Tractor barely runs with lights on

[Donnie C]

I just got all of my new lights wire up (two head lights up front, two flashers and an implement light in the rear.) If the tractor is running and I flip the toggle for the headlights/flashers, the oil pressure drops a couple pounds and the tractor runs a little rougher, kinda stumbles a bit. The lights are run through the toggle switch, through an in line fuse then to the terminal block. Both sets of lights are grounded to the tractor itself. Seems like it shouldn't pull this much. Any ideas??? Thanks, Don

 

[souNdguy]

lets see.. you've given us virtually -NO- info to go on.

6v system?

12v system?

alternator?

tractor make/model?

total wattage of lamps?

if you draw too much power from the feed line that also has to power thinhs like.. say.. the ignition.. you can overload the wire making it hot for one thing.. and causing a voltage drop that could effect ignition.

soundguy

 

[Donnie C]

Soundguy,

Please feel free to refrain from responding to any of my posts in the future. As a rookie in the tractor world, some of the things that you assume are common knowledge are not to someone of my meager experience. It is however obvious to me by your 28,000+ posts that you enjoy watching yourself type and your responses, often short on patience, are of little or no use to me. Thank you.

Don

 

[richardp3]

I would suspect a grounded wire somewhere. I would try to isolate it by removing the toggle switch from contacting the sheet metal, trying a new wire straight from the battery to the lights, etc, and see if you have the same results.

 

[souNdguy]

good deal.. fix it yerself.


the items I asked for should be basic info when asking a question.. like.. what machine.

I guarantee you that you can't walk into an auto store and say.. I need tune up parts and an oil filter, and then blankly stare into the counter persons eyes and have him give you the right stuff without first telling him application info.. like.. uh.. WHAT VEHICLE at a minimum.

enjoy the work.. once you fix it you will be that much better off to handle any other problems you encounter.

No one here can GUESS what machine you have.. my questions were not unreasonable.. however i will take you up on the offer of not bothering further with your posts , at your request of course.

soundguy

 

[souNdguy]

shorted wire shoulda popped a fuse assuming he has it wired as said.

I doubt that's the issue...

soundguy

 

[Bruce (VA)]

You have a rather common & easy to diagnose problem depending on the specifics of your tractor. However, given your attitude, I'm not about to ask you for more info & have you tell me that the only reason I respond to questions is to hear myself talk.

This is not a matter of a rookie w/o common tractor knowledge; it's a matter of common-G-D-sense & good manners. You want the problem diagnosed? Then answer the questions. You want any of the experienced folks to help you? Then drop the attitude.

You show up here w/ a question.....and provide no info about the tractor.....and then get an attitude w/ someone who spends countless hours helping others fix their tractor problems because he asks you for info to help solve YOUR problem. Smart move, real smart move.

 

[Carrie]

Talk about shooting yourself in the FOOT!! Both of them...Donnie...you screwed the pooch on this one...

 

[richardp3]

Dirty connection somewhere? Same thing though, probably blow the fuse.

 

[sotxbill]

could be your just loading down the tractor at an idle. As the tractor will try to keep up and go to full charge on the gen or alt and this loads it down a bit... Full charging can pull 5 hp off the tractor.

as to the engine.. is the timing correct and the idle mixture set correctly?? are you idling too slow does it need a tune up? bump it up to 700 rpms idle speed to help.

 

[Coff53]

Had to change my log name because I misplaced my password and did not have the cookies turned on my computer, was Coff57. I am a machinist by trade and certainly not a mechanic on tractors. I bought my first tractor which required some minor repairs. I was so excited when I got it running (thanks to the people on this site) that I ran it without knowing if the oil light was working. Very costly mistake which I am glad to say is fixed now. Needless to say I caught a few remarks about running the tractor not knowing if the oil light was working. I did not get upset because you can bet that is the first thing I look at now when I crank her up. The people on this site are very helpful and know tractors from their years of experience. I appreciate Soundguy, Ultradog, Dean, and many others for their help on getting my tractor going and you can't beat the price. A little constructive Criticism every now and then I hope will make me someday to be able to give another newbie like me some advice. Needing to know more information when asking a question to me is not criticism it is just required if you want to get the correct answer to your question. I have learned alot from these people and I appreciate this web site.

 

[dogobat]

man....evidence of moon cycle madness........this thread's gone MENSTRUAL........gotta go, late for class on tact......

 

[forddoc]

Donnie maybe you should listen a little more before typing. Sound was trying to help you not insult you. He has all of those posts from the uh 6 years or so on here, not just logging on and shooting BS. If you are indeed new to tractors, and trying to fix yourself, either heed the help posted on the forum or just not post. It is always those who think they know the most that spout the loudest, and are mostly lost. The true tractor guys on here are here because they too love these things and are speading their knowledge to those less fortunate! Grandad always said not to let your mouth out run your A$$.

 

[john_Bud]

Yeah, this topic is a bit too hot for me to jump in on!

However, if the machine was running correctly BEFORE you added the lights, then you have either added more load than the tractor can supply or you made a mistake in your work. My bet is on the later over the former. Go over it inch by inch and see where.


And most of the time when asking for help -- it pays to be humble.

jb

 

[Anonymous-0]

Well I think Bruce ,JMor and Soundguy are a little rude at times trying to get the info they need.Not saying they canmnot help with the problem but the delivery could be much more classy.We are all here to help one another not be crude.One helper is no better than the newbie.Just be nice and don"t talk down to anyone....MHO R.M. IN AL

 

[Bern]

Agree with soundguy. Try going to a doctor and telling him you're not feeling good and then demand an instant cure. See how far you get.

The more information you can provide, the better. As others said, lose the attitude or fix it yourself by continuing to throw parts at it.

 

[showcrop]

Donnie good job giving info! telling exactly how you got it wired. I would be looking up the amp load from those lights.

 

[Amatt NWOH]

I am not a frequent poster, but I have reaped much information for my ford and fordson tractors from this website, as well as some good parts. The internet is inherently bad at communicating emotion, there are no facial cues or body language. I got upset at Soundguy once, but realized I really didn't know what his tone of voice was, and he answered my question, so I took the info and ran.

Anyway, here is a link about etiquette on the internet, or Netiquette.

It can't hurt, right...
Netiquette

 

[souNdguy]

my request for more info was entirely reasonable.. can't give an 'informed' answer without 'information'.

soundguy

 

[Bruce (VA)]

OK, so we're rude & lack class because we need more info to answer his question. What's your excuse for not answering his question?

 

[Donnie C]

Thanks for the info guys, I appreciate you looking past the mess of this post and responding. I"ll address the tractor issue first.....I checked all my connections last night and they are good. Grounds are good. Next I checked volts on the battery when tractor is not running and running at idle and then when idleing with lights on. I believe the problem to be with a slow idle, as soon as I bumped up the idle a bit my volts came right back up. It seems I wasn"t turning the alternator fast enough to produce a charge to keep up with the draw from the lights.

As to my response to soundguy yesterday, all of you who inferred that I had responded hastily are right. I was irritated by his reponse stating that I had provided no information because I had just communicated with him the previous day about wiring a flasher and informed him that my tractor was an 861. Asking for more info is totally understandable but I assumed soundguy knew I was still talking about the 861. Please don"t think that I don"t appreciate the value of this site, I know full well that the wealth of info here is unmatched and I value it immensely. Soundguy can vouch for that as my first several posts on here, I thanked him for his patience in dealing with a tractor rookie and taking the time to answer my elementary questions. However, I mispoke yesterday, I should have waited before posting and will certainly do so next time. My apologies soundguy... Don

 

[souNdguy]

You are giving me way to much credit if you think I can remember peoples names and machines! I'm -terrible- with that sort of thing.

There are a handfull of people that I have conversed with regularly over the years that I actually remember what type of machines they have.. dell and bruce's 8n's for instance.. and a couple people that have placed their machine type in their handle . Then there's guys like AWHTX that's got a whole lots of them..of which I'm familiar with a few of them.. like his 5000 sos and DND he found.

Don't take it personally that I forgot i talked to you yesterday. i honestly didn't remember your handle.. or what machine we were talking about. ( hate to say this.. but sometimes I don't even read the handle.. just the question). Between this board and another large one I post at.. I also read about 8 other boards some of them I mod at.. so am stuck reading hundreds of posts.. allt he names and machines tend to blur together after that...

soundguy

 

[Ultradog MN]

This is a class act Donnie C.

Glad you came around.
Poor as some of our writing skills may be I trust that most of us really do want to help you with your tractor.
Good luck.