Need help with my JD 850

[biggerthanyou83]

OK i have a JD 850 thats sitting outside till i can get the thing started. i checked the batterie and it was totaly dead so im picking up a new one today. NOW dont laught but it was my dads and i dont know how to start the thing. I drive a stick so i need to know if its like driving a manuel trans in a car. Second, is the clutch on the left side like in a car.

 

[kebo]

OK i have a JD 850 thats sitting outside till i can get the thing started. i checked the batterie and it was totaly dead so im picking up a new one today. NOW dont laught but it was my dads and i dont know how to start the thing. I drive a stick so i need to know if its like driving a manuel trans in a car. Second, is the clutch on the left side like in a car.

Yep, it's just about like driving a car, only it goes a LOT slower lol! Clutch is on the left, brakes on the right. Make sure the gearshift lever is in neutral, the PTO is disengaged when you crank it. Or just maybe the reason you think the battery is dead is because it was in gear when you tried to crank it????? If it was, the neutral safety interlock will never let the starter spin over. I suggest you check that before you buy a new battery.

 

[RoyJackson]

I'm going to add to Kebo's post a bit:
Clutch may have to be depressed. Make sure you're in neutral!!! The throttle lever (should be just to the right of the cowl) should be pushed a little forward. Once the tractor starts, run it up to 1200-1500 RPM.
Since Kebo wrote about the brakes...there are two pedals (to the right of the cowl)...one for the left brake, the other for the right brake. There will be a little latch to lock them together and you do want them locked together.
Also, once you start the tractor, you can start movement in any gear. It's not like a car where you shift up through the gears. You pick the gear for the job. Since biggerthanyou83 has no experience in driving a tractor, I suggest he first use 1st or 2nd gear to get a feel for the tractor.

 

[nickel plate]

There is a fuel bowl with a selection lever on the right side toward the back of the engine that has indicators on it as to fuel on or off and it is a 0 degrees/180 degrees lever up or down to each position. I helped a friend this summer get his dad's 850 started and I do not remeber which position was fuel off or on so just look and read the indicators on the bowl. I am used to my very roomy NH TC-40 operating platform and found myself very foot cramped in the 850 so be careful and go slow and you will do fine. Be sure to have the gear shift and high/low levers in neutral and the hand throttle lever slightly forward from full back (that's how you kill that engine) or even with a good battery it won't start.
I did swap out the old battery for a new JD replacement and did have to remove the metal air can above the battery box to do so. At that phase of the start up it was just me and the new battery unlike the old, did not have a lifting strap. It's a nice running 3-cylinder tractor and just like all others, demands respect. Have fun!
Also- another way to check your existing battery for juice is to turn the key on and see if you have working dash gauges and lights. This of course doesn't mean there will be cranking amps but perhaps a battery charger can bring it back around.