JD 45 conversion to 12 volts

[dairyman]

I'm thinking of converting my early john deere 45 combine to 12 volts with an alternator can this be done without having to place resistors on the gauges since they are electric gauges? The reason I'm thinking of converting it is because I need that combine to harvest corn in the fall and can not afford to drag a battery charger to it every time I need to start it like I did last fall. Espically with 80 acres of corn to harvest and the other combines need the corn heads rebuilt before I can use them. any thoughts on how to do this conversion are welcome.
Dave

 

[BLinWMI]

Are you sure that your combine is not 12 volt with a generator already? I have had 3 different 45 roundbacks and each of those was 12 volt. I found this out as a kid trying to use a 6 volt '52 B to jump start the dead combine, it just wouldn't work. We had one 45 that was quite old but I was young enough to not remember much other then the operator station. You might have a 12 volt already and just need to switch to a alternator if wanted. Curious does yours have the HA 145 engine?

 

[dairyman]

The previous owners said it was a 6 volt system so thats why i was thinking of converting it. The engine thats on it is the Hercules engine but i can't think of the model and the combine is on one of my other farms right now so I'd have to go look at it to be able to tell you what model the engine is.

 

[Anonymous-0]

If you look at the battery doesn't that tell you? No battery? take the starter# or generator # to a parts house, they can tell you the voltage. To change to 12v, set the battery polarity straight, get a 12v coil, match polarity, install the charging system, generator or alternator, points and condenser, starter have no 6v or 12v sensitivity. Ammeter only measures current, not volts, the light bulbs have to be changed to the new voltage. Hope this helps.

 

[dairyman]

The starter is indeed 6volts. yeah that helps with the wiring but I'm still wondering what if anything needs to be done to protect the oil pressure and water temp. gauges.