Leader D tractor

A guy brought me a D Leader tractor to check out the charging system and I have some questions, is it a 12 volt system? It only has one wire coming out of cutout box on the generator is that right? Is it positive ground? Thanks in advance for any help.

pretty sure its 6 volts if its old and has a cutout . what battery is in it, 6 or 12 volt? gotta have a battery.

When they were made only a couple of larger tractors had a 12 volt system and cars did not start using 12 volt untill around 5 years after they were made and positive ground was the norm on all 6 volt systems and the few tractors that did have a 12 volt system. So unless it has been messed up it is 6 volt positive and if it has been messed up with a 12 volt system it as a collector tractor has been cut in half.

It looks like an original generator but has a 12 volt battery in it.

(quoted from post at 10:27:56 10/01/19) It looks like an original generator but has a 12 volt battery in it.

Click to expand...

And that's a pretty good clue on why it's not charging.

If it is a Delco, or Prestolite, or other identifiable brand, you can find the voltage by an on line search. The Delco cutout system uses three wires It is an "A" circuit". If
there are no lights, the generator is usually connected to a cutout with 3 terminals one will be labeled Bat, one will say ARM (or Gen), and the third will be Field, (FLD or F).
Bat goes to the ammeter load side and from there to the starter switch battery side (10 gauge wire). ARM goes to Generator Armature (A) connection (10 gauge wire) the third is
Field, and it connects to the Generator F terminal (12 gauge wire). This is a grounding of the field through a resistor to complete the field circuit (which gets its voltage from
a third brush (or the hot brush) inside the generator.
If lights, the light switch usually has multiple positions. The Delco switch uses 2 sections, one for light power, and the other for grounding the Field, as above but with the
lights on gives full charge, with lights off, it gives a maintenance charge through a resistor, as though there were no lights. A "B" circuit (Autolite Prestolite quite often)
uses cutout power (battery voltage through the F terminal to power the fields, which are grounded internally. To polarize an "A" type, Jump from Bat to Arm with a wire for 1
second. To polarize a "B: circuit generator, jump from the Bat to the "F" terminal. Jim

Genmark ..... you asked for advice or help. Here's mine. Tell the guy who owns the tractor to mail his generator to J A
Nicholson before it gets destroyed ..... LOL.

Mail the whole tractor. Spinning the generator with my Maytag single will not restore the remaining parts! Jim