My tractor died UPDATE #2

[BubbaJr]

I was mowing this morning, stopped for dinner, put it in the barn, then after dinner went out to finish mowing and it wouldn't start. The battery has over 12 volts, the fuses look good, the starter connections are tight, and I played with the treadle, and PTO lever, and checked the seat safety switch. Everything seems to be OK.

So I called the dealer and they are going to send a mechanic down tomorrow to check it out. $45 trip charge plus $95 an hour, so I hope he can find it quickly.

Jacob came and did several tests to find the problem, and succeeded. Several years ago I had a similar issue and it was traced to the treadle safety switch. It was replaced under warranty at that time, and everything was good until yesterday. Jacob found that the safety switch had migrated back to the point that it no longer could make contact with the linkage. He reset it tightened it down and all is well. I just finished mowing without any issues.



The last 3 times I went to start my tractor, I had to retighten the treadle safety switch. The problem is that the location of the switch is such that you cannot get a wrench on the nuts to tighten them. You could only get your fingers in there to adjust the nut. And of course that would not tighten it sufficiently. Yesterday I got totally upset with the situation and epoxied the nuts and switch in place. Hopefully, that will be the end of the issue.
I about blew a gasket when it happened yesterday. Today my blood pressure is back down.

Joe

 

[sea2summit]

How much cool down time did it get? How are all the fluids?

 

[ning]

I was mowing this morning, stopped for dinner, put it in the barn, then after dinner went out to finish mowing and it wouldn't start. The battery has over 12 volts, the fuses look good, the starter connections are tight, and I played with the treadle, and PTO lever, and checked the seat safety switch. Everything seems to be OK.

So I called the dealer and they are going to send a mechanic down tomorrow to check it out. $45 trip charge plus $95 an hour, so I hope he can find it quickly.

Joe

Check the battery connections - this happened to me last year and it was a loose ground clamp.

 

[JWR]

Did you try jumper cables and starting it that way ? The battery will probably show 12v even when it would drop drastically under load and unable to start the tractor. Also, there are many safety interlocks and it may be one of the others besides the seat or PTO, etc. Pretty surprising it was running fine just before this -- that points more towards some one of the interlocks than the battery.

Scoot out there and try jumping it first before they send a mechanic. Would it click or do anything at all ? Is it the original battery ?

Good luck !

 

[3gunr]

I second the battery cable , My cub 7260 came loose constantly no matter how tight you got them.

 

[newbury]

Make sure you didn't bump the PTO when you got down. Did that on my B7610.
Edit - mine looked and felt like it was where it was supposed to be but when I cycled it it was fixed.

 

[Thomas]

I will be most interested in the result.

 

[BubbaJr]

How much cool down time did it get? How are all the fluids?

It sat for about an hour in the cool barn, fluids are OK. The battery was the first thing I checked. It's only about 3 months old, the terminals are tight, and no corrosion. When I try to start it the dash lights up like it normally does, solenoids click on the engine like normal, but no starter. The connections on the starter are tight, and all the electrical plugs I could find are tight. I jiggled the PTO lever, the treadle, and the gear selector lever, no difference. It almost has to be one of the safety switches, but I haven't found one of them loose or disconnected. Thanks for the ideas everyone.

Joe

 

[kthompson]

Hold the key and wiggle ever possible safety switch (had one to get bumped out of being centered while being used) Also look for a wire pulled off of one. I also suggest the battery cable could be issue. I had issue after issue to I finally used a reamer to clean the inside of my cable clamps.

 

[JWR]

Ah Ha ! So it is clicking when you try to start. I'm fairly sure I know the problem. I did not realize that these 2650's could have the same issue as is pretty darn common with the smaller BX series. Your problem is not getting the full robust 12v to the solenoid. There are several ways to prove it (and to start the tractor.) First (easiest) hook a batt charger to the battery which means you have 13.8v there instead of 12v & it will probably start right up. Has nothing to do with the battery. Somewhere in the chain of safety gadgets you are losing voltage be it at cable connections or one or more of the safeties. Second way is to run any clip ended jumper between the battery positive term and the solenoid input wire (may have to strip it a bit to connect.) Touch that clip lead to the solenoid input wire with the start switch in run mode. It should crank then.
There are several threads and many posts about this disease. I am told that Deere sells a relay kit to bypass all the various voltage drops and put solid 12v to the solenoid. It happens with their small machines too. These relay solutions use the weakened "not quite 12v" headed normally for the solenoid and then use that weakened voltage to trigger the relay with a hot line direct from the battery. If you are interested (after proving to yourself that is the problem) get back to me and I will post a circuit diagram that produces a permanent fix using any handy relay. The neatest fix I've seen however is one guy simply wired up a start button bypassing all the safeties, etc. and putting 12v direct to the solenoid input wire. Who among us really uses the key for fending off thieves anyway ?

OBTW I have had this happen many times on my BX2200 -- get off it and stop the engine to go do something and come back to find it won't start.