How NOT to Work on Your Tractor

and other follies

Who am I to judge? Good Question. These photos are posted here with some reluctance. My own work is far from perfect and I hope none of my projects ever show up on someone's wall of shame.

Proper wiring won't be this easy to photograph. There isn't enough length for this to have been tucked up under the hood. It may be safe to assume this was covered with tape or something. Extra wire length was doubled back and forth. Some wire looks like old lamp cord. There are splices. One splice at lower right of the photo has lost the wire nut that was used. Corroded terminals, rotten battery tray, bungee cord hold-down, flex radiator hose, and fuel valve was left ON. On the other hand, the alternator mount is a good one and the battery cables are heavy gauge.

This 12 volt conversion bypassed the neutral interlock. The tool box was apparently done away with to make room to mount the automotive solenoid. The add-on ignition resistor appears to be wrapped in aluminum foil. All terminals look corroded and there is no sign any harness clips were used. The taped-up battery cable is probably concealing something horrible. There does appear to be some type of protective sleeving used over wires that leave the area.

At first glance what appears to be a fuse box, is really only a terminal strip. All of the terminals are pre-insulated crimp on type rather than soldered and waterproof. Two in-line fuses are hanging from a clip near the top of the dash. Those fuse holders are not waterproof type and will very quickly rust and become a problem. There are way too many wires. One group of wires appears to be properly bundled and supported, but there is no protection where the insulation will rub. More non-weatherproof in-line fuses are located near the ignition and light switches. A couple good ideas might be the marine type battery box, and a power quick-disconect.

Yikes! One of the extra wires is for lighted gauges. No idea what the other dozen or so extra wires are for. The tool box was removed to make room for a relay and ignition resistor. All of the terminals are the non-weatherproof, pre-insulated, crimp-on type. All wires the same color makes troubleshooting more difficult. Some sort of numbered wire tags have been used. Lots of tie wraps, and what looks like an eyebolt has been used to secure some of the wires.

Some unsecured "stuff" hanging on this one. Looks like a skinny automotive battery cable that is also too long. There is an in-line fuel filter and rubber hose next to a hot manifold. Better to fix the fuel system than add-on stuff that will starve the engine for fuel, eventually melt, and start a fire. The alternator appears to be hanging out too far or maybe too low. When the axle pivots it will whack the alternator. A shorter length belt would help.

A new-looking start solenoid is connected with a skinny automotive battery cable. Lots of wires all the same color. The harness has been taped. This is a good way to keep everything under control until the harness is covered and hung on clips. At least I hope that is the plan for this one. Lower radiator hose appeasrs to have been installed backwards. There is an in-line fuel filter laying on the cylinder head. The boot on the steering arm is torn. Looks like the fan belt has been on there since the last time this tractor was painted (a long time ago).

This is a 1951 8N I bought (cheap). The missing air tube is a very bad sign. A loose bracket dragging the plug wires down to the manifold is bad. The fuel line is copper tubing, too long, then bent and kinked every which way. Copper is too weak for a fuel line, especially on equipment that vibrates. A copper fuel line will also cause the fuel tank to rust. As it turned out, someone had spent a bunch of money trying to get this to run. The first thing I found was zero compression in any cylinder. Most of the valves were stuck open.

Paint your Ford Tractor any color you like, it's your tractor. Then again, some things are just wrong.

And a few more that need no explanation:

That's probably enough examples of what NOT to do.

Here's a link back to my 12 Volt pages.