Jump start tractor with truck?

[AllenArmory]

My tractor (TYM 554) won’t start and I’m suspecting a dead battery. Can I jump start it with my truck (Ram 1500)? I don’t want to cause any damage to either vehicle.

 

[AllDodge]

Tractor is the same as a truck but with different tires. So long as the battery on the tractor is not shorted out (just low) it can be jumped just like a car or truck

 

[KWentling]

Sure you can. Hook up to the truck first. Then the positive to the post on the starter if accessible and the ground last to any convenient good metal surface, preferably a bracket mounted on the engine itself. You can use the tractor battery itself if that is more convenient. Safety glasses should be worn! Batteries can and do explode. Rare, but does happen.

 

[dieselcrawler]

12v battery to 12v battery doesn't care if they are in a tractor, car, truck... just hook up your jumper cables as you would any other time. Be careful, tractors often have cramped battery compartments which make hooking up cables difficult and dangerous, but so do today's vehicles!

 

[CobyRupert]

Sure you can. Hook up to the truck first. Then the positive to the post on the starter if accessible and the ground last to any convenient good metal surface, preferably a bracket mounted on the engine itself. You can use the tractor battery itself if that is more convenient. Safety glasses should be worn! Batteries can and do explode. Rare, but does happen.

Shouldn't you hook up one (red) positive first (so there's no short circuit path back to neg. post if other end of cables are touching each other or vehicle frame);
then hook up other (red) positive at other vehicle (so if dangling black cables are contacting frame it's no big deal)
then hook up black negative cables?

Basically, I forget this and just make sure red cable doesn't touch black cable or frame.

 

[Birdhunter1]

I've been doing it that way for 25 years, I've watched my dad do it for most of my 38 years on this earth.

 

[KWentling]

Shouldn't you hook up one (red) positive first (so there's no short circuit path back to neg. post if other end of cables are touching each other or vehicle frame);
then hook up other (red) positive at other vehicle (so if dangling black cables are contacting frame it's no big deal)
then hook up black negative cables?

That does make some sense to do it that way. I always just clamp the positive to the insulated negative cable behind its clamp so they don't arc, or if I have a second person, I have them hold the other ends apart while I hook up the jump vehicle.

 

[Jstpssng]

I was taught that you should first hook the cables up to the vehicle being boosted , not last. Presuming you have been trying to start it before boosting there is a slight risk of fumes; therefore if there is an arc when you hook up the cables it will be farther away. That was 40+ years ago though, ideas may have changed.

The farmer I worked for years ago would pull his truck up until the bumper was touching the tractor, negating the need for a ground. That won't work with today's plastic bumpers though.

 

[searcyfarms]

if you are worried about the battery just drag it with the truck and pull start it - unless of course you dont have someone to drive both ;-)

 

[AllenArmory]

Thanks for the quick replies, everyone!

 

[bullbreaker]

Man's leg crushed in tractor accident

If its an older gear tractor its wise to have no one between tires on side . Might not be in neutral and start in low gear .
Its always good to be sittin down in seat when attempting to start .

 

[mcfarmall]

if you are worried about the battery just drag it with the truck and pull start it - unless of course you dont have someone to drive both ;-)

Perhaps this is a starter for a new topic, but I wasn't aware you could pull start a tractor with a hydrostatic transmission or even tow it for that matter without disengaging the HST somehow.

Yet another benefit of having a gear transmission. Not meaning to start a fire, just had to get one more whack on that dead horse!

 

[sandman2234]

The quality of your jumper cables will be the next issue. If the battery is good and just needs a charge to get back up to speed, then most any jumper cables will handle the issue if you give them enough time. If the tractor battery is dead, beyond charging, then it takes a very good set of jumper cables to handle the load of the starter if it all has to come across the jumper cables during the start period.
I got tired of jumper cable issues and bought just the clamp ends at a local auto parts store, and then used #1 welding cable for the conductor. Worked so great, I decided to build another set, but this time I used 2-0 welding cable. Trust me, I have very few issues getting the power to whatever I am jumping off. The biggest issue is the weight of a twenty foot set of jumper cables now...
David from jax

 

[searcyfarms]

nice catch...........yup looks like it is an HST from his column on the left i missed that - i don't think you can drag a hydro to start it, back in the day.........you could start pto to pto if you knew your stuff or also using a belt if you knew whether or not u needed to provide twist or not in the belt.

much different now days with hydraulic engagement on PTOs and lack of a belt pulley or gears

 

[CobyRupert]

nice catch...........yup looks like it is an HST from his column on the left i missed that - i don't think you can drag a hydro to start it, back in the day.........you could start pto to pto if you knew your stuff or also using a belt if you knew whether or not u needed to provide twist or not in the belt.

much different now days with hydraulic engagement on PTOs and lack of a belt pulley or gears

This guy uses PTO to start. Works along as you don’t have a overrunning clutch.
Would it work on a hydro too?
Starting a tractor by spinning the PTO - YouTube

 

[Tx Jim]

I was taught that you should first hook the cables up to the vehicle being boosted , not last. Presuming you have been trying to start it before boosting there is a slight risk of fumes; therefore if there is an arc when you hook up the cables it will be farther away. That was 40+ years ago though, ideas may have changed.

DITTO

 

[CobyRupert]

I was taught that you should first hook the cables up to the vehicle being boosted , not last. Presuming you have been trying to start it before boosting there is a slight risk of fumes; therefore if there is an arc when you hook up the cables it will be farther away. That was 40+ years ago though, ideas may have changed.

Internet says that batteries produce gas after they reached full charge. So it would be the booster vehicle that’s more likely to have explosive hydrogen gas present.

 

[Jstpssng]

They were talking more about gasoline fumes, after flooding the vehicle. Ventless batteries in theory don't emit gases.
Do you plug in your battery charger before or after hooking the cables to the terminals?
As stated before that was a long time ago though, at a troubleshooting class I took just after HS.

 

[CobyRupert]

Good point.

 

[RUSTBUCKET BRONCO]

I've had a battery explode on me before. I hooked the cables up to the good battery first and as soon as I put the negative on the dead battery BOOM it blew. since then I always hook the dead battery up first and use a different ground than the battery. It really did make a nice explosion, a guy standing about 5 feet or so next to the car had his hat blow off his head, luckily nobody was hurt.