1963 MF35 Elecetrical system

[GaryinAL]

I was looking at my Father-in-law's MF35 the other day and noticed that it had been converted from a generator to an alternator. I also noticed that it had a ballast resistor wired into the wire going to the coil. Tractordata.com list the MF35 gas tractor as a 12 volt system. Should this even have a resistor on it if all they did was convert it to a 12 volt alternator? Also, wouldn't this affecting how well it runs, if the resistor is cutting the number of amps going to the coil? I'm thinking he thought it was a six volt system.
Thanks for your comments.
Gary
 

[Gearhead210]

The voltage will not necessarily determine whether the resistor before the coil is needed. In 12V coils there are External resistor and internal resistor models. It may have stamped on the coil somewhere which type it is, but it is not uncommon for a 12V to have in inline resistor. Is there an issue with how it is running currently?
 

[GaryinAL]

Yea, It seems to want to kind of smother out when under load. Wanted to check the obvious first. Never seen a resistor with a 12 volt system. I know I need to check carb, timing, plugs, distributor, etc. What order should I check these things?, or does it matter, as long as I check them?
 

[Gearhead210]

Something that will "help" direct you to look towards electrical or towards fuel, is when it starts to act up while running it pull the choke part way out. If it starts running better then you have a fuel issue. No change, then it's electrical. Something simple I would check if you think its a fuel issue is for good flow down to the carb. Possible electrical issues that could cause it to get worse when hot is a bad coil or bad condenser. Check to see if the points have a bad burn spot on them- the condenser can cause that. If coils are bad they usually act up when warm, could have a break in the wire internally that turns into a gap when warmed up and everything expands.
 

[GaryinAL]