Welcome here Ryan, hope we can help. As for the age and a manual, others here can help. We need a bit more info on the history, what do you know about it? how long have you had it? was it working when you got it? As for the electric start I would say not, must be pull start only, lift the bonnet and we can see.
I found this mower when I purchased the property 2 years ago. I have been using it ever since and it turns out to be a very strong little machine..it outlasted the Husqvarna!
it has an electric start , I removed the battery..has some kind of solenoid under the switch / dash which seems a mechanical set up.
I plan to completely restore it..have bought belts but have no idea about clutch or axles or electric start until I strip it.
stil has Patent Pending on it so it may be an earlier model..?
Hi Ryan, I haven't had a lot to do with the tractors prd is the go to man on these but he hasn't been on here for a few weeks, probably not much tractor action been going on.I see it has a mechanical solonoid so all that is good and should work fine. As you know these are a very tough machine and they don't have the refinements of many of the other machines, outlast them hand over fist. When you say you want to restore it, is that a full restoration or a restoration into a good working machine again. One takes a long time the other not so long and depends on how fast the grass is growing if you need to use it. When you originally asked "electric start how does it work?' I assumed it did not work or you have never used it? Theo took out a lot of patents so it may or may not give us much of an idea. Just have to move forward one step at a time
yep lots of grass to mow still..but will want to strip it and fix what ever needs to be fixed ..clutch is a bit touchy..hope it will last ..so may work on it in April . already have decal set and belts..but love to get my hands on a service manual.
need to get a new battery..but wires are loose to the engine..so still use pull start.
she is a touch old girl and I am impressed with the strength of this beauty ..
So why are the battery leads loose on the motor, that should be an easy fix unless the wires on the connectors are frayed and that can be a bit of an issue. I find changing the belts easier to drain the fuel and oil from the motor and then you can tip the machine on to the side so you can get at everything. I would only change the belts if they are broken or are slipping
Any particular reason you want the electric start to work seeing you were able to pull start it. You will probably find the alternator won't work so you will need to be able to charge the battery every once in a while, depending on how many times you start it. As for the wiring, battery positive goes to one side of the solonoid, the other side of the solonoid goes to the starter motor and the negative side of the battery goes to the chassis somewhere or directly to the side of the motor.
Thats a Tractor 8, I would say Early to mid 80's, If you look on the front of the engine cowl above the spark plug will be a series of numbers, the last 2 numbers of the "code" are the year it was made. That was one of the basic electric start models, just a manual solenoid they are about as simple as it gets, negative wire to chassis, positive wire to solenoid - to starter motor. hook up a battery or some jumper leads, pull the lever and away it should go. There is no service manual as such, there are operating instructions in the back of the parts manual, which I just noticed arent in the file for download on this site, I could scan them for you.
Apologies for not being around much lately. They don�t call it the silly season for nothing!
That looks like a vey late Tractor 8 indeed! And it doesn�t look like it�s done much work at all- or it�s been well looked after (or both). I�m looking at the general paint condition, the lack of wear on the steering wheel and that the steering wheel still has the centre decal! Clues to it being a late model one include the pressed pedal grip (not rubber).
I�d be interested to know the serial number of the machine which is stamped into the top of the �U� channel that the front axle beam nests into.
As nath says, every chance it will work with a battery fitted. My only suggestion is to make sure there is no chaffing of the red positive wire to the solenoid and from the solenoid to the starter such that the wire is able to short to the frame.
I�ve said many time, I consider the Tractor models to be the best models they ever built. You�ve got a keeper there.
