TMJ's Craftsman LT1000 Conversion Thread

that front bumper will annihilate the shrubs around my place!! looks like theres room for a winch to.

Whats up with it not starting? we'll bounce ideas.

LOL. That's why I made it. I didn't want to mess up the plastic part of the hood any more as I drive my tractor through the woods a lot. I made the bumper like that, partly so the hood will open, but I will eventually put a winch there. I'll make the hood open the other way. First things first, the battery is no good, so I usually jump it with my diesel truck, which uses two batteries. Don't know if that does anything. Usually the only way to start the tractor is to use the truck. Nothing else works, but today, nothing worked. The starter just wont turn this hi compression monster of an engine over. I've gone through the wiring and cleaned the contacts, Greased the bushings on the starter, tried touching the jumper cables directly to the starter terminals, nothing works. I just can't figure it out. Nobody else here appears to have this issue, so I'm not getting to much help.

ok..... did it turn over at all?? if not an your sure you had a good ground on it then it sounds like the starters fried... more info please

Yes, it does turn over. I have to turn the the engine to just past the compression stroke to give the starter a "Head Start". No pun intended. When it gets to the compression stroke, it stops, then slowly turns the engine over the compression stroke. Let me try to explain the sound. chunk.ururururuurrr...........uh..uhrurururururuur. Repeat.

and if your jumping it of the engine should never be running. its to much votage for the mowers wiring, but im sure you know that much.

if the batteries on that truck are in series then you sending 24 volts to it, and its only desined to handle 12.

have you checked the 30 amp fues that should be located close to the keyed switch??

I use one battery on the truck. Usually jump it to my shot battery, but I've tried connecting the cables right to the starter. I've even tried shorting the two terminals on the solenoid with a screw driver. I've replaced the fuse, though I still need to wire the alternator and meter to the rest of the tractor.

forget i asked about the fuse...

my guesses would be the brushes in the started are getting warn out thus not supplying enough tork to spin it or theres extra friction in the engine... the comp' ratio is probbably 8:1 blah blah common so not that high.

When I took the starter apart, the brushes looked good, but They may not be. I don't have much money, so I want to find what is screwing things up. Not just replace something and come to find out it wasn't the problem. Money wasted. I know a battery is a must.

yea i totally understand that!

I guess i would pull the plug tomarrow an see if it spins freely with no compresion, if so get the starter tested.

honestly it sounds like you've covered all the system stuff and have come to the starter. but I'm with ya so far an feel like it in the starter itself.

Already done that. Had a stuck carb float recently and flooded the engine. I took the plug out and cranked the engine(jumped) to blow the gas out. Spun freely. Wish it spun like that when the plug was in. My dad, who knows this stuff said he thinks it's the starter too. Wish it wasn't so dang $$$$$$$. I'll try to get a short vid of it tomorrow.

yea, I'll deff check that vid out.

tobad your 2 hours away... i got a briggs starter just sitting here.

ask your pop if a recoil starter is out of the question, found some for 34.95. i know it works, seen it done on youtube... i know i know but its half the price. good luck man!!

Well I'll be dogged! Your not that far from me. Shoot, when ya get that murry finished, you ought to pop by. Yeah, shucks. Was just up there a couple weeks ago to pickup a flat bed for my truck.

damn it! just edited my post.

"ask your pop if a recoil starter is out of the question, found some for 34.95. i know it works, seen it done on youtube... i know i know but its half the price. good luck man!!"

yea man! I'll try to get a buddy or two to role with me some time. maybe when the summer comes back around. thay've just started there builds.

I thought about it and wished I had one. They're more reliable than an electric start in my opinion. Sadly, there is no holes or hardware to mount or use one. I have a Tecumseh 10 HP engine that has a pull start. I might try to put that on. Anyway, Thanks for the help. Time for me to hit the hay.

OK. Here's a vid of it. My video recorder craped out on me so I had to just do a recording.
Fail start

That sounds exactly like my old 14.5HP OHV. With a fresh battery I could get it to start. Odd thing to try (if you haven't) crank it at 0 throttle until it starts to fire. Mine never liked being started when I had the gas pushed.

Have you checked your valve/ lifter clearance's? Or maybe one is stuck closed. Its just a idea I'm no expert when it comes to motors and i didnt read all the post on your issue. Just my .02 cents

I like the valve theory. sounds like theres air coming back thru the carb'

id still want to slap a starter on there from another tractor if theres one around.

I don't know. I'm clueless. I do know, once running, It runs like a top and has a good amount of go. One thing I did notice is when in 6th gear and cruising at idle, when ya punch the throttle, there is a banging or clanking noise as the engine runs under the load. It sounds like the power stroke is really strong. Before I ruined the battery(this idiots fault )it would crank over fast. I wish I could just try different parts to see what fixes the issue before I start spending money. I usually don't give it gas until it fires anyway. I don't have the tools to adjust the valves, and my dad doesn't suggest messing with the valves. Wish I knew more about this stuff.

*eep* hope its not that same valve chatter i was hearing in mine, it ran for about 3 weeks before it popped. not saying your will do the same becuase this is my first "L-head" or "modle 28" briggs ive owned so it may be normal. any way that sucks a mega fruit basket on the starting issue your having...

Yeah. I'm almost willing to swap it for the good ole Flathead engines, which are almost indestructible. Would love to put an apposed twin on there.

i know right?? hence the kohler. the v twins sound wicked! and duel exhoust, very

I second this motion for swappage!

Anyone want to swap??? Probably not. That's why I wanted a twin. Dual exhaust on them suckers sounds like a Harley.

Tractor Man Jeff wrote:

Before I ruined the battery(this idiots fault )it would crank over fast.

OK

heres a key issue. Check the battery rating required for the engine/starter. It should be on the old battery, if you still have it. Check the amp/hour ratings and the cranking amps. Physical (Dimensional) battery size is no representation of its capacity.

An under capacity battery will not give you the amps your starter requires to spin your engine.

Look up the specs for your engine and find out what you need. Make sure a replacement battery meets the specs of the engine in question.

Also, while I'm ranting, MAKE SURE EVERTHING HAS A GOOD GROUND.

if it means unbolting the engine and cleaning all the bolts and surfaces, so be it. You can run a ground cable, (notice i didn't say wire), from the engone block (not the cowling or anything with the slightest amount of paint or dirt/rust) . Since these things take 30-40 amps to start, maybe more maybe less ( i'm going on what it takes to start my CB750-4

Eg. A direct quote from the manual for my Princess Auto 13hp Honda clone

"Use a 12V battery with a rating of at least 18 ampere-hours."

My JD rear engine riderwith an 8 hp BS motor used a battery with 160 cold cranking amps. My 15.5 hp Mastercraft (MTD,Canadian tire) with a bs motor used a 260 CCA battery. Both are the same dimensional size. A battery with a 160 amp rating isn't going to spin an engine the same way as a battery with a 260 amp rating.


Also, make sure you have the properly sized cables between your battery and your starter. A 17 hp Industrial stationary engine should be in the 400 to 500 cc range (depending on tuning). Going on the 30-40 amps rating for cranking amps, you would need at least 8 AWG cables between both positive and negative side of the circuit.

A little piece of 12 or 14 gauge wire is going to fry in a second.

If you are worried about engine grounding, 4 x 16 guage wires wires in parrallel will give you the ampacity you need. Make sure they all use the same terminal

Heres a link to the ampacity charts.

http://wiki.xtronics.com/index.php/Wire-Gauge_Ampacity

OK thanks. IT has stock wiring, minus the sensors. I guess if I hope to get anywhere with this problem, I'll need to get me a battery.

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"??