6 volt vs 12 volt

carpenter · Sep 5, 2013

First I want to thank CNKS and Jim for the good advice and assistence with the brakes and carburator on my Super C. It sped the work considerably.

I have two tractors. The Farmall Super C and a John Deere 730D Pony start. Both are 6 volt. stock and in good working order.

I want better lights and maybe a radio or a horn.
What solutions or work arounds has anyone done short of converting to 12 volts ?

Does anyone make a 6 volt LED bulb ?

old · Sep 5, 2013

Yes that is one on many draw backs of 6 volts over 12 volts. Now days 6 volts are a thing of the past and few if any body knows much or any thing about working on those system and fewer companies have parts for 6 volt systems

farmallboy15 · Sep 5, 2013

If it's in good working order what are you looking for? Good grounds and good wiring and heavy bat cables are important for 6 volt system.

Bob M · Sep 5, 2013

For lights, you can replace the OEM front/work lights with 6 volt seal beams. They're not as bright as 12 volt halogens, but they are much brighter than the original lights.

6 volt horns are readily available online. Or ask your neighborhood classic car guy.

As for a tunes, instead of a tractor-mounted radio I HIGHLY recommend a good set of AM/FM headphones like Elvex Quietunes, AOSafety Worktunes, etc. At the end of the day your ears will thank you. And they'll thank you even more 10 - 20 years from now...

john *.?-!.* cub owner · Sep 5, 2013

You can get LED bulbs from http://www.superbrightleds.com/ Email or call them with the number of the old bulb, and assuming it is + ground tell them. They will have the bulbs, but they will not be cheap.

rustred · Sep 5, 2013

thats one thing i admire is the 6 volt and how easy these old tractors start. brother inlaw came over and was showing him my collection. i must have started 5, 6 volt tractors for him and the 560 farmall which is 12 volt. i commented to him that i bet you have never seen so many tractors start on the first or second revolution. not a one missed a beat. he was impressed and a mechanic also. i will never stick 12 volts to anything i have. even on the ones that dont charge the battery lasts a long time while using them around yard stopping and starting them. and if the battery gets to low there is always the crank in them also. 1/2 a flip and your never let down.

oldtanker · Sep 6, 2013

This argument comes up from time to time on here.

About the only reason to keep anything 6 volt is for folks that like originality for shows or collecting. 12 volt on the other hand has it's advantages. Those include cheaper batteries, fewer parts, simplicity, compatibility for jump starting, fewer battery chargers are available with 6 volt chargers today, ability to use add ons like a radio or power socket for charging a cell phone and better cold weather starting. I honestly can't think of one advantage of keeping anything 6 volt.

Rick

60 acre hillside · Sep 6, 2013

The best reason for converting old tractors to 12 volt is that you can "borry" a battery from most anything and use the tractor. I have more tractors than I have batteries. What else would you expect from a fellow who farms hillsides?

Anonymous-0 · Sep 6, 2013

evidently you don't have a 6V M Farmall with Fire Crater pistons in your "collection", our 77 Oliver would never crank very good either with 6v

carpenter · Sep 6, 2013

Thanks all. I was hoping someone found or built a step up transformer that worked or found good 6 volt stuff.

Yes 6 volt starts but what if you want to light up the night plowing snow or have no worries about jumping with 12. Also generators are so small in output. Can they keep up with extra lights and 4 hours of snow plowing.

I have a 12 volt hydrolic pump from a truck plow.
Want to add it to home built equipement. Oh well.
Save old parts and convert to 12 on C maybe.

Nope. Going to buy a 12 volt tractor. Brilliant.

varmint · Sep 20, 2013

(quoted from post at 05:54:28 09/06/13) evidently you don't have a 6V M Farmall with Fire Crater pistons in your "collection", our 77 Oliver would never crank very good either with 6v

had 2 wd45s with the d17 kits when they wer cold they would start but when they got the compreson up , forget it an when it was cold in the morn they wer pretty iffy mostly would not start we put 12 volts to them and had it made then

fixerupper · Sep 20, 2013

dboll you're right on that. I don't know what was going on in the engineer's heads when they put 6V systems on Super M's and Oliver 77's-88's. I'm a stickler for originality but my 88 is 12 volt because it wasn't reliable on 6 no matter what size the cables or condition of the battery that would fit in that box. I've converted two Super M's for other guys and managed to get that alternator under the hood without mods. Both of those guys are happy campers. On the other hand, my little SC Case and B Farmall are very dependable on 6V. Oh yes, there's the little pup on the R Deere but that's another breed of cat. Jim

6 volt vs 12 volt

carpenter

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old

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farmallboy15

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Bob M

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john .?-!. cub owner

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rustred

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oldtanker

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60 acre hillside

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Anonymous-0

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carpenter

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varmint

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fixerupper

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