Auction 446. The work begins.

[JSinMO]

If you go back to the beginning of this thread you’ll see this tractor came to me with no brakes and who knows how many years it’s been that way. I finally decided to do something about it! A friend of mine happened to have a good brake band and the linkage is hanging on the tractor. I called over to Bob @myerslawnandgarden and he set me up with a new brake lining with an adhesive backing. He also gave me some good advice on how to attach it to the band.


I started by cleaning up the band and then I roughed up the surface with some 80 grit sandpaper so the adhesive had something to bite into.

The adhesive on the lining is activated with heat. My original plan was to mount the lining and band on the brake drum then heat it up. But I realized I didn’t have much room on the tractor to work and I didn’t really like the idea of a torch next to the gas tank!

So I found a big coffee can on the shelf and fit the band around it. Looks like it should work.

Bob had told me to be careful about getting it too hot, so I used a propane torch and tried to apply gentle heat.

I left it in place until it cooled and it worked like a charm. The lining is secure to the band!

I assembled everything on the tractor and now we should have brakes!

I’m hoping to have time to test drive it and do final adjustments this weekend.

I enjoyed talking with you Bob, and thanks for the help!

[Harry]

Jeff thanks for the terrific post. The pics helped tremendously to show what the process was. Thanks for taking the time to create the post. Harry

[JSinMO]

Thank you Harry!

I went up first thing this morning to try it out, and the brake is working fine! It’s hard to show terrain in pictures, but it is idling with the parking brake set on a hill!

Not a big job but still I’m glad to mark it off the list! I feel better about son using the tractor now that it can stop!

[JSinMO]

You might remember I had ignition troubles awhile back and thought I had found and corrected the issue by replacing and rerouting the wire for the headlights. That discussion is over on the messing around in the shop thread, I thought I’d continue it here. That was back in February and I have been running the 446 regularly since with no issues, till today. It will crank fine but not even try to start.

As usual I have 19 irons in the fire so I didn’t have a lot of time to dig into it. I did grab my meter and take a quick look. I’m getting no power to the coil. The wire runs from the regulator to the coil. As a test I pulled it loose and set up a temporary jumper from the battery with an alligator clip. Tractor starts right up. I ran the wires to the dash area so I could power the coil from the drivers seat. Not ideal but at least I can run the tractor as needed till I can sit down and really look at it.

[JSinMO]

I took another look quickly this morning. I thought maybe a neutral safety switch could be the culprit, and I guess it still might be. I didn’t find anything obvious, but poking around I noticed there was a spare slot at the key and I’ll be darned its switched 12 V! That’s were I put my coil wire, at least for now.

[JSinMO]

I mentioned in my hay post that son was pushing bales with the 446 and it quit on him. I had a chance to look at it this morning. I was baling in the back field while he was running it. When I would stop I could hear him and it sounded like the tractor was sputtering a bit. Sure enough the carburetor had a plugged passage. But it still didn’t want to run right. I checked spark and it had a dead spark plug. It wouldn’t spark at all. It had Autolight 216 plugs in it and I changed them to Champion H10 that I happened to have. Now thankfully it’s back to running smoothly.

[JSinMO]

Well we had a big rain storm and our driveway needed attention when it was over. It will drain with no problem in a moderate rain but a frog strangler will wash ruts in it.
It really needed the Ford or M with the big blade, but I’m not in shape yet to be wrestling with implements. So the 446 got the call. It will do the job, it just takes a little longer.

I went to start it up, and nothing! I checked the battery and it was charged up, connections all looked good too. I connected my jump pack straight to the starter with the key on and it fired right up. I shut it off and tried again and nothing. I tapped the solenoid and it worked. So I’ll have to do a little more fiddling with it when I can but it looks like the new solenoid I put on September 7 2022 is bad. I know it’s been 2 years but that sure seems like a short life span to me. Cheaply made parts I guess.

I was able to power the starter again and get to work. I got the driveway straightened back up to an acceptable level. It sure was nice to be on a tractor again, even if it was for a short time! Sorry no pictures this time.

[MattA]

Good to hear you made it out and got some tractor time

[DavidBarkey]

@JSinMO The number one reason starter solenoids fail is Voltage Drop . Cause are low battery voltage,bad battery , poor connections , worn out starters . All motors need X # of watts to operate (volts x amps = watts ) . If the volts drop for any reason the motor will pull more amps to make up for it . This causes a slower solenoid activation time (the click) . Causing a longer and bigger arc. across the contacts in the solenoid burning the contacts out prematurely . This is more pronounced on the little tractor solenoids because instead of a rotating disk like old cars there is just a flat bar and 2 small contacts .
Poor connections can be at ....
the battery terminals
the ends of the cable to the wire
the block to the frame
at the starter terminal
starter to the block
ground cable to the block or the frame
at the solenoid

The solenoid can suffer for voltage drop as well
at any point on the power side , key switch , fuse holder, safety switches, and the wires them selves .
at any point on the ground side , safety switches , wires , main ground connections

So guys ever heard or said this one " the original part went X # years but this cheap new part didn't last long "
sometimes it is a cheap part , But usually it is one of the above that killed both .

you may keep the change

[DavidBarkey]

@ btw Glad you got a little seat time . I know your frustration. I have to do half of what I use to do or I greatly risk being down and out again and was warned it may need surgery next time .