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Hand-cranking tractor

B

Binderson

Member
I was having issues starting my 1937 Farmall F20 a month back and I was able to start it by pulling it. Now I am able to start it again by hand-cranking. A week later I went to start the tractor and it would not start by pulling up on the hand-crank. I went ahead and spun the hand crank all the way around one time and a half and it started. I normally never do that because of the risk of being hurt if it kicks back. Is there a reason why it's not hand-cranking like it used to. It has always stared by 2-3 pulls up on the hand-crank.

Is there anything I should look at to see why it's not starting as easy? The tractor since being fully restored by my dad has been in a heated and fully insulated shed.
 
When Dad "spun" the crank on his B Farmall it kicked and the crank hit the top of his hand and broke it. To me, it could just sit before I'd try spinning the crank.
 
I am having travel issues with the machine it works good and
then it gets real slow and mostly the left side. My photos will
not load. Does anyone know anything about these old skid
steer?
cvphoto56562.jpg


cvphoto56563.jpg
 
Might be related to the amount of choke you use.

As far as hand cranking by spinning, my Dad regularly spun our W-30 and never had a "kick back". I know he always made sure the impulse was set on the magneto and he taught his sons to be sure of that too when ever we started it. I know I spun the crank sometimes and never had a kickback. Maybe we were fortunate? We also had a 10-20 and same goes for it - set the impulse.

Don't mis read this. I'm NOT recommending that you spin the crank for starting.
 
Spinning is not a good habit to get into, most time OK, when not it can be bad.

I would suspect dirty points, make sure it "clicks" when you crank so that the impulse is working.
 
make sure choke is fully closing is first on the list. check and clean plugs make sure spark is good. the only time they will kick you is
when the spark is advanced . having timing set correctly is very important.
 
(quoted from post at 08:51:11 09/20/20) Might be related to the amount of choke you use.

As far as hand cranking by spinning, my Dad regularly spun our W-30 and never had a "kick back". I know he always made sure the impulse was set on the magneto and he taught his sons to be sure of that too when ever we started it. I know I spun the crank sometimes and never had a kickback. Maybe we were fortunate? We also had a 10-20 and same goes for it - set the impulse.

Don't mis read this. I'm NOT recommending that you spin the crank for starting.
Click to expand...

I make sure I always set the magneto and Ive never had it kickback. Hopefully I wont have to keep spinning it but it did start quick when I did. Lol
 
True. I will check the points to make sure they are clean. The impulse is snapping so Im good there at least.
 
If the magneto is working properly there should be no need to spin the crank. In fact, spinning the crank fast might defeat the
unique mechanism incorporated in a magneto which is the impulse coupling. The impulse coupling both retards the spark so that the
spark plug fires several degrees past dead center, think of stepping down on a bicycle pedal, and it also intensifies the spark
which will aid in starting. It's designed to work while turning slowly. You can hear one when it works as it should. Makes a loud
"click" or "snap" when it releases.
 
Hand cranking is a learned technique. I was hand starting WD9's @ 13-14 years old. I had a
really good teacher! The LA Case had the reputation of being an arm breaker. If the mag is
right, most all the old tractors started fairly easy.
 

What all should I check to make sure its working correctly? Last time I pulled the points out of the front part of the mag they looked clean. I hear the impulse snapping when I crank it. I never have to use choke but I did use choke yesterday when I started it and it made it pop off much faster than it wanted to if it didnt have choke.
 
Ah ha! the choke should be used unless the engine is warm from a previous run. I'll bet if you use the choke every time, even in warm weather, you will be much better off.
 
Cousin and I were playing around on plows with some of our old tractors about 15 yrs. ago. He had been using my 1939 F-20 and when he parked it to go use a different tractor he shut the
gas off the f 20. I always just shut the switch off until end of day then shut gas off. So few hours later when I was going to use f-20 I couldn't get it to start. I new better but
started spinning crank round and round. You guessed it. Crank flew off came around hit me in the side of face. Damn neared knocked me out. Cut my upper lip open but luckily did not
knock any teeth out. I went in the house. Cuz brought all the tractors and plows up to yard but after seeing what had happened to me he was to scared to start the f-20 so he gat a chain
and dragged it to yard.
 
(quoted from post at 13:38:07 09/20/20) Ah ha! the choke should be used unless the engine is warm from a previous run. I'll bet if you use the choke every time, even in warm weather, you will be much better off.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Ill start using the choke if its a cold start. Should I be concerned when Ive cranked it a couple times gas will come out of the bottom of the carburetor when I have full choke? I always assumed if that happens its getting close to being flooded, but Im not entirely sure.
 
We had a Case DC3 when I was growing up.
Old 6V system would never start the
tractor so we always hand cranked it.
I learned that when it was cold, leave
the ignition OFF then pull the choke out
and give it 3 fast revolutions with the
crank. Then turn the ignition on, push
the choke to about 1/2 and crank it (the
right way by pulling up) again.
I could always get that old tractor
started - even at 15 years old.
 
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