1937 F20 - Starting

Hello,

I am a little new at this, I grew up in the country and my dad and grandfather had two tractors in the family that my dad restored when I was younger. The two tractors are a 1937 F20 and a 1939 M. The M is what I drove the most throughout the years of driving tractors. My concern is the 1937 F20, I have done a lot of research and I believe I am aware of how to start the F20 without being injured by kickback but it's still intimating since I have never started it. Anytime I was going to drive it my dad would already have it started. I have read a lot of forums and watched videos (keep thumb on side of the rest of the fingers, only start by pulling up, etc).

I always meant to learn how to start this before something happened but my dad passed away a couple weeks ago and I told him I would always make sure the tractors are ran and kept in good shape.

The question I have is "make sure the mag is retarded". What exactly does that mean? If the tractor has never kicked back on my dad I should be safe? Or is the mag the throttle looking stick by the steering wheel? I believe I would put that about 1/2 way down and choke it and then I can start it without issues?

Thanks for any help!

If the tractor never kicked your dad then he knew how to do it. I don't know if you have an E4 or F4 mag and maybe it doesn't matter but I have an F4 mag on my F14 and if you set it wrong it will kick you into
next week. I'm not familiar with an E4 mag. I know where I set my mag to work OK but its kind of hard to explain. Maybe someone else will have a more precise explanation.

(quoted from post at 16:08:45 02/13/20) If the tractor never kicked your dad then he knew how to do it. I don't know if you have an E4 or F4 mag and maybe it doesn't matter but I have an F4 mag on my F14 and if you set it wrong it will kick you into
next week. I'm not familiar with an E4 mag. I know where I set my mag to work OK but its kind of hard to explain. Maybe someone else will have a more precise explanation.

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Thank you for the feedback. This leads me to a different question - how do I know if it's an E4 or F4 mag? I know when I go to visit this weekend I plan to watch some home videos to see if I can see him starting it so I am more confident instead of relying solely on memory.

I've never worked on an E4 mag but I suspect if you google them you will get a picture and see the difference.

(quoted from post at 17:12:23 02/13/20) I've never worked on an E4 mag but I suspect if you google them you will get a picture and see the difference.

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Thank you. After looking on Google, The F20 has an F4 Magneto.

I see people get all hung up on where the spark control is set before you crank it, but the simple fact is THE MAG FIRES WHEN THE IMPULSE COUPLING TRIPS. The position of the spark rod has no effect on timing until the engine is turning fast enough to kick out the pawls in the impulse coupling.

That said, every time I start my F-20 when it has been sitting for a while, I always crank the engine over slowly with the ignition off and MAKE SURE that the impulse coupling trips correctly before I turn on the gas and spark and try to start it.

Brian

That control rod changes the time the points open & that is when it fires. If the rod is in the advanced position, it can still kick back even when the impulse is working. Always start in the retarded position.

(quoted from post at 07:05:19 02/14/20) I see people get all hung up on where the spark control is set before you crank it, but the simple fact is THE MAG FIRES WHEN THE IMPULSE COUPLING TRIPS. The position of the spark rod has no effect on timing until the engine is turning fast enough to kick out the pawls in the impulse coupling.

That said, every time I start my F-20 when it has been sitting for a while, I always crank the engine over slowly with the ignition off and MAKE SURE that the impulse coupling trips correctly before I turn on the gas and spark and try to start it.

Brian

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Thanks for the reply, Brian. I will test this when in about a month when I go out to get the tractors up and running again. When I test it with the ignition off, how do I know the impulse coupling trips correctly?

Thanks for the feedback. How do I know if that throttle is in the retarded position?

You should hear a nice sharp 'click' or 'snap' when it trips. As you slowly crank the engine by hand, when you get to top dead center, the engine will 'rock' slightly as you get past compression. The impulse should trip at this point. If it doesn't, correct that before going any further. WD-40 or PB Blaster sprayed into the horizontal oil cup above the impulse coupling housing will help free it up if it is not tripping. E-mail is open if you have any more questions.

The throttle doesnt control the spark, it controls the engine speed. The lever at the steering wheel is the spark
advance/retard. IIRC, down would be full retard, and cuts the engine off, up is full advance. When I start my 14, I
have it just barely off of "off" position.

(quoted from post at 08:44:51 02/14/20) You should hear a nice sharp 'click' or 'snap' when it trips. As you slowly crank the engine by hand, when you get to top dead center, the engine will 'rock' slightly as you get past compression. The impulse should trip at this point. If it doesn't, correct that before going any further. WD-40 or PB Blaster sprayed into the horizontal oil cup above the impulse coupling housing will help free it up if it is not tripping. E-mail is open if you have any more questions.

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I appreciate the help with this. Thank you!

Ah, thank you. When I go to start the F20, I should have it probably about 3/4 the way down?