ok, here's one more picture and some specs on how I got this cable out.
12mm nut on the Starter bolt, 8mm for the Alt nut.
With the Battery Clamp still on I had to remove one zip tie and pull the cable up through the bottom of the radiator mount.
The 3/4" plastic cable loom/conduit was mostly cracked or too brittle to save, so I'm replacing all of that too.
this pic is off the entire cable, includes a 2awg main red wire and 2 smaller wires(10-12awg) that are crimped into the starter lug end.
There was just a spot or two of rust on that starter lug, and nothing on the Alt crimp ring.
In the end, all of my continuity issues I believe had to do with the battery clamp and the 2awg wire connection to that piece of lead.
I guess after 13yrs and 3 batteries, the corrosion between the lead and the copper wire built up enough that the connection was not good enough to power the starter load. The rest of the ~30in of cable and attached wires look almost new with no burn/hot spots, nicks, or corrosion.
So in the end, I could have easily removed the battery clamp from the cable without removing the whole cable and had a running tractor in no more than 30min of work.
But I got to know my tractor a little better and found ways to maintain it a little better thanks to everyone that chimed in here.
thanks
gary
