TO20 hard start

Ktmcowboy

New User
Good evening,

This is my first winter with my tractor. In the warm weather you could not ask for a machine that starts better, it legitimately starts in two seconds or less, however it is quite a bear to get running in the cold we're experiencing in the north east right now. It's been converted to 12 volt, runs strong otherwise. I wasn't sure if there are maybe some carb adjustments that need to be made for winter? Any help greatly appreciated! Thank you!
 
Common problem which can be caused by more then one thing.
#1 weak spark due to taking more to spin it over. You need a blue/white spark that jumps a 1/4 inch gap or more.
#2 takes a richer carb setting or more choke to start plus a small vacuum leak caused by the cold can cause problems.
#3 slow fuel flow. Pull the carb drain plug and make sure you have a steady flow of gas that will fill a pint jar in less the n3 minutes.
#4 when was the last time you serviced the air cleaner?? It could be full of water/ice/mud
 
If using old summer fuel you might try draining and filling with fresh winter grade

Check coil wiring. If negative ground --on coil to side of distributor. If positive ground + side of coil goes to distributor. If reversed I have seen that cause harder starting.
 
It should have good fuel as i ran it a few times in early winter for some smaller storms, and it ran on Sunday to clean up the 12-16ish inch storm we had on Saturday into Sunday, however temps dropped to around 10 below on Sunday into Monday. It is definitely getting gas as i took the air cleaner off where it connects to the carb to give her a little snort of ether and gas leaked out of there, so i don't believe that to be the issue. Is the choke on that the lever below and to the right of the steering wheel? I always thought that was just the shut off, which could be a good part of my problem right there. I have not yet checked the spark which could be part of the problem, and the air filter is also something i should look at. Thanks for the help. If none of these other things help, how much should the carb be adjusted, 1/4 turn at a time or is that too much? I've only ever really dealt with small engines that have carburetors.
 
Well, that was a little embarrassing, pull the 'shutoff lever' and it starts like it's summer time. I don't know why it never dawned on me that that is the choke. Thank you guys for the help.
 
also push the clutch down that way the trans. is no turning even in neutral most of the gears in the trans still turn
 

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