Farmall Super A help

Have the chance to get a Farmall Super A. I do not know much about farmall. I have two Allis Chalmers (WD and D14). I Took carb apart and cleaned. Took sediment bowl off and cleaned. Drained tank. Put in fresh gas. Gas is flowing to carb. (looks like the same type as my D14m a Marvel Schreiber). Has alternator on left side of tractor connected to fan (one like what you would see in a truck or a car). On the right side by the distributor is a black solenoid (I think that is what it is called) that is labeled 6 volt connected by two wires. So I am assuming this is a 6 volt setup. I put my 6 volt battery on (which has no problem starting my WD, plus I charged the battery over night). It would barely even turn the tractor over. Took a small 12 volt battery out of the lawn mower that was sitting there. It turned the tractor over pretty good but it did not even attempt to start. Tried to take spark plugs out in order to dump some gas in each cylinder but I did not have the right size plug wrench so I couldn't get them out for now. (an hour away from home, and I never have enough or the right tools with me).

On the operator's planel of the tractor is a switch (push in to stop, pull out to run). It didn't move very well so I took the two wires off of the back cleaned them and connected the wires directly together (bypassing the switch).

There is also a round knob that turns from the Letters C, D, and B. I have know clue what this is, I am guessing C for charge, B for battery D? It has wires running to the alternator and maybe meter, I cant remember). Any help on this?

There are a lot of wires with missing insulation. Tractor is negative ground (I am pretty sure) I can get tractor to turn over, but not start with negative ground. When I switched to positive ground, I got all kinds of sparks at the battery terminals so I switched back to negative ground. If I have negative battery post to ground and positive battery post directly to starter, what other essential wire(s) do I need? (another words, I am trying to bypass the entire existing wiring and get tractor to at least fire, hopefully even run).

The tractor has sat in a shed since last used. It was running in good shape when placed in there 15 years or so years ago. When turning over with battery, the hydraulics were actually moving. I lowered them, Pushed in the clutch and am holding it in with a block of wood figuring that if the clutch is in, there is less to turn, making it easier start.

Any help on this would be appreciated.
 
You really need to get a manual before you orogress much further. If the tractor has a negative ground and has an alternator, it is 12 volts, not
6.....Wires with missing insulation should be dealt with first and those push/pull power switches do go bad over time. The switch with C D B is
your lights, nothing to do with starting. The tractor has very basic wiring and if you do a site search on here, you will find great diagrams on how
to wire it up.
 
With an alternator your tractor is probably 12V. To get a tractor to turn on 6 volts requires heavy battery cables in good clean shape and yours probably aren't. On the distributor side that black thing you
are seeing is the coil. To make 12 volts work on what used to be a 6 volt system you either have to add a resistor to get the voltage at the coil down to 6 volts or a coil that has internal resistor. Resistors
do go bad.Your lawn mower battery probably doesn't have the cranking amps to really crank the tractor fast. Those small engines really crank with a good 12 volt battery. The knob you are referring to sounds
like the light switch. Is it near the amp meter on a rectangular box with a round top? One thing you may find is your tractor has gotten to where it needs a valve job. I've bought 3 tractors over the past few
years (A, Cub and just bought a 100 which is mostly a super A with different sheet metal), they had all sat protected but for a long time without running. All 3 didn't have enough compression to get them to
run. Not running is bad news on valves from tractors that old. Super A's were late 40's and early 50's so a lot of things like wiring will have seen better days. Good news is you can find just about any part
you need for those tractors new and lots of used stuff around too.
 
All good advice so far.

Light switch is Charge, Bright, Dim.

Pop the distributor cap and check the points. Glazed points are the first culprit on a Farmall sitting. Clean the point with a thin fingernail file. They should open 0.040" on top of the lobe, about like an old dime worn thin. Point setting is not real critical to get one started so long as the points are closing all the way and opening all the way. Then check to verify you have spark. It has been converted to 12v, it will have a resistor for the coil, and a 6v coil will run on 12v just don't do more than get it started then verify everything is in place. Old Chevys with 12v and points had a bypass to put 12v on the coil during starting so don't worry about 6v initially.

Put some oil in the spark plug holes if it has low compression and that may help it get started. Spark plug socket is 7/8".

Great little tractors, good luck!
 
Are you sure it is battery ignition? My H has a mag, and that push-pull switch is a "kill" switch. If the wires are connected they are grounded, hence no spark. My 2 cents worth.
 
You are thinking distributator, if it has that then I think it has been converted from the mag that I believe it orignally had. If it is the distributator then you have to determin if it is 6 or 12 volts and then positive or negetave. With a mag it does not make a bit of difference as the mag makes its own spark and the switch just grounds out the mag to stop the engine. If it is that you do not reconize a coil if it is one (would have 2 small wires and a spark plug type out the top middle) I question if you lnow if mag or distributator and ways to get to run are a hubderd persent different so first thing is finding out if a mag because if mag the only electric connection you would need to make if either 6 or 12 volt is to put jumper cables from battery direct to starter
 
My first tractor was a Farmall Super A I bought from a friend whose family used it for many years. I only used it to pull a 5' shredder as I
had no implements and it didn't have but about 25 hp (when new). Had a "Buy, Sell, Trade" guy that also was heavy into hay production
commercially stop by one day while I was mowing and he said he never saw anybody mowing so slow. I told him that was all the A could
do. Not impressed.
 
Typical mess when they go to 12v. The wires from the on-of sw dont hook them together as that will put batt volts on the points all the time and burn them, Those wires need to have a sw. The black thing by the dist is a coil and if its 6v it needs a dropping resistor hooked to the batt side of the coil. You need a dia for the wiring harness thats made for a 12v alt and probably need to re-wire if insulation is missing
 
(quoted from post at 04:16:41 05/21/17) Have the chance to get a Farmall Super A. I do not know much about farmall. I have two Allis Chalmers (WD and D14). I Took carb apart and cleaned. Took sediment bowl off and cleaned. Drained tank. Put in fresh gas. Gas is flowing to carb. (looks like the same type as my D14m a Marvel Schreiber). Has alternator on left side of tractor connected to fan (one like what you would see in a truck or a car). On the right side by the distributor is a black solenoid (I think that is what it is called) that is labeled 6 volt connected by two wires. So I am assuming this is a 6 volt setup. I put my 6 volt battery on (which has no problem starting my WD, plus I charged the battery over night). It would barely even turn the tractor over. Took a small 12 volt battery out of the lawn mower that was sitting there. It turned the tractor over pretty good but it did not even attempt to start. Tried to take spark plugs out in order to dump some gas in each cylinder but I did not have the right size plug wrench so I couldn't get them out for now. (an hour away from home, and I never have enough or the right tools with me).

On the operator's planel of the tractor is a switch (push in to stop, pull out to run). It didn't move very well so I took the two wires off of the back cleaned them and connected the wires directly together (bypassing the switch).

There is also a round knob that turns from the Letters C, D, and B. I have know clue what this is, I am guessing C for charge, B for battery D? It has wires running to the alternator and maybe meter, I cant remember). Any help on this?

There are a lot of wires with missing insulation. Tractor is negative ground (I am pretty sure) I can get tractor to turn over, but not start with negative ground. When I switched to positive ground, I got all kinds of sparks at the battery terminals so I switched back to negative ground. If I have negative battery post to ground and positive battery post directly to starter, what other essential wire(s) do I need? (another words, I am trying to bypass the entire existing wiring and get tractor to at least fire, hopefully even run).

The tractor has sat in a shed since last used. It was running in good shape when placed in there 15 years or so years ago. When turning over with battery, the hydraulics were actually moving. I lowered them, Pushed in the clutch and am holding it in with a block of wood figuring that if the clutch is in, there is less to turn, making it easier start.

Any help on this would be appreciated.

Allis-Chalmers and Farmall both used pretty much the same, Delco, electrical and ignition systems. If you can diagnose one, you should be able to diagnose the other. Fuel systems also are very similar.
 
#1 alternator say is is very likely to be 12 volts set up and that black solenoid as you call it is a ballast resister
#2 The moment you hook it up + ground you smoked the alternator.
#3 check the spark and make sure it is a good blue/white in color and will jump a 1/4 inch gap or more at the center wire of the cap and at the plug wires.
#4 pull the carb drain plug and make sure you have a good steady flow of gas that will fill a pint jar in under 3 minutes and yes catch the gas so as to check for water/dirt etc.
 
PICTURE
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I just got one too and its a 1951. Look under seat and serial no. plate is there with number. Look on google or here and get year breakdown. This will help getting parts. Mine runs good and has
working 6 volt system. I replaced all the wires to know what goes where and to know there are no shorts. Its easy to do. You tube the 12 volt system and stay with it since it has been converted.
Most carbs were Zenith and I rebuilt mine which really helped it start better and run smoother. good luck with it.
 

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