Starting a Tractor with a spanner!

muck.savage

Have an old tractor that hasn't been starting for a while. Assumed it was the battery, changed it, and still not starting. A neighbour had a look and essentially he turned the key into "on" position in ignition, then hopped down and put a spanner between positive and negative terminal of the solenoid (I think ). A few sparks and it started.. does this sound right? Is it safe? And if this was repeated would it cause damage? Thanks

patsy_mccabe

It works but very unsafe, as it bypasses the safety switch in the gearbox( in my tractor anyway). You can effectively start it in gear. Better to get the wiring to the ignition switch sorted.

visatorro

Could be a dodgy starter either. Patsy is right it works to get you out of a hobble but its not a good practice

older by the day

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058416044/starting-a-tractor-with-a-spanner

I did it for years, till one day I forgot to put her in neutral. Lucky for me she went back slowly, if it went forward quickly. The people here, would never have heard my words of wisdom.

Either get a key switch or be 100% sure it's in neutral

Sacrolyte

Read….

White Clover

Sort out the wiring on the tractor and get it starting off of the key. What your neighbour did is OK as a once off only but only once off.