts somewhere on the genny orrrrrrrrrrrr on the battery itself (which I doubt)????????????

YES the purpose of a cutout relay is to disconnect the Generator when the tractor is off otherwise it would reverse discharge the battery in short order but if its working correct once shes running and gennys voltage reaches a set level it closes thereby connecting the genny to the battery/load.

If its a three brush genny with an adjustable third brush its output can be raised or lowered. If it can really raise a 6 volt battery up to 17 volts its a good genny but I just dont see that happening, that sounds like voltage OTHER THEN on the battery

I suspect a problem in wiring or the cutout instead of the new genny, did you Polarize it???????????

John T

Thank you for the suggestions. It is the proper 6v generator, and I believe I polarized it correctly. John, you are correct. After looking at the wiring diagram, I found that the resistor is wired incorrectly and is bad, and the amp meter was not hooked up at all. I was hoping not to have to rewire the tractor, but it looks like there have been to many fingers in it. Again, thank you for the help. It is greatly appreciated.