positive or negative ground?

[H project]

I just bought my first farmall to restore a 44 H. The owner had did away with the magneto and put a distributor on it. My question is all the wiring diagrams show a positive ground but he had it set up as a negative ground. Can anyone lead me in the right direction. It is a 6 volt system and I am having a lot of trouble getting enough juice to get it cranked. Runs fine after you crank it. I have replaced the battery,points,plugs,distributer cap and plug wires. First restoration project so any help is greatly appreciated, Thanks.

 

[r4etired]

It should be positive ground if it is 6volt with a generator.

 

[Bigdog]

Check your cable sizes and all connections including grounds. If cables have been replaced with smaller 12 volt cables it will never crank like it should.

 

[tractorsam]

Congrats on your new tractor! Chances are that if you have a six volt system with a generator (not an alternator) that your system should be postive ground (it was originally). Changing it back (if the previous owner simply installed the battery incorrectly) will be more difficult as the generator and regulator may be damaged and will certainly need to be polarised (hopefully someone else will post the correct procedure). Also have a look at your coil polarity. It should be the same as the rest of the tractor (treat the side going to the points as ground).

You may also want to go and take a look at the following link (trying something new, so I'm hoping the link appears). Hope this helps, tractorsam
Bob Ms Wiring diagrams

 

[farmhand]

If it has had a new voltage regulator put on it and the generater rebuilt it can be polorized to be either positive or negative ground your choice. But the tractor came out positive ground from the factory new. The six volt battery never had much cranking amps to do the job in the winter time.

 

[RAW in IA]

If I remember right, the Generator can be either but the regulator is made for either posor neg ground and cannot be used on the other.

 

[rwp]

The solution to your problem is very easy. Install a one-wire alternator. It doesn"t make any difference if you are positive or negative on getting enough power off your 6 volt battery, but he is right, it is positive ground. I have worked on alot of tractors, dozers, and trucks, and even some of the big cranes. You get rid of alot of headaches worrying about your voltage regulator, size of wire, and with the 12 volt system, it gives you alot more cranking power than they ever imagined with a 12 volt negative ground. The engineers years ago did not realize that when we grounded something--it should have been negative. Farmers who dropped their steel plows or drags on the positive ground system always wondered why their battery went dead. And, you couldn"t take a positive ground tractor and touch a negative ground tractor. After you make the conversion, everything will be negative ground.

 

[CNKS]

The VR's can be used on either, the points just burn out sooner, how soon I do not know. Probably not a big problem for a hobbiest, with the limited hours on the tractor. I have a Super A that the previous owner had changed to neg ground. Ran 2 or 3 hours a month in the summer like that until I finally changed it to + ground. I did not change the regulator, it is still ok.

 

[F-Dean]

BIG JOHN has been putting a Hitachi #14231 alternator on several tractors in place of a generator under the hood.

This alternator was used on 1978-79 Nissan 620 pickup with a 2 liter engine and a 1980 Nissan 720 pickup with a 2 liter engine. At NAPA it is part #2138130. The cost of a rebuilt alternator is approximately $50 + core (And they won’t take a generator as a core).

The alternator is 4 1/2" in diameter and 7" in length and will go right on the original mountings on the tractor. Use an 8" x 3/8" bolt and some pipe and/or washers for spacers. Being Hitachi means that it is METRIC. You will need to drill out the mountings to 3/8". The tension adjusting bolt is also metric thread.
The alternator is a three (3) wire set up which can be converted to one (1) wire. There are spade connections labeled S & L and a BAT post connection. The L spade is for the idiot light and can be disregarded. Use a jumper wire from the S spade to the BAT post and you are good to go.

The pulley maybe a split type that you can widen using a spacer (once again metric). You may need to use a disc type lock washer and some “Locktite” because there won't be room to reuse the split lock washer that comes with it. I put the washer between to parts of the pulley to make it fit the existing belt. I have installed 4 Hitachi alternators – two were split pulley and the most recent two were not.
There is a built in regulator and a resister to keep the battery from feeding back to the alternator.

This is a sweet fit under the hood that he has used on H's, M's and W models, also Cubs and many others.

I add the following from my experience:
Be sure to switch the polarity of the battery to Negative ground to avoid damaging the Alternator.
Consequently, you need to switch the wires on the coil, if you are using a coil.
Use a plastic covered connection when you connect the jumper wire from the S spade
On a Farmall M, turning the bracket upside-down will allow the alternator to fit nicely inside the hood using the existing generator belt.

I have installed two Hitachi #14231 alternators on two Ms and two on F-20s without any problems.

 

[old]

When new it would have been + ground. If all is as it should be an H will start just fine on 6 volts but all has to be as it should be. You need the right size battery cables as in 0 or 00, the tractor has to be tuned up good and the starter needs to be in good shape. Any one or all of them not right means a hard to start tractor on 6 volts
Hobby farm

 

[Bob Kerr]

I bought a 51 H last spring at an auction and it was all messed up wiring wise. It had a 12v battery hooked up neg ground, wires on gen backwards and a few other surprises. The regulator was toast! After I got everything back right, it charges nice on 6V and starts super even with 30wt oil on a cold morning. The most important thing on 6V system is CLEAN connections. Clean all of them! Grounds included. The next most important is heavy batt cables and third is starter gen and V reg in good working condition. I went ahead and spent the time/money to get mine right and it was well worth it, no electrical problems all summer and fall. It is pos ground 6V as it was new. Your 44 might have a cut out and a 4 position light switch that controls charging manually.

 

[Rich Griffin]

I have installed a Delco 6 volt alt.on a H but and had to change to neg.ground. Works a lot beter than a gen.system.

 

[Steven f/AZ]

Originally positive ground, and the system will work fine if you set it up as intended.

I have run my 42 H with a magneto, 6-volt system, positive ground for over 5 years now without a problem of any sort. Haven't even adjusted the points or anything. Always starts, always runs like a top.

If your 6-volt battery isn't cranking over very well, check your connections and cables, then get a decent battery.

 

[BillyinStoughton]

The boys got some good ideas for you here. 6 volt positive ground is how your H started it's life. As stated below, the most important things to making a reliable 6 volt system is:

0 or 00 gauge cables (I buy my cable at a welding supply house and then solder my connections and use industrial shrink wrap to seal the joint).

Good clean connections at every point (generator, starter, battery, ammeter, etc).

A good battery.

A charging system that matches the battery set-up in the tractor.

A clean fuel system and properly adjusted carb help out a h*lluva lot when it comes to starting too!

I have two Farmall's (H and M) that are still 6 volt positive ground and they start marvelously in this beautiful Wisconsin weather (the H popped off yesterday morning at a whopping 6 degrees)!

That should give you some places to start. Good luck with it. Let us know if you need anything else!

Billy