I have a couple of rules of thumb that I go by to aid in diagnosis.
Electrical problems with the ignition system generally cause sudden or abrupt changes. If an engine suddenly dies as if you turned the switch off, that is generally electrical. Sudden or abrupt changes while running are also generally electrical in nature.
Fuel problems tend to be more gradual - or just not immediate or abrupt. Running out of fuel either in the carb or in the tank usually results in the engine going from lean fairly quickly, but not abruptly. Engine starts going lean and stalls.
In this case, depending of the way it stopped, it could have been a wire that broke or came loose, or could have been a blockage in the fuel system. Something as simple as a piece of debris in the fuel tank could have blocked the outlet. A needle and seat could be stuck. Or even a bad contact in the ignition switch.
Start by checking voltage to the coil. Should be battery voltage on the ignition side and pulsing at the distributor side when the engine is turned over. If this is ok, check for spark. First at the coil tower, then at the spark plugs.
If ignition is OK, check out the fuel system as other posters have outlined for you.
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Today's Featured Article - What Oil Should I Use? - by Francis Robinson. I keep seein this question pop up over and over again in discussion groups all over the web. As with many things there are often several right answers and a few wrong ones. Some purist I'm sure will disagree to no end with what I will tell you but most of us out here in the real world don't really care do we ? Some of them only bring their noses down out of the air long enough to look down them anyway. If you are like me you are only doing this old tractor stuff because you enjoy it. You
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