1941 Farmall H inheritance

UPS Driver

New User
I finally got to take my late Uncles H Farmall home from his place the tractor hasn’t ran in 30 plus years but I do
remember being a youngster on his lap “driving “ . Thankfully it’s been stored inside and was his someday project
having been in our family since new. He started the 12 volt conversion but never completed,, the original generator
bracket has at some point been welded to the head, can I use it with an alternator? The original twist knob switch in
the little console under the steering wheel has been disconnected and a push pull switch to replace. It’s still a
magneto ignitions is that compatible with 12 volt or must I switch to distributor? I’m not exactly a great mechanic but
I’d like to see this running again thank you for your help. PS I also have an H parts tractor that’s locked up so I have
many extra parts
 
magneto does not care about voltage.

Look up kens repair, he makes a nice 12V kit with alternator.
 
Buy manuals. I recommend service, owners, and parts catalog.
I, in MY opinion, would work on getting the tractor running before fixing the charging system.
If the engine is free, clean and rebuild the carb, drop oil pan and clean the sludge out of it, and service the magneto and it should run.
 
Thank you I wasn’t sure about the magneto situation honestly. Can I hook up a battery that’s 12 volt and try to start without any charging system hooked up? I’m not really sure how to do it and it turns over by hand. The parts tractor is seized but the one I’m fixing is loose . Thanks again
 
My problem with most of the kits is they include brackets and not reuse original mine is welded to the head . I’m thinking someone in the past snapped off a stud and did the most expedient repair.... if there a alternator that can be used with original brackets would solve many problems . I’m pretty sure I have seen it where it’s been done that way
 
Yup it can be done. I used the old one from the generator on ours . I bent it down some and added a new bar for the bolt in the bottom of the alternator it will fit a delco alternator under the hood without cutting the hood. It also used about a 29 inch belt if I remember correctly.
 
Slow down, The chances are really really good that that tractor will run. The old saying I've heard is, if it will turn it will burn. So if you do not have the alternator read thru the archives of this site and educate your self on the conversion process and wiring diagram. Get rid of all that old wiring and replace it eliminating butt connectors and splices. Rather than a 10 si alternator I've ordered a much smaller alternator from the YT parts dept. It fits up under the hood much easier than a GM 10si. The push pull switch grounds out the mag to kill the engine,it does not energize anything in all probability. You may need to purchase a different pulley to put on the front of your alternator as I know the H belts are wide and thick. Clean gas tank and carb. It will be a glorius day when that thing pops off and runs. Good on you for saving and caring for a family heirloom. btw, I've personally converted 3 H Farmalls to 12v. I fabricated my own brackets and spacers to get the pulley alignment right. The archives here at YT have wiring schematics. I'm no mechanic but with the help of people on YT have accomplished much tractor related mechanics. gobble
 
The magneto and the electrical system are independent of one another. The electrical is for the starter and lights. With a magneto, you can start and run the tractor without any charging system on the tractor. Try to start the tractor without disturbing the magneto.
 
Welcome UPS Driver!

Sounds like you have a good project tractor!

First thing you will want to do, pull the plugs and give each cylinder a teaspoon or so of oil. Let it be soaking the rings before you try to start it. Crank the engine through a few times to blow the excess oil out. Make sure it has compression on all the cylinders. A simple "finger over the spark plug hole" will tell if it has stuck valves.

How is the fuel? Was it stored with gas in the tank? If it was, the tank will need to be taken off, rinsed out with some E85 gas. Unless the carb was drained, it will also need attention. Don't be afraid of it, they are simple and field serviceable.

The magneto is a stand alone system, it has no connection to the battery, and don't connect it to the electrical system! If there is a wire connected to it, that is a kill wire, you ground the wire to stop the engine. After sitting that long real good chance the points will need cleaning to get spark. Be sure to check the spark at the plugs before cranking on it too long.

As for connecting 12 volts to the starter, yes you can safely do that. Just be careful to limit cranking time, and avoid starting it any more times than you have to. When operating a 6v starter on 12v, it tends to slam the drive into the flywheel. Some handle it well, others don't, just depends on the design of the starter.

Are you positive the generator bracket is welded? Welding to cast iron is not a good practice. Chances are if it is only welded, it will eventually break off. The alternator needs a solid, square, well aligned mount in order to be reliable and not throw or eat belts. You may want to cut the weld with a grinder, find a good way to mount a solid, well fitting bracket.

Once you get it running, try to keep it running as it is long enough to drive it around a bit, put it through the motions. Make a list of everything you find that needs attention before you start working on it. What you don't want is to have to take it apart 2 or 3 times because you missed a problem that could have been addressed the first time.

A shop manual will be a great investment. They are not expensive, and will pay for itself in mistakes not made!

Keep us informed, ask all the questions you want! Above all, have fun doing this!
 
Very first thing, drain the old gas out Dont run that thru the motor. Then pull the plugs and squirt a generous amount of atf in the cylinders. Let it sit for couple of weeks, Pill the rocker cover and spray clean that with one of those pressure washer guns you fill with kero in the tank. Drop the pan and clean that out. replace with new gasket. Then fill with fresh oil. Then turn it over with plug wires still off. Adjust the valves. Now you are ready to start.
 
Gas was mostly drained as was the coolant. I’m positive that one bolt is there the other broken off and the front of the bracket was welded. My moms family was VERY poor having a lot of mouths to feed and tragedies leaving her and her brothers and sister to be raised by their grandparents so they sometimes had to do things like that to get by. I’m pretty sure I had seen someone with an alternator in a generator bracket and it has been like this for years. I do have a parts tractor but I’m not at all crazy about switching heads
 
The magneto is a stand alone system. There should only be 1 wire going from it to a kill switch, the kill switch grounds the wire to kill the magneto. If you do not have the correct switch for the magneto, the magneto will still work so long as the exposed end of the kill wire is not touching anything and you can just touch the end of the wire to the frame to kill the engine.

To start the tractor you need one wire going from the battery to ground and another going from the other terminal to the starter, this is the bare minimum it takes to turn the starter using a battery. I would highly recommend installing a starter solenoid and running a wire from the battery side of the solenoid to a button back to the small middle post on the solenoid so you can start the tractor when you are sitting on it. The starter on your tractor can move the tractor if it is left in gear and if you are standing next to the engine you can be ran over by the tractor. Please be careful when working on old farm equipment.

Since you have a magneto, you don't even need to use a battery to start the tractor, you can start it with a hand crank, again, make sure the tractor is in neutral before standing in front of it and trying to start it. If you do try using a hand crank, be careful, if the engine backfires it can spin the handle backwards and break your wrist or arm. The only time I use a hand crank is when I have the battery disconnected and I am turning the engine over to set valve lash.

I have seen pictures of alternators mounted on a length of steel through the original generator bracket, personally I would remove the old bracket by cutting the welds with an angle grinder, removing the broken stud, and install a proper alternator bracket.

Good luck, have fun, and stay safe
 
With a magneto the battery only starts the engine so no drain while it is running but even with a battery/coil ignition you can run for many hours before the battery will be really low. Get it running, worry about the charging system later.
 
So I tried a few things today on my new H

-The oil I cannot drain because some genius in the tractors past rounded off the corners of the pipe plug and it’s so stuck that a pipe wrench won’t budge it. I looked at the pan on the parts tractor and it’s very dented but might beat out...
-there is no fire from the magneto so I’m ordering a owners manual to see how to do the points. Should I order a coil for the magneto with points/ condenser ( parts tractor has a distributor ignition so I’m considering that possibility)
The starter push switch is shorting out and throwing an impressive amount of sparks so I will definitely replace that
 
If you have a good plug on your parts tractor, try taking an angle grinder to the rounded on and making 2 flat sides. If the pipe slips off you can hold it on the plug with a jack nderneath it.
 


Holding the pipe wrench onto the plug with a block of wood held by the jack is the standard YT method for solving this problem which is not unusual. It enables you to put a 10 foot pipe on the pipe wrench handle. Before taking the plug out have a new gasket ready or you will end up repeating what the genius did.
 
Honestly there’s nothing there to get a bite on my thought was since the parts tractor is rough just take its oil pan.
The petcocks are bad on both tractors and the parts oil pan is dented but with a block of wood and my anvil I’m sure
it will beat out.
 

Any chance you can post a photo of your tractor? I won't be any help getting it running but I know I'd like looking at it. Good luck with the project---your tractor may fight you but don't take it personally. They all do that.

Gerrit
 

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