Wife just inherited Golden Jubilee with wiring problems

[Jim.ME]

Credit to where it is due, it was JMOR who suggested using a light bulb and sparking the wires. If the needle moved to the plus side, when you did that it tells you first that the meter will move and second that the wires need to swap terminals on the meter, the needle should have moved to the minus side.

A voltmeter is to electricity what a pressure gauge is to water. You have an ammeter, it shows current flow, not voltage. It will not show what the battery or alternator read for voltage on your handheld voltmeter. If current is not moving to or from the battery the ammeter will not give a reading, regardless of the voltage.

Now my thought is you need to decide what to do with the alternator. You said a jumper wire between the alternator battery post and the # 1 space terminal didn't make the voltage rise and you said output voltage did not rise when you shorted the tab in the ''D'' hole to the case. You can either have it tested again or get another and replace it.

When you first mentioned a video about the wiring, you said a young lady did the video, was it Rachel?

 

[HanknotFrank]

The video was Rachael. I kind of had a brain fart talking about the ammeter and suggesting the voltages I expected to see. I can see why a voltmeter makes more sense. I called NAPA today and priced an alternator similar to the one on Yesterdays Tractor (specifically sold for my tractor) for a slightly better price but mostly so I can get it much sooner. Thanks again for all your help.

 

[HanknotFrank]

And thanks to JMOR for his input!

 

[Jim.ME]

Most any Delco 10SI/12SI type will work for you. In your case you need one set up as a one wire, or you will need to add a couple more wires. Be sure the alternator pulley matches the width of the tractor belt and the diameter needs to be small. You may need to swap your current alternator's pulley over to the new alternator. Check that before you leave the core (old alternator) at NAPA. If you post the NAPA number of the one you get, knowing just which one you got will make it easier to help you, if you have questions about its installation.

Just so you are aware, and others who may not be aware of the following don't go hunting for the YT video you posted that you watched. If you watched a video with Rachel, you did not watch a video from YT about the wiring harness you got from them. The "Wrenching with Rachel" videos are sponsored by Steiner Tractor Parts, a direct competitor of YT and All States Ag Parts. They contain a lot of good info and have helped many people over the years. YT does advertise having some videos; however, it appears they are for sale, not on the web for open viewing like the one by Rachel you found. If there are any open view YT videos, I have not found them.

YT Videos

 

[HanknotFrank]

I just put in a new (rebuilt) alternator and I finally have 13.5 to 14 volts at alternator and a tiny bit less at the battery (maybe voltage drop). The ammeter shows charging to the correct side. My father in law was right about a battery drain issue but rather than something unknown draining it, a bad alternator was not charging it. In his earlier days he would have figured it out in no time. When he was younger he built a wood splitter with a Wisconsin 4 cylinder engine on a huge steel beam that looked like Caterpillar could have made. He put 4 wheel drive under a van for fishing on the beach in NC. He put a back hoe on the back of a pickup truck. He was not educated from proper schooling but the man could fix anything and sometimes with a hammer. Thanks for all your help. Now I guess I will go on a quest for a used bush hog.

 

[HanknotFrank]

I just now saw this after my last post about replacing he alternator. I somehow thought Rachael was connected to Yesterday`s Tractor. The girl and her dad sure can crank out some videos. Well, I guess I learned more than just tinkering with tractors. In my younger years I owned a one man wire EDM shop for 25 years and before that I travelled the country training people on that equipment when I worked for Elox division of Colt industries in Davidson, NC. The older I get, the better I used to be.....

 

[Jim.ME]

(quoted from post at 11:45:51 09/09/23) I just now saw this after my last post about replacing he alternator. I somehow thought Rachael was connected to Yesterday`s Tractor. The girl and her dad sure can crank out some videos. Well, I guess I learned more than just tinkering with tractors. In my younger years I owned a one man wire EDM shop for 25 years and before that I travelled the country training people on that equipment when I worked for Elox division of Colt industries in Davidson, NC. The older I get, the better I used to be.....

Glad to hear it is charging again.

EDM is interesting. I haven't been around the process much. I was on a project where EDM was used to remove broken head bolts from dryer can shells. They were able to remove the broken stubs from the threaded holes in the cans, without damaging the internal threads, so the shells could be re-used with new heads.

A word of warning, as you look for a rotary cutter/mower. Bush Hog is a registered brand name. The correct police will get you if you post questions about a Bush Hog and it turns out it is not that brand. LOL, just one of those things that can bring out comments. The same as when asking about a tractor, if you find a ''brush hog'', rotary mower, rotary cutter, etc., and have questions about it, always try to post the manufacturer and model when you ask.

Enjoy your tractor.

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 11:36:34 09/09/23) I just put in a new (rebuilt) alternator and I finally have 13.5 to 14 volts at alternator and a tiny bit less at the battery (maybe voltage drop). The ammeter shows charging to the correct side. My father in law was right about a battery drain issue but rather than something unknown draining it, a bad alternator was not charging it. In his earlier days he would have figured it out in no time. When he was younger he built a wood splitter with a Wisconsin 4 cylinder engine on a huge steel beam that looked like Caterpillar could have made. He put 4 wheel drive under a van for fishing on the beach in NC. He put a back hoe on the back of a pickup truck. He was not educated from proper schooling but the man could fix anything and sometimes with a hammer. Thanks for all your help. Now I guess I will go on a quest for a used bush hog.

ounds somewhat like my Dad...self employed most of his life, trucking, house moving, junkyard, wrecker service, welding, mechanic, on & on and when someone would bring something to him and ask, "Mr. M, do you think you can fix this?" He would respond with, "I'll either fix it or f it up where no one else can!" My wife appreciates all that I learned growing up around him....except for the vocabulary.

 

[HanknotFrank]

I just realized it was you who responded to my picture less picture. I mentioned to you I was looking for a brush hog and have seen a few used ones on line. One that spurred my interest and is newly listed is an older Ford 6 foot brush hog. Is that too large for my 32 hp Jubilee to handle? Thanks.

 

[JMOR]

No idea of who you are responding to, but 6 ft too wide or not depends of what growth , how high, how thick, etc. that you are cutting.

 

[HanknotFrank]

Sorry, I must have confused something, but thanks for responding.

 

[lastcowboy32]

(quoted from post at 08:17:19 09/17/23) I just realized it was you who responded to my picture less picture. I mentioned to you I was looking for a brush hog and have seen a few used ones on line. One that spurred my interest and is newly listed is an older Ford 6 foot brush hog. Is that too large for my 32 hp Jubilee to handle? Thanks.

I ran a six footer behind a ford 640, back when my wife and I first started our own farm. In short grass or brambles, it was fine. It worked on tall/thick canary grass, tractor got hot, but not overheated. I usually took less than a full width at a time.

The front end of the tractor definitely got a little light when I lifted the six footer. But it was manageable.

The only problem that I noticed was that twice, over a couple of years of mowing pastures, maybe 30 hours of use, the bush hog would put a pulling force on the PTO sufficient to pop the shaft out of the tractor. It's only held in by a glorified snap ring It wasn't hard, or expensive to fix, essentially remove four bolts, pull out the whole assembly...take it to the local ford/NH dealer... where they would often put on a new snap ring while I waited.

I never did figure out if this was a mounting problem of how I mounted that particular bush hog to the tractor, or some kind of binding of the PTO shaft on the bush hog that didn't allow it to telescope sometimes.

I've run larger and smaller bush hogs on larger and smaller tractors, each situation with its own nuances... but that PTO pulling thing was unique to the 640 and that particular bush hog.

I think your jubilee uses a similar snap ring setup.

This isn't a show-stopper... mostly a curiosity.