Lora Frick

New User
hi, i have a to-20 or a to-30 harry ferguson 1952,,,
keeping in mind I know nothing about tractors. After purchase I changed out all the fluids, filters, greased it and put on new plug wires. I used it and the motor bogged down in tall prairie hay. I then put in a new tractor battery (it started hard) new spark plugs (auto lite 386) gaged at .035. NOW it won't start, doesn't act like it is getting spark. ADVISE PLEASE
 
The very first thing that comes to mind, is, had your tractor been possibly converted to 12 volts (alternator instead of generator) and you mistakenly bought a 6 volt battery for it. There should be some printing on the top of the coil. What does it say?
 
The spark plug gap should be .025, not .035. I suppose that there is always a chance that you didn't replace the plug wires in the proper
firing order (1,3,4,2). It doesn't hurt to clean the points and make sure they are set to .020
 

Often suspected electrical problems turn out to be fuel related and of course the other way around as well .
Did you clean out the fuel tank and carburettor ?
As the late ' Tony in Mass ' often said " a Ferguson's fuel should pour out like a cow pi$$ing on a flat rock " .
The fuel tank , fuel lines , fuel bowl and inlet filter as well as the carburettor should all be tended to .
 
All good advice, also check your carburetor screws, small one 7/8 turn open this sets idle and 1-3/8 turns open is the power setting.
Counter clockwise rotation on the distributor just to double your wires are on correctly

Let us know how you make out.

Easy difference between the TO30 and the TO20 is the 30 has external oil filter.


Tom
 
(quoted from post at 13:21:58 12/07/21) I used it and the motor bogged down in tall prairie hay.

Good advice from others, but I'll address one part of your comment not covered yet--the bogging down in tall prairie hay.

I assume you are mowing that hay? What kind of mower?

I ask because I use my TO30 to mow my meadow which is seeded in native warm season perennial grasses that get roughly 6 feet tall. I use a 6 ft rotary mower. Frankly, when that stuff is healthy and prosperous, my tractor doesn't have the power to mow a full width pass of that tall thick grass in 1st gear. So, depending on the specific details of the mower and the grass, the tractor bogging down might be totally normal.

You may have to take a partial pass each time, or mow really high, or something.

Hope you can get it running. Keep asking questions. The people here have really helped me in the past.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top