Hard to start

1. A too small rated battery is a prime cause, and on the old JD's I always recommend the absolute highest amp hr or CCA rated battery you can buy that will physically fit in the battery box. Of course, the battery must be fully charged and not have any weak cells or internal shorts. If you look down inside the cells and any have a gray or milky color, I suspect a bad cell. Battery substitution with a know good one can indicate if the existign one is bad, or better yet, have it load tested at your nearby battery shop. Since yours is new that shouldnt be a problem, unless its simpy rated too small????

2. Too small of battery or starter or ground cables allows excess voltage drop, in which case youre dropping energy across the cables as opposed to in the starter motor. Thats especially true in 6 volt systems since you dont have as much voltage to start with and cant afford dropping any across too small cables. In my seminars and articles I always recomend at least 00 Gauge cables on 6 volt systems and 0 on 12. What gauge cables do you have????? ???

3. Bad or corroded or carboned up or loose battery terminal cable ends or grounds are another prime cause of weak cranking. They must ALL be clean and tight and carbon and corrosion free. Its also important that the starter get a good ground connection from the battery, so if battery frames or boxes or mounts etc are rusted or corroded, that can cause slow cranking.

4. A Tractor timed too fast is also harder to crank, likewise, heavy oil in cold climates can also cause poor cranking performance. I recommend multi grades in cold weather like 10W30 etc which will improve cold weather cranking.

4. Bad starter switches can cause slow cranking. They MUST be clean and carbon free and not pitted or burned PLUS any mechanical adjustments set right so the starter is allowed to fully bottom out and engage the switch to the starter.

5. The starter itself can, of course, be bad which is usually caused by excess worn down brushes or excess worn bushings, uneven or burned or coated up commutators or even dragging armatures. I dont see how your new one could be bad, unless it was a rebuilt unit and not done properly??? is it from JD or a local rebuilder???

I hope this helps you some, post back with what you find or thigns you try and we can get the old girl cranking a little faster maybe. Despite all the above, its often a bad connection or too small cables or just a weak battery. If the start motor is bad itslef, it then draws excess current, is yours real hot after cranking????? ??? New one shouldtn be for sure or I would take it back for an inspection and load test. Even though you say it has new starter and battery and cables, these are all still factors (like too small battery or cables and tight connections etc) to consider. I assume the engine isnt having any problems that cause it to crank hard???? and all connections and especially the grounds are clean and tight???

Good Luck n God Bless Ol John T Nordhoff in Indiana

~Next make sure the ground cable is making a good connection. The ground cable connection point on the 40 isn't the greatest place, [try using a jumper cable & grounding the battery directly to the starter or tractor frame]

~If the original starter switch was re-used make sure the contacts inside aren't corroded & burnt.

~If no improvement with the above make sure the battery is fully charged.

~If still no improvement obtain a hand crank & see how hard the engine is to turn by hand [that will eliminate a tight engine]

~While the battery cables should be 1-0 on a 6 volt system, with the real short runs on the 40 it doesn't take much of a cable to get adequate power to the starter.

~Make sure you are cranking it with the clutch dis-engaged & no hydraulic load.

~Are you using real heavy oil in the hydraulics? If so, try thinner oil for cold weather as the hydraulic pump can't be disengaged for cold weather starting.

~If you are sure you have a good battery with a full charge & the cables are the correct size & the terminals are tight you are left with a defective starter, tight engine, advanced ignition timing, or a parasitic load on the engine during cranking.

~A higher CCA battery would help but you are real limited by the small battery box in a 40..... ....