Rewiring a rewired tractor.

scolley · May 25, 2014

[b:fe28339e2b]As some of you know I bought a 1948 8N about a month ago and I've been trying to fix her up and you guys sure have helped me along. She was converted to 12 V some time ago and I'm getting ready to replace the harness however the wires show some damage I don't understand and I don't want my new harness to suffer the same fate. Can anyone tell me if this looks normal for old wires of if something else is going on that I will need to address?

I'm a complete idiot when it comes to tractors. As a boy we plowed with horses so even a 1948 8n seems really fancy to me lol. A few things came with the tractor, plows shovels a hoist, a scraper, a disc, and the rake pictured below. It doesn't look like any landscaping or hay rake I've ever seen. I sure would like to know what kind of rake that it is if you don't mind helping me to identify it.

Cheers,
Stewart[/b:fe28339e2b][size=18:fe28339e2b][/size:fe28339e2b]

Royse · May 25, 2014

That is not normal, it has been overheated as you suspected.
I would say you're on the right track in replacing it.
Is the tractor running now with the wiring like that?
The implement you pictured is a cultivator.
Remove tines as needed to fit the row spacing.
Tip - Turn the tines upside down and bolt them back on top.
Don't lose them or the hardware that way.

scolley · May 25, 2014

Hey Royse,

It ran for a day really well I didn't suspect anything was even wrong with the wiring. After that the battery began to charge so I looked at the wiring around the alternator. The person who converted it to 12 volt had put the wires too close to the header and they melted. That's what prompted me to get the new harness. Then when I began to examine the rest of the old harness I noticed these other things. I thought maybe it has too much inline resistance, or the wires may not be large enough to carry the current, or something making the wires too hot. I would hate to put on this new harness and have the same thing happen to it.

When I got the replacement harness I went ahead and soldered the clamped on ends and used heat shrink tubing on them. Why would they come without that? I figured that they wouldn't last long if they got wet much and working tractors get wet sometimes.

Now I have to figure out what wires go where LOL.

Thanks Royce,
Stewart

Royse · May 25, 2014

You're welcome.
That may have been a rhetorical question, but they come with
the cheap crimp on connectors to make them cheaper of course.

Google "wiring diagrams by JMOR" for some really nice, easy to
follow wiring diagrams. He has done a wonderful job creating
pictograms of both the original wiring and 12V conversions.

scolley · May 25, 2014

Those certainly are GREAT diagrams!

Royse · May 25, 2014

JMOR is a regular here on the forum.
I'm sure he'll be happy that you found them helpful.
Keep us posted on your progress. We like pictures!

Hobo,NC · May 26, 2014

I will guess :shock: that wire runs to the bat post on yer alt... I spec its the same wire that shorted out on yer zaust manifold..

If I were to solider a wire on a N the alt wire would be it I see no reason to solider any of the others unless you get a warm fuzzy feel'n don'n it... A properly sized lug and wire crimped is hard to beat... We never had issues with crimps at the alt till the amperage ratting went up in the mid to late 70's.... By then they were well over 65 amps your tractor will never go their for long if at all unless you have added power windows, seats and AC....

Its notcher crimp if it were it would have a issue at the crimp it would not follow the full length of the wire from the short back to the power source (battery)... In my world its rare to see a studded connector give issues its those dang spaded push on connectors that we dread....

W_B · May 27, 2014

Don't think that is a cultivator, the ones I'm familiar with had more rigid shanks and sweep shovels on them. We called this a spring tooth harrow. We had a small, drag type, two section one but didn't use it much, a conventional disk and a spike tooth harrow worked best for us after plowing.

Royse · May 27, 2014

Maybe just a regional difference in terminology W_B.
Happens a lot!

What we call a spring tooth harrow around here looks similar
but the teeth generally don't swing from side to side where the
ones on what we call a cultivator have one bolt that can be
loosened so you can turn them one way or the other to adjust
for row width, shields, etc.

I have seen the rigid shank type cultivator you're talking about too.
And that's what we call them. Rigid shank vs spring tooth cultivators.
Similar to the difference between spring tooth and spike harrows.

By the way, we had a drag type spring tooth harrow when I was
growing up too. Everyone around here simply called them a "drag".
We used them to smooth the field after disking.

Hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend!

JMOR · May 28, 2014

(quoted from post at 21:13:35 05/25/14) JMOR is a regular here on the forum.
I'm sure he'll be happy that you found them helpful.
Keep us posted on your progress. We like pictures!

hank you both! Nice to see the diagrams used & appreciation always feels good.

Rewiring a rewired tractor.

scolley

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Royse

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scolley

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Royse

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scolley

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Royse

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Hobo,NC

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W_B

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Royse

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JMOR

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