Farmall H starter drive (Bendix) failure and replacement ??

Joshua Slo · Aug 8, 2020

Hi, I have a 1946 Farmall H which I converted to 12 volt a couple of months ago. When I hit the starter button today, the starter made a bad noise then continued to turn but did not turn over the tractor. I removed the starter and discovered that the starter had a sheared bolt in the starter drive/bendix and the key keeping the drive from spinning freely on the shaft also came out. I found some of the parts in the access port underneath the tractor but still cant find the key. I need a new starter drive (bendix). I have heard that converting to 12 volts can be rough on the classic starter/bendix because of the increased speed the starter drive engages at. If I replace the drive with the classic drive will it just fail again? If so, would it be better to replace it with the new ratchet style drive/bendix? Thank you.

wore out · Aug 9, 2020

(quoted from post at 14:37:20 08/08/20) Hi, I have a 1946 Farmall H which I converted to 12 volt a couple of months ago. When I hit the starter button today, the starter made a bad noise then continued to turn but did not turn over the tractor. I removed the starter and discovered that the starter had a sheared bolt in the starter drive/bendix and the key keeping the drive from spinning freely on the shaft also came out. I found some of the parts in the access port underneath the tractor but still cant find the key. I need a new starter drive (bendix). I have heard that converting to 12 volts can be rough on the classic starter/bendix because of the increased speed the starter drive engages at. If I replace the drive with the classic drive will it just fail again? If so, would it be better to replace it with the new ratchet style drive/bendix? Thank you.

" I need a new starter drive (bendix)."

NOT necessarily unless you WANT to buy a new one.

If nothing else is broken or damaged, the key is a standard woodruff key that can be found in assortments at hardware or parts stores and the special bolt can be found with a little digging on the 'net.

Farmall H starter drive (Bendix) failure and replacement ??

Joshua Slo

New User

wore out

Well-known Member

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