Snow Tractor won’t start tonight.

[torch1]

Tons of advice on this problem but really no permanent solution.
#1 you need to develop a trouble shooting procedure (list) and stick with it, do not skip any step because when you do you are wasting your own time.
#2 start with the simplest things first, again do not skip any steps in your procedure or your going to miss the cause of your problem.

#3, Write down your procedure and stick with it, go to your library or online and get a service manual to help you get to know your tractor And develop your list. An owners manual can be very handy as well.

A) it’s interesting you mentioned changing the battery, did you get the old battery tested to see if it has failed?

B) when you changed to the new battery did you clean all the battery connections, corrosion is not always highly visible and possibly just removing and reconnecting improved your connections? You did not say you cleaned the connections?

C) electrical problems can be confusing but not if you follow a procedure and get experience on what to look for. Loose or poor connections can cause the same problem as a failed system component, do not replace components that are still serviceable.

D) a simple electrical testing light, (probe style) and cheap multimeter are extremely handy and very easy to learn to use.

I have my suspicions about the problem but cannot verify online.

Use #1,#2, #3 above and again do not skip any steps or jump ahead.

 

[UncleSam]

Mess with levers, shake it, roll it, usually the PTO in engaged

 

[LAWALLSTRACTOR]

400 hours, I have 12.9 volts at the battery and the starter, I cycled the HST pedals several times, there is no Seat Safety switch (I’ve started it from standing outside the cab), PTO handle was cycled several times and it would not start in any of the 3 positions. I don’t know how to ‘Block the full solenoid closed. I can put my Jump Pack on the starter but I dont know about fuel solenoid….

Do you know how to jump the solonoid and if so turn key switch on, make sure pto is in off position and gear shift or range shifter is in neutral. jump 12 volts to the solonoid and it should start. If you don't have 12 volts at the small wire going to the solonoid when the key switch is in the start position, your problem is in the safety switch system.

 

[mark3885]

I have 2 wires that go to the pto lockout switch, every once in a while, one of the wires will come off and when you turn the key , you get nothing. Pop the wire back on the spade and all is good again. Just my two cents.

 

[holt50]

400 hours, I have 12.9 volts at the battery and the starter, I cycled the HST pedals several times, there is no Seat Safety switch (I’ve started it from standing outside the cab), PTO handle was cycled several times and it would not start in any of the 3 positions. I don’t know how to ‘Block the full solenoid closed. I can put my Jump Pack on the starter but I dont know about fuel solenoid….

check your ground cable or cables ,theres some corrision somewhere

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Wow, nobody read where the OP got a new battery, put a heater on the tractor, and it fired right up?

That was 54 posts ago..... the OP is probably out using his tractor ..... since Christmas Eve.

 

[MRTOES]

2016 2555HST Cab.

I plowed snow for about 2 hours this morning with no issues. When I was finished, I locked the brakes and after I turned her off, I topped the fuel up (from 3/4 to all the way full).

I came back to her about 5 hours later and now she won’t even turn over!

I have 12.9 volts at the battery, and about the same at the starter. I put a JumpPack on the battery and still won’t turn over.

All the lights, radio, and heater blower work just fine.

I pulled every fuse I could find and they were all good.

It has been about 16 degrees here but she started this morning.

Any suggestions or troubleshooting is appreciated!!!

Isolate your problem by first making sure out of gear and to be safe make sure it won't start by leaving key off or pulling out stop cable if applicable......then go to to starter and cross the hot battery terminal with the small solenoid. If the starter turns or turns the motor you have eliminated "mechanical issues" and can look for interlock problems. Good luck.

 

[Electronics tech]

Ran into a "no start" situation last season. Snowy season was fast approaching and I had the front snow blower already mounted on my NH TC30. Living in the "snow belt" with 1000 feet of driveway I was getting a little panicky.
After checking the usual suspects, such as battery, ground connections e.t.c., I was not able to pinpoint a possible safety switch that could be causing the problem, so my attention focused on a little black box the size of a deck of cards on the firewall. A label reads "SAFETY CONTROLLER". None of the dealers I contacted had any way of diagnosing this black box, but they'd be happy to sell me a new one to the tune of close to five hundred bucks, and of course, if a new one would not cure the problem, I'd be stuck with an expensive purchase that I didn't need.
I ended up checking to see which post on the back of the "ignition" switch was hot in the "RUN" position and in the "START" position. Then I spliced in a wire from the first one to the fuel shut off solenoid and another one from the second one to the starter relay. Everything works now like an old fashioned tractor without all the government mandated safeties.
For resale and to protect myself from lawsuits, I'd like to get it working like it should, however,dealers I contacted are not able to check the function of the SAFETY CONTROLLER, and New Holland does not respond to my inquiries.

Yeah, ignorance is bliss, and there's always plenty to go around at the dealership. Their favorite answers are, "I don't know; I can get you one by ____ (tomorrow, next week, next month, next year); It's discontinued; It's a special order item and requires advance payment; then, later, I'm sorry, it's on backorder. There are none available at the warehouse."

Last year, I had to make a counterweight bearing for my JD 265 from a piece of #6 or #8 AWG copper wire, I forgot which. The parts were discontinued and unavailable. So, I did it manually with hand tools, and it still runs. But a friend gave me another motor to keep on standby. Good friend, huh?

These days, manufacturers overcomplicate things just to terrorize customers; they are your local & licensed domestic terrorists. For example, the turn signal and hazard flasher of my Silverado has a PC board in it now. It has become a "combination flasher unit" with "complex internal circuitry" that "can't be tested using standard electrical test equipment", according to Haynes. So, you have to pop the cover off the sucker and use your nonstandard eyeballs to look at the non complex relay contacts to see that they're burnt up, pitted, or welded together! Or you can also pick up a digital multimeter and do some checking, but, then, that might be considered nonstandard equipment, too. Who knows?

All I know is a new one cost me about $70, but had I been at home instead of 1100 miles away, I would have replaced those relays with an external cluster of higher current ones wired via cable to the original location.

Often, a company will put a Surface Mount Technology (SMT) printed circuit board in something that previously worked fine in super simple state (like the flasher above) just to make it look "complex" and charge more for it, apparently. And, I've noticed that a lot of the components on those boards have a little zero printed on them. They are nothing more than jumper wires made to look like resistors and make you think the circuit is more complicated than it is.

 

[beenthere]

I suspect the OP has a new battery installed now, and all is working fine.

Edit: Yup, just read reply #42. New battery.

 

[workinonit]