Electric Start John Deere H

[Dave F.]

I have a 1941 John Deere H with electric start. The charging system & wiring needs replaced, Has any one Converted an H to 12 Volts? If so what parts did you use. Thanks Dave

 

[rustred]

the original charging system can be fixed. on a 12 volt switch over u need an alternator and a rewire, and battery,and coil , plus all light bulbs if required. plus switch the polarity to neg ground. using 12 volts on that 6 volt starter will destroy the bendix, by the hard slamming in engagement. they dont like 12 volt and will chew up the ring gear. as u notice the 6 volt does a job on the ring gear too. nobody actually gets the starters switched to 12 volt. even if you buy a new 6 volt battery and dont fix the charging the battery will last for weeks not being charged. just stick a slow charger on it when sitting is another thing. that tiny little engine i feel sorry for it on 12 volts. and if its a magneto is another reason you dont need 12 volts. thats my view on the matter .

 

[JD39B]

I agree with red. You will do more harm changing it to 12 volt and honestly do more damage and spending more money in the long run. I would fix the 6v system.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

I tend to agree with the two posted just above there there are really nice kits for rewiring your h 6 volt system as it exists. However that isn’t what you asked and since I’ve been researching this to death getting ready to add something to a b or 2 maybe this will help. I also saw an h with a mower that was wired how you wanted it to be but that owner literally had won the actual lottery. I should have snagged it an 2 other tractors there at the auction but my pockets aren’t very deep.
1. 10si alternator it’s even listed at the bottom of the h electrical parts you will probably need to make a mount if it doesn’t look like the generator one will work.
2. Something they don’t sell here. John Deere B 12volt conversion wiring harness from brillman it should be close enough and they don’t sell one for an h that I’m aware of. Just trying to go through the differences of an h and on the electrical side there isn’t much that couldn’t be used from the early styled model b kit.
3. 12 volt battery and bulbs, cables with opposite ends or put new ends on at the battery for the negative terminal to ground
4. There will be arguments all day on the starter issue most people don’t put a 12v in. The only one I’ve actually seen the “right” way is the G in the shop right now. If you can get the Delco starter tag off yours great that is a place to start they don’t list a starter here so that worries me availability wise.
5. Ring gear replace now if you can find it.


Id say 1000 bucks might cover it.