Ih460u will not start

Hello everyone, hope everyone had a merry XMAS and happy new yr. I purchased this tractor last yr. ran and started good during warm weather. It didn't start so good when it got cold. Read a thread about cleaning spark plugs with torch did that and Wire brush them also and regaped. Plugs were dirty. Tried to start turned over good but no start. Checked carb flow that was good. A couple of days prior I forgot and left the starter toggle switch on and did not flip to off position. (getting old to remember those important things). So I better check the points. Sure enough I found a nipple on one side, so I filed it off to make it flush again, not to much. Checked to see if I had spark at points, did have spark but looked weak. I don't have a manual yet so I set it about .015. I then wire brushed and cleaned the inside of dist cap. I tried to restart turned over good but no start. I then decided to try my spark plug tester on #4 plug to see if I had spark coming thru- no spark. I also tried the old fashion way, take a plug out and grd to frame and crank eng. to see spark, when I did that the eng. would not crank at all, I did hear a click somewhere sounded like it was coming from a switch??????? Put the plug back in and tried to crank again and would not turn over at all.( Hope you guys are staying awake reading this ) Really confused -fustrated now. I then decided to check the starter toggle switch to bypass with no luck, I was getting pwr to the switch but none thru switch. For some reason I decided to check the points again and I wedged them open and checked the starter switch again for pwr thru it and then it had pwr coming thru?????? Reinstalled the dist and tried to start no turn over at all. Battery had good chg. 12.6 with charger on while trying to crank. It is kind of strange that the engine will not crank when there is a spark plug or plug wire removed. Not sure if I shorted something out or what. I check pwr to the bendix, it was also 12.6. Tried to start running a jumper (pliers) across bendix, no luck. Sorry for the long thread and hope you guys have your thinking caps on. Thanks for all the help.

If you're going thru the trouble of using the torch on sparkplugs, just buy a new set and install them. Did you replace the condenser when you replaced the points? If you wire brushed the dist cap replace the cap too! Any little scratch especially made by a wire brush on the inside of a dist cap will cause arcing inside the cap. I know you're trying to get by cheap but you get what you pay for.

Two issues. The starter is jammed in the teeth of the flywheel/ring gear. (common event and easy to fix) Loosen the starter motor and it will click as the drive returns to its normal location. It will then work for a while.
(a new starter drive of a new design is available
that fixes the starter.)
The other issue may be your use of a wire brush to clean things. With respect, the steel of the wire brush can be instantly deposited on the porcelain electrode insulator. That metal path leads directly to ground. So that may be one issue on starting. The use of the brush on the cap is also not advisable.
Make sure the points are set at .020" (correct setting). Wipe the points with a folded dollar bill to clean the surfaces. If these ideas make it go all is well. If not get back to us. Jim

first of all you dont have the correct starter switch in there. most toggle switches are not rated for high amps required for starting. also how do you know that your batt. is any good or even charged up. just because it shows 12.6 volts dont mean anything , as you need to load test it to find out if its good. also what kind of batt. charger are u using while trying to start it. if it dont have a boost cycle on it thats another problem. need at least 60 amps on the charger to boost with. also have you tryed another battery? any time i have heard a click that means dead battery and its just the solenoid wont hold the drive engaged. only thing correct is that you filed the pitted points. you dont clean plugs or cap with a wire brush. not too many have spark plug cleaners that sand blasts them . but you can bend the tab and file the electrode flat and regap and its good to go. and for the cap just take some emery and shine off the corrosion. you tell us what you found when you get it running.