Stupid question

I think I know the answer to this but I'm going to ask anyway. my '48 8N, 6 volt system, if I have to jump start it do I put the positive jumper cable on the negative to jump it? I have a charger with a 6 volt 6 amp setting, I'm assuming that is the one I want to use, so when I'm charging the battery in the tractor I charge it normal ... positive to positive post etc. right? As long as I don't turn on the key all should be OK?

Yeah always charge it normal and jump it normal otherwise if you don't it will short out and throw up a bunch of sparks.

Always go by the markings on the battery when charging or jumping.

How it's connected to the vehicle does not matter, it's battery polarity that is important.

Whether for charging (battery charger to tractor battery) or for jumping (6 Volt battery to tractor 6 Volt battery) you must use positive to positive and negative to negative.
Jumping positive to negative would cause a very large current flow and might cause the battery (one battery or the other, maybe both) to explode.

Thanks guys, that's what I thought just wanted to be sure.

I agree with above comments and want to give you something to consider. Jumping the 6 volt battery with 12 volts shorten's life of 6 volt battery. For that reason,use charger to minimize jumping as much as possible. If you find it necessary to jump and/or charge often,you should consider replaceing 6 volt battery with a 12 volt. I will not go into the procedure unless you decide to do it,but it's not expensive nor complicated.

Or if you're going for originality, fix the 6V charging system...

I know a lot of people will warn you that jumping a 6V tractor from a 12V battery will cause explosions, death and destruction, etc., but the reality is that hooking that 12V battery to the 6V battery is no different than putting the battery charger on boost mode.

One of those 100/200/300/400A roll-away chargers will apply well over 12V to a 6V battery in boost mode. That's how it gets the high charge rates.

Sorry but your wrong. I have witnessed more then one 6 volt battery explode in the face of a person and one of them lost there eye site to it happening. One should NEVER hook a 12 volt battery to a 6 volt battery and yes there is lot of difference I a battery to battery then a battery to charger. Battery charger will put out around 7-7.5 volts even on boost just on boost it is more like having a CCA battery that is twice what it would be

Always + to + and - to - period!!
Also one should NEVER hook a 12 volt battery to a 6 VOLT BATTERY BECAUSE THAT CAN/WILL CAUSE THE 6 VOLT ONE TO EXPLODE IN ONES FACE. Had a friend that lost his site by having a battery explode due to doing that

As nearly everyone said +to+ and -to-, the safety risk is if the two vehicles make contact with each other. which would result in a short circuit across both batteries

Jegs -

You didn't say what the vehicle voltage was that you are jumping from.

If you are jumping a dead 6 volt tractor from a 12 volt vehicle:

1) Turn the dead tractor key to the run position.
2) Set brake and ensure in neutral.
3) Connect the 12 volt positive lead of the running vehicle to the starter lug on the dead tractor battery.
4) Connect the 12 volt negative lead of the running vehicle to somewhere on the frame of the dead tractor......and immediately...the starter will turn and hopefully tractor start. Immediately remove that lead from the frame.

Jumping a 12 volt system to a 6 volt system, battery to battery, will cause damage to one or both vehicles.

Pete

Start simple with this reply. Positive + to positive, and Negative- to negative ONLY..... NOW for the next part. If you can't get your tractor started then you need to find out if it is a junky battery, garbage cables, loose connections, corrosion, ETC. ASSUME NOTHING. Keep looking till you find something. Most of the guys have said to leave it 6 volt and I would agree. The last thing I will harp on. When you hook up just plain old jumper cables, hook them to the supply first. The two other clips are now in your hands. Hook the first cable to the wire that goes to your starter. LAstly, the. "Ground or frame" cable hooks to a big old bolt or frame member , just anywhere that is at least several feet away from the deader battery. You. Must realize that when a battery charges it makes hydrogen gas. H2O gets split in half. Two hydrogen and one oxygen. Just think of the Hindenburg. I am not busting on ya but I have seen the aftermath of battery explosions. Sulfuric acid is the worst stuff most of us will ever mess with. Personally.......I fill a 5 gallon clean bucket with tepid water and pour a mess of baking soda in it. Now if you get any acid on you, your tools, you beauty of a tractor, what ever, splash that mix all over you and FAST! If all went well, you can wash everything down with 5hat bucket of mix. It will neutralize any acid anywhere, even the stuff you don't know about, and then take a hose and rinse it off This was the super duper how to do seminar you would read in a HazMat book. Please look at these pictures.

Why would you put the positive jumper cable on the negative post?

I never would, but with the cables being backward (positive ground) I just thought I'd ask. If somebody would have chimed in yes I would've needed a heck of an explanation to do it.

Megs you use jumping and charging as if they are the same. When one is charging a 6 volt battery hopefully he has a 6 volt charger. When Jumping, you can say that you are using a charger with a high amp setting but often when one wants to JUMP (BOOST) a six volt tractor, there is no other six volt tractor around and no charger with a high boost capability. What can be very safely done in this situation is to go direct to the starter and LEAVE the BATTERY OUT of the circuit. Since we are of course talking negative ground you simply put the clamp of the cable from the Negative post of the good battery on the post of the starter, and the cable clamp from the positive post of the battery to a good chassis ground on the tractor being boosted. This of course keeps the battery out of the circuit, and the 6 volt starter cares not a lick that it is being spun by 12 volts. You will want to keep your hand on the positive clamp because the tractor will most likely start instantly.

Thanks Showcrop, I'll give that a whirl, at least then I'll know that the starter is OK.

Thanks for the info Jeffcat, last thing I want is a battery that looks like that!

Thanks a ton guys, I Really appreciate all the info. Picked my tractor up at an auction Aug. of 2016 for $1200 (serial #20535 built in November of '47) and it had brand new rear tires. Until I bought it I had never even heard of positive ground so that's always been a little weird to me besides the many things about this machine that I'd never dealt with before. Barely got it to run long enough to get it on the trailer home and once I had it in my shop it took me two weeks to get it running. Since then it has been a champ, my favorite vehicle, I use it around my hobby farm anytime I can, I love just cruisin on it. Obviously I was destroyed when this problem happened and I had to push it into my shop (slight uphill) with my wife driving it, hopefully I can get it running tonight!

Bingo, Barnyard.

That said, the IR of the charger may well be higher than the IR of the 12V battery.

Dean

I'll add one other thing since we are talking a mix of negative and positive ground tractors/vehicles etc. This is quite unlikely to happen, but when jumping a positive ground unit with a negative ground unit you cannot have the two in metallic contact. If you do you will complete a direct short to the vehicle that it providing the jump power or visa-versa depending on which cables are connected first.

My apologies, I missed Ron M.'s post and can't edit.

Just to be sure I got this right, negative post from the battery to the starter bolt, positive to ground? Somebody else here told me just the opposite I think, I
tried negative to starter positive to ground last night, key on, nothing, I feel I want to put the positive to starter, negative to ground, just need some
clarification here please.

(quoted from post at 08:17:54 08/23/17) Just to be sure I got this right, negative post from the battery to the starter bolt, positive to ground? Somebody else here told me just the opposite I think, I
tried negative to starter positive to ground last night, key on, nothing, I feel I want to put the positive to starter, negative to ground, just need some
clarification here please.

Click to expand...

Jegs are you asking me? If you are, yes, since it is a positive ground system, the usually red cable from the positive post of the "donor" battery goes to ground on the dead tractor while the cable clamp from the negative goes to the starter lug.

Yes, thanks Showcrop. I did do that last night off a battery that I thought was good and it did nothing. I'll try it again tonight jumping it from my truck if
you think that's ok to do?