Ford 900 - 6V vs 12V?

[Soundguy]

Let's see..... I have owned 2 ford 600 series tractors. One has had a 8 volt battery in it since 1979. It is used daily for chores. The other has had an 8 volt setup since I bought it in 1996. I've had the gen. rebuilt once since 1979. And replaced replaced a couple of bulbs in 30 years of use. I guess the 8 volt setups just ruin EVERYTHING. BTW the golf course down the road runs the same setup in 4 6 volt fords. Seems to work for them as well.

some people have fallen off roofs without being hurt.

still not a good idea!!

there are 6v and 12v parts for these machines.. you can rebuild the gens as 12v.. or go to an alt.. 6v/12v applications are more common than 8v.. 8v battery costs as much as a 12v.. that leave the price of a junkyard 12v alternator.. ie.. 25$.. or even a new one int he 40$ range.. plus some workshop bracketry.

should be able to sell the oem 6v genny for more than the 12v parts.. so it's better than a wash. if you want to be real cheap about it.. wire your 6v lamps in series and don't even have to buy new lamps.

out of the thousandss of tractor electrical problems I read about and helped people with.. 8v bandaids are present in a high percentage of the cases.

on top of that.. 8v bats are harder to come by... the average consumer automotive store doesn't have them.. even my local tsc, napa, and car quest don't keep them ont he shelves ( though can order them ).

soundguy

 

[whitedogone]

some people have fallen off roofs without being hurt.

still not a good idea!!

there are 6v and 12v parts for these machines.. you can rebuild the gens as 12v.. or go to an alt.. 6v/12v applications are more common than 8v.. 8v battery costs as much as a 12v.. that leave the price of a junkyard 12v alternator.. ie.. 25$.. or even a new one int he 40$ range.. plus some workshop bracketry.

should be able to sell the oem 6v genny for more than the 12v parts.. so it's better than a wash. if you want to be real cheap about it.. wire your 6v lamps in series and don't even have to buy new lamps.

out of the thousandss of tractor electrical problems I read about and helped people with.. 8v bandaids are present in a high percentage of the cases.

on top of that.. 8v bats are harder to come by... the average consumer automotive store doesn't have them.. even my local tsc, napa, and car quest don't keep them ont he shelves ( though can order them ).

soundguy

The man doesn't know the difference between a gen and an alt. He is going to have to pay someone $500+ to convert to 12 volt?? Or put a $50 battery (he needs anyway) and $40 for a tender (everyone should have one anyway). Here in Illinois you can get an 8 volt off the shelf of TSC, NAPA, Farm King, or from an Interstate dealer the next day. I admit you will have to order the 8 volt tender. In the meantime the 8 volt will preform just like OEM systems or these tractors have done for 50+ years. If the OP wants to drop $500+ on a nice 12 volt system,great...by all means do it.

 

[Soundguy]

Why does he have to drop 500$ on a 12v system..

He may already have a 12v system.. or he may have a 6v system

if he's on working 6v parts and wanted to go 12v the parts can be had for less than 100$ for the battery and alternator..( or for more and rebuild the genny as 12v, and get a new reg). and he can likely sell his gen for 3/4's as much as the bat and alt.

just because he didn't know what he had doesn't mean he's incompetant and can't turn a wrench or twist a wire nut on.. and those are the 2 main skills needed to convert an old tractor to 12v from 6v.. being able to pull a wrench and stick wires together... it's not like he has to program an engine computer or anything.. give the man the benefit of the doubt here.

an 8v battery setting at 6v charge level is a discharged battery, similarly a 12v battery setting at 10v is heavilly discharged.. here's the actual data:

Voltage State of Charge
12.6+ 100%
12.5 90%
12.42 80%
12.32 70%
12.20 60%
12.06 50%
11.9 40%
11.75 30%
11.58 20%
11.31 10%
10.5 0%


you can effectively halve that for 6v applications.. and for 8v applications multiply by .66
thus a static charge level of about 2.1v per cel or 8.3/8.4 for a fully charged 8v battery.

since a 6v systems charge voltage should max out at 7.2v..(about 2.4v per cell charge rate ) lets see how that 8v battery is doing..........5% AWESOME !!

no need to run a 8v battery unless you have an 8v charge system on the tractor.. or you get a discharged 8v battery.. vs a fully charged 6v battery..

soundguy

 

[whitedogone]

The battery tender does the work of keeping the 8 volt topped off. I plug it in nightly. Even if I forget to plug it in, it will still fuction fine at 6 volt levels. The main reason for using the 8 volts over 6 is so that it will turn over faster and start in cold weather. It will also help a tired low compression motor start better. But, I suppose that someone shouldn't run a low compression motor either.

 

[Soundguy]

that's great.. a tractor that has to be plugged in every night.

sounds like just the thing for a hunt camp property or remote farm with no power.....

some people will go to a long length to make a hodge-podge work.. vs just doing 'the right thing'.

have it your way guys.. wire it up any way you want it... finagle whatever charge-at-night dohickeys too.

Me? I prefer mine to charge while running.

bowing out of this conversation now..

soundguy

 

[scrubs620]

"The man doesn't know the difference between a gen and an alt"

Thats not true. I understand the differences, maybe just not all of the fine points. I just needed to know visually what to look for on my tractor. Thanks to all of you who have been helpful. I will definately either stick with the 6V or upgrade to a 12 alternator when I can. I will update this sometime this weekend when I find out what it has (not being stored at my place).

 

[Soundguy]

Post back with any help you need. If the 6v system is salvagable and the motor starts well.. it's completely doable.. if you want 12v for whatever reason, that's fine too.

post back with any questions you have... both setups are easy to implement / maintain.

soundguy

 

[mostly_gas]

"The man doesn't know the difference between a gen and an alt"

Thats not true. I understand the differences, maybe just not all of the fine points. I just needed to know visually what to look for on my tractor. Thanks to all of you who have been helpful. I will definately either stick with the 6V or upgrade to a 12 alternator when I can. I will update this sometime this weekend when I find out what it has (not being stored at my place).

You may give some thought yo communicating your mechanical expertise. It will be much easier for people to answer your posts so you can understand if they know your mechanical experience

 

[scrubs620]

It definately has an alternator. Part of the problem was it wasn't just outside for me to look at. So that means it is probably negatively grounded. I'm not a mechanic by any means but I have an understanding of the concepts. I am probably younger than some of you on here so alternators are what I'm used to. . Figuring out some of the older technology is something I'm still getting the grasp of. I'll post pictures if I ever figure out how.

 

[Soundguy]

do check the ground and battery.. by and far most alts are 12v neg ground that you will see on an old tractor.. however.. few and far between.. you do see 6v positive ground alts.. I know a guy with one... make sure there are 6 battery water holes and that negative is to chassie before you do anything else.

soundguy