TMJ's Craftsman LT1000 Conversion Thread

I dont know... i agree with the info for sure!! only thing is this tractor has been starting off the jumpers untill now and then you conected them strait to the starter. plus your deisle has got to have some great cca because if the high a$$ compression.

"copperhead" what do you think about the direct conection of jumper cables to starter with the same resalting slow grind of a "start"??

If your battery is shot, disconnect it and try jumping it that way. A bad battery can be a real bad power sink.

Trikahilux wrote:

"copperhead" what do you think about the direct conection of jumper cables to starter with the same resalting slow grind of a "start"??

That would get me thinking of a new starter,

IF all the connections are in perfect shape

Way i look at it ( and have plenty to show for it) - you cant get a big enough battery in my book.

A small CCA battery wont last near as long as a large high CCA battery - ive bot a few 200CCA batterys and those died within 2 years. I picked up a 600CCA battery about 4 years ago and now is finally dieing . I think the weather has alot to do with them dieing so soon ( hot) down here and they seem to discharge pretty quick also.

Im thinking about investing in an ultima or marine battery next .

When i bot my 90's GT6000 it has a tag right on the battery cable stating ' 600 plus CCA battery required' - probably because of the high electrical demand from starting the big 20HP twin onan, electric deck clutch and electric deck lift .

Well, the the truck used to be the only thing that could get the tractor going. One of the batteries in the truck is a marine battery, and I usually jump off that one. What do y'all suggest I get battery wise. I don't have much money to spend.

OK a little glimmer of hope for me. I tried to start it again today. I did the usual: fire the truck up, get the cables, hook em up, and try to start it, which it didn't. Then a thought popped into my head, "Try hooking the cable to the starter." Now I've tried that before and it never worked, but I went ahead and tried it. With the negative cable on the neg. terminal on the battery, I touched the pos cable to the starter, and it cranked the engine on over and fired right up. It cranked it over faster than it did when I would run it to the battery, but not as fast as when the battery was new. It still struggles to crank it over if it stops right before the compression stroke, but it did crank over. I thought I tried that before and it did no good. I'm even more confused. Any ideas.

i would try a new battery i bought one at walmart for $45 its had 350 cold cranking amps and it spun my engine like a top

Yeah, I'm looking for one. That should be the first step into fixing this thing.

Tractor Man Jeff wrote:

OK a little glimmer of hope for me. I tried to start it again today. I did the usual: fire the truck up, get the cables, hook em up, and try to start it, which it didn't. Then a thought popped into my head, "Try hooking the cable to the starter." Now I've tried that before and it never worked, but I went ahead and tried it. With the negative cable on the neg. terminal on the battery, I touched the pos cable to the starter, and it cranked the engine on over and fired right up. It cranked it over faster than it did when I would run it to the battery, but not as fast as when the battery was new. It still struggles to crank it over if it stops right before the compression stroke, but it did crank over. I thought I tried that before and it did no good. I'm even more confused. Any ideas.

Ok now you've narrowed it down to battery or solenoid. Trying the same test on the starter side post of the solenoid would confirm it's condition

Its very common to not get a good connection when using a booster cable on the starter post. I made this mistake once many moons ago, on a customer car. Cost me a lot of emabarrassment, and him a new, very expensive, starter that he didn't need.

Its all about contact area, especially when it comes to higher amp delivery. Clamping a thin clamp (most booster cable clamps are stamped out of probably 12-14 gauge copper sheet), on a nut or threaded stud, gives you very little contact area. Then you try to pump 30,40,50,or more ( up to a 1000 on a truck engine) amps through it. all it does is make a lot of heat, but no real power. On a car battery where you can get both sides of the booster cable on the battery post you get a much better connection, but its still not great.

Consider the stock battery cables barely adequate, especially if you are running a big battery.

FYI, on a 750 cc 4 cylinder engine. a 30 amp circuit breaker pops after about 15 seconds of cranking. I did without a solenoid and just ran a push button rated for 60 amps. I ran 6 gauge cables to it.


The point being, get the biggest capacity battery you can that will fit int he space. Check for local battery rebuilders. the batteries are just as good as new, and for half the cost. That is, if you actually have such a thing where you live.

I'll be running a 900 amp car battery from a mid sized import, simply cause it was free, and it checked out ok on a load test. I'll need the capacity for the winch

OK. Thanks. I'll try that tomorrow.

When you get a new battery, put some real battery cables on at the same time. the original cables are too light for any serious load.

I might. I tried touching the cable to the solenoid post and it was no different. I'm going to town today, so I might pick up a battery.

OK guys, I'm ticked to death. I went ahead and got a new 300 CA battery today for $40. Put it in and it spun the engine over lightning fast and I still need to top off the battery. I'm glad it was nothing else. I'll try to get a video are soundtrack soon so you guys can see what it's supposed to do.

Tractor Man Jeff wrote:

OK guys, I'm ticked to death. I went ahead and got a new 300 CA battery today for $40. Put it in and it spun the engine over lightning fast and I still need to top off the battery. I'm glad it was nothing else. I'll try to get a video are soundtrack soon so you guys can see what it's supposed to do.

I'm assuming you meant "Tickled"

Whops! That ain't right. My bad. Yes I'm TICKLED.

Damn Glad It worked out for you.

Boy am I too. Now I can go out into the woods or fields and shut the motor off while I work. Also, I don't have to be afraid of it dieing in the middle of the woods and having to push it all the way back to the house. Now I need to finish the wiring, which I'm not sure I know how I'm going to do it. Where do I attach the wire for the Alternator?

Well, been a while since I posted anything on the tractor. Sadly, it's taken a turn for the worse again. I think the engine is on it's last leg. It hasn't been running right. Blue smoke, back firing through the carb, cuts off for no reason, bangs when under a good load, floods while running under load, and runs even after the ignition is off. I wish I could find a flat head to put in there. Any ideas?

Rebiuld it man. its pretty cheep an easy to do, plus you may want to take the oppertunity to uprgade a thing or to internally.

check out arcracing.com hole hell of alot to play with there!

then try googling for a rebiuld kit, for example i googled "briggs #28 rebiuld kit". found one for $40.00

H'm, thanks man. If I can find the money to spare, I just might do that. I'll check that site out.

normally if it is hard starting before compression stroke, it needs a valve job. if you haven't done so; pull the ohv cover and check valve clearence. that is supposed to be done yearly.

How do ya check valve clearance? I did change the valve cover gasket before and I think the rockers were somewhat loose, but I'm not sure.

Your tractor still doesnt have the antifire solenoid on the bottom of the carb does it? That could be the reason behind most your issues - simply take it out, snip the metal post ( that extends into the carb) and put it back in.

My 03 murray did the same thing, till i did the modification - hasnt done it since.

Did that a while back. It's got to be something else.

Tractor Man Jeff wrote:

Well, been a while since I posted anything on the tractor. Sadly, it's taken a turn for the worse again. I think the engine is on it's last leg. It hasn't been running right. Blue smoke, back firing through the carb, cuts off for no reason, bangs when under a good load, floods while running under load, and runs even after the ignition is off. I wish I could find a flat head to put in there. Any ideas?

I'm guessing broken/bad piston rings.

Oil in the cylinder causes blue smoke. The oil in the cylinder tries to burn with the fuel, and can't, leaving carbon deposits behind that are still red hot when the next fuel/air charge comes in, causing the backfiring. Excess oil in the cylinder would also cause the loud banging noises. It would also soak the plug duplicating a flooding condition.

Hot carbon would also cause the run-on condition after shut down.

Or it could be a really bad carb problem.

Can high compression ignite gas like a diesel engine? I might have to take the head off and see what's up. There is tons of compression.