1953 Farmall M starter

[Jerry Irwin]

I'm fairly new to this deal on old tractors, but I do have some mechanical ability. I inherited a 1953 Farmall M about a year ago, and I haven't started this tractor since early last December, at which time it was running fairly decent. Yesterday, I tried to start it, and of course the battery was dead, so I attempted to jump it, and all the starter did was make a whirring noise, almost like the bendix gear wasn't kicking forward to make contact with the flywheel. Is there something I should know about before I go ahead and change the starter?

 

[mEl]

If it was working when last used and the battery is now dead, you may not have enough current in the battery to kick the starter fast enough to engage the drive, they are inertia drives which require a quick twist of the armature to throw the drive out into cranking position. If it still does that after a known good battery is installed and all connections are known to be good, then its time to look at the starter. Don't overlook the push button, they are notorious for failing. mEl

 

[old]

If the battery was dead dead then yes you can jump it but it will take 15 plus minutes to get enough charge in the battery to do any thing. A dead battery will act like a buffer and stop enough amps going to the starter that the starter will not spin up fast enough to work till the dead battery is chaged up a good bit. I would charge or replace the battery and then try
Hobby farm

 

[noncompos]

Don't just automatically get another starter without checking the Bendix on yours--I'm not familiar with yours, but if it's not kicking in at high starter RPMs it may just be rusted/crudded up from sitting, and a good cleaning might fix it. Or you may be able to replace the Bendix cheaper than another whole starter. Good luck.