newbie

[fordmanmatt]

new to 8n world and need some help is 12 volt 6 volt better and how to tell what year it is

 

[TheOldHokie]

(quoted from post at 20:06:55 03/07/16) new to 8n world and need some help is 12 volt 6 volt better and how to tell what year it is

Now ya done gone and done it ;-) Let the voltage wars resume....

TOH

 

[HCooke]

Welcome to the site. Here's a link to John Smith's web site. All you need to know about identifying the year your tractor was made.
http://www.oldfordtractors.com/idhistory.htm

 

[64frd4000ind]

6V .vs 12V has caused many of a divorce, its a personal choice, IMO if your new 8N is running, leave it whichever way it is, until you get better acquainted with the tractor and find out if it has any issues.

No need to mess with something that runs until you have an issue, then you can decide 12V or 6V when you have to start replacing parts.

6V is 'Original', its not hard to work on, once you read up on it, and no matter what voltage you have you need to read up on it. The parts are marginally more expensive to get, and on the downside most parts stores don't hold 6V parts in stock.

12V is easier to find parts for generally, I.E. you can use any 12V lights, 1 Wire Alt is easy to hook up, and parts are usually in stock at most parts stores.

People will differ on which one 'runs' better, or 'starts' better, but either will work well if properly maintained.

First things first, get a Manual FO-4 for your tractor and get familiar with it, and what you have.

For 90% of any work you will do on the tractor you only need to know if its Front Mount or Side Mount Distributor, but you can go to John Smiths page and look up your serial number to nail down the year, or if you can't read the number you can go through the history page and see what changes/mods your tractor has.

Keep in mind, these are 60+ year old tractors, and they have been worked on and parts have been replaced over the years, so it may be hard to nail down the year, but you should be able to get close.

 

[BJ2016]

Welcome! I am still a newby too, so dont worry, you will learn anything you need on here as there's a great bunch of folks on here. Before you do anything, read, research, and gather info...then make your decision. I just finished my conversion and am glad I did. I love original because of the history etc, but mine was a wiring hack job and had been jacked with so many times it was just easier to scrap it all, order a conversion kit and redo it. You can use 12v batteries, lights, jump it off with a car or visa versa, use a 12v sprayer and so on.
Ray.

 

[oldtanker]

Living in the cold north my thoughts are that if you live in this climate and you are going to use it year round and it will be parked in an unheated shop or outside by all means switch over to 12 volt. If it's just going to be a warm weather user either one will do. Trailer queen used only for parades, rides and shows, keep it 6 Volt.

Rick

 

[showcrop]

Before 6 volt starters there were cranks. 6 volts were in use for twenty years before 12 Volts came along. You could also get 24 Volt.

 

[pinball]

The most important thing on a tractor is how hard is it to start. The 12 volt system is a stronger system than the 6 volt. People on here can give there opinion and there all right in there answer as it really depends on your own personal thoughts. With prices of batterys its important as to the cost of maintaining a tractor and would depend on what your using the tractor for. Everyday use, parade or show tractor etc. If I had a 6volt tractor that charges great and starts easily then I would leave it alone. So far I haven't found one that is easy to start and the generator is charging correctly. Like I said it will be up to you to decide. Don't think you can be wrong either way. Just what makes you happy. Have a good day and please get out to vote in the incoming election. Your vote will count.

 

[kylemorley]

One less obvious factor that has sold a lot of alternator kits is the dismal quality of replacement mechanical voltage regulators for 6v generators these days. The currently available ones just don't seem to be very good, either not working out of the box, or failing soon. Alternators, on the other hand, seem to run forever even when mounted hanging in the rain and have rugged internal solid state regulators which give little trouble,

 

[ericlb]

my take on things being as i own both 6volt and 12 volt systems, is, like below, for now leave it which ever way it is now until your more familiar with it, mine are left original if possible, that is unless a p o has done something to the tractor dedicating that it be one way or the other,i have 2 that are 12 volt because they wer 12 volt when they got here, and a couple of 6 volt, both start fine, if its original then troubleshooting becomes easier as people here know what should be, and what should not be present on the tractor and which way the wires hook up, if its been converted, and done correctly they can still help you provided you go into great detail about what is happening or what your seeing, there are several ways to convert to 12 volts some cause problems some dont, another war is converting to electronic ignition, the points system is simple to understand requires occasional tinkering, and has worked well for 100 years on various engines, electronic showed up in the mid 1970's and it works well, if properly installed too, the key phrase is properly installed, many do it yourselfers dont, and the tractor becomes a source of problems and unreliability issues, then in frustration it gets sold cheap to somebody who knows what to do and with some tinkering, or returning the tractor to the original points system he gets a good machine for a song

 

[fordmanmatt]

Ok thanks

 

[DGinVT]

I just bought and put on an "ECHLIN" from NAPA. Right on the bottom is stamped "Made in USA". It works very well on my Farmall Cub. Sits on a plate under the generator mounting bracket. It mounts such that it is very easy to "Flash" the battery and generator output terminals if necessary. A small plastic butter tub covers the whole thing for weather protection. This mounting is easier to get to than the regulator saddle mounted on the generator.