This country girl needs help.

[CurlyJones]

Okay, so my husband is the "farmer/rancher" around here. When he went to Iraq, he taught our teenage daughter to run the Mahindra tractor just to mow our 5 acres. He told her that she had to stay in first gear so she hated mowing 'cause it took tooooooo long!!

One day I decided to get out there and mow. She taught me everything and I went off. However, I said, "forget what he said!" and tried 2nd and then 3rd and even 4th gear but found that 3rd was the best.

I LOVED IT!! I used to think of weedeating as my therapy but after using the tractor, I now have some big time therapy!! It helps to relieve some of the stress in my life as a full-time nursing student, part time employee, raising our teenage daughter including homeschooling, and taking care of everything else while my husband's in Iraq.

So, my first time out, the shear bolt broke on the shredder. Thought I was in big trouble, but I checked it out, researched online, went to tractor supply place and got what I thought would fix it. Went home and after lots of work (why is all that safety stuff so hard to work with???) got the tractor fixed!!!

I went out there this morning because I had to dig a hole to bury our lab puppy. Hit and run accident. After attempting to dig in our extremely drought striken "black gumbo" hard as cement dirt, I thought the tractor might be able to help. But, it won't start.

The battery light comes on and the coil light (glow plug?????) comes on but nothing else happens. Nothing. What could it be? And what the heck is the coil light (glow plug)???? If I had left the lights on (don't remember ever turning them on at all) would that have run the battery down? I thought everything turned off with the key.

Anyway, the puppy's buried but now I want to fix the tractor!!
Thanks for any and all help with this! I'm trying to be a self-sufficient country girl while my husband's out of the country. I'm finding I'm a lot stronger than I ever thought and I'm impressing myself with all the new things I'm learning to do on my own.

 

[Charlesaf3]

Hi.

Hopefully other people will weigh in. Does your Mahindra have a seat safety switch? That might have come loose. It cuts out the engine when there isn't enough weight on the seat.

I'm guessing your husband wanted you to go slow for the same reason I make my wife go slow - its a lot harder to roll the tractor over. Watch out for hitting bumps/stumps/holes at speed. And if you are on an incline, go slow.

Sorry to hear about your puppy

 

[backdoor]

Hi, Curly,

Make sure the PTO engagement lever is fully in the "off" position, all gearshift levers are jiggled around in neutral, the clutch is pushed all the way in, and maybe bounce on the seat a time or two to be sure the seat switch is working right (my daughter has to do this on our riding mower when she starts it).

 

[Charlie175]

PTO safety or check to see that the Hi/Lo is in "N". If not it will not start

 

[Charlesaf3]

I don't have a mahindra, so don't know for sure, but on one of my kubotas the safety switch moved a bit in the seat, so it wasn't engaged.

But as they say above, make sure everything is in neutral or equivalent - engaged pto which you may have forgotten to shut off when you sheared the bolt may have done it.

Good to keep more than one shear bolt on hand if you didn't already do so btw

 

[Nissan197]

As others have said make sure the gear selector is in neutral. Have the PTO lever off and wait until the glow plug light goes out before starting. Good luck!!

 

[Charlesaf3]

oh, glow plug preheats the cylinders so diesel can ignite easier - once the engine is running it provides its own heat. Summer, around 5-10 seconds should do before you start her, I'd guess

 

[BobG_in_VA]

First, sorry to hear about your pup. I tear up every time I hear of a family losing member. Second, if you get no "click" when you turn the key to "start" then (others have said) make sure everything is in neutral and the PTO is off, push in the clutch (although not necessary). Sounds like a bad ground to me. Check/clean your battery posts and follow the ground wire from the battery to the screw/bolt where it hooks into the frame somewhere...then undo the ground and clean/scrape it. If that doesn't do it call the dealer. Good luck and hope your other half gets back soon/OK. BobG in VA

 

[n8wrl]

Transmission in Neutral
Clutch is in
PTO is off
Brake is on
Butt in seat

See if that helps.
God bless you, your husband, and your daughter
Sorry too about your puppy

 

[howierd3866]

just like everyone esle has said..put mostly likely when the bolt broke and u turn the tractor off you didnt think about the pto because the mower wasn't turning...good luck one of these would mostly likely be the help you need

 

[CurlyJones]

Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!!

Everything was in the proper place (PTO, H/L, ...) but the high/low was tight. It started right up after I jiggled it a little. Again, thanks so much. I can't begin to explain to ya'll what an awesome feeling it is to be able to get all these things done around the house without my husband here. He still worries but so far, we've been able to handle all of it.

And thank you for the condolences and well wishes. Her brother is having a hard time with it. He's been laying on her grave most of the day.

Wish we'd get some rain so the grass/weeds would grow!! I want to get out there and mow. It really helps me relax.

Again, THANKS! I'll be reading everything ya'll great folks have already written. Who knew I was such a country girl???

 

[CurlyJones]

It feels like home.

I had actually finished mowing after fixing the shear bolt the last time I got to mow. (Have several shear bolts on hand now.) Being out of the seat doesn't cut off the engine. I must have had some good instructions because everything was in the proper place but the H/L was tight.

Also, once I told hubby about me mowing in 2nd and 3rd gear he said, "Oh yeah. I just told the kid that so she wouldn't get crazy and break herself or something else. I trust you."

We're flat, old cotton field here. Black gumbo. Drought stricken. Love it!

And, the glow plug ... so it's a diesel thing and not necessarily a tractor thing? Does it still need to warm the cylinders when it's 96 degrees outside? Just wondering.

Looks like I need to go take a picture of the tractor and had it as my profile pic. LOL Ya'll are a great bunch. Thanks again.

 

[BobRip]

No doubt if you could not get it running someone here would have come over and fixed it. Please let us know of anything else you need help with. It's the least we can do with your husband "over there".

 

[kthompson]

Curley thanks to you and your husband for his service. Sorry about the pup also. As to glow plugs at 96 degrees, will depend on your engine. My little Kubota will crank without their use at such temps with an extra turn over of the engine. My bigger Kubota does not even have glow plugs.

You probably know this but when mowing you need to run the engine to get the PTO speed to 540 RPMs which probably is shown on the tachometer. You then use the gear you need for the ground speed you need.

 

[irvingj]

Sorry to hear about the pup... we just lost one of our two cats to a fisher a couple of weeks ago; the survivor really misses his brother; sad to watch.

At the risk of sounding like a know-it-all, perhaps you'd like a brief intro to diesel engines..

Remember your physics classes? Charles' Law? Boyle's Law? Diesel engines don't use spark plugs- they rely on a compression ratio that's sufficient to raise the temp of the air in the cylinder, when compressed, to a point where the diesel fuel, sprayed in under high pressure, ignites all by itself.

The glow plugs are little heaters stuck into the air chamber to pre-warm the air; as you only get so much rise in temp (dependent on starting air temp and compression ratio), if the air is cold it requires a lot more work from the starter --remember the high compression in diesels?-- to start the engine.

The glow plugs are there to help that. Some modern diesels don't require glow plugs at all, some benefit from using them all the time, some only need glow plug help when it's really cold out.

My Massey-Ferguson likes some glow plug any time the engine's cold, but my VW Jetta doesn't need them at all unless it's below 5 or 10 degrees out.

Hope this might help clarify things a bit. Welcome to TBN!

 

[laen64]

HI Curly
I trust you will be successfull.
I"m partial to all the military and other wise deployed family and family members. Hooah!
God Bless you all. I"m retired ARMY and fully understand what we all go thru with these deployments and changes we all go thru.
As you prepare for his return please do allow him to gradually fall back into the tractor loving relationship. Don't dump it on him and don't hold it for yourself. Yes releasing the tractor love is going to be hard as the family reorganization is tuff.
Take your time and do be Patient with him, yourself and the children and the Reassociation process can be a strain just as much as the separation.

God Bless and do know this too shall pass. IT WILL BE FIXXED

Larry

 

[CurlyJones]

Ya'll are really friendly here and I am greatful.

The other puppy (Capt Morgan) was sleeping on Kahlua's grave this morning. He refused to eat last night.I'm already looking for another chocolate lab/mix to replace her. Well, not replace, but you know what I mean. I can't stand to see poor Morgan being so sad. Plus, my daughter and I miss her too.

As far as my husband, he's civilian with special request from the Marines. All I know for sure is that he got this DoD job because some Marines he used to work with in a civilian job requested him and got him there. He's been a heavy diesel mechanic ever since I met him almost 20 years ago. His excellent reputation is widely known in our area. This opportunity came up and we made the decision for him to go and live out some of his wargame fantasies. He should have been a Marine. He would have been so good at it.

He can fix anything. I guess that's why I'm so impressed with myself. He always makes it look so easy and I just don't understand any of it. Since he's been gone, I've fixed a water leak in the main line to the house. (Discovered the leak as I was driving up in the driveway after I had just taken him to the airport at the end of his first R&R.) Replaced the water inlet hose and valve to the dishwasher. Broke and fixed the shear bolt on the tractor. Dealt with honey bees making honeycomb in the water meter box. And all the other daily chores around the house. He calls me SuperWoman. lol

Anyway, for now everything is good with the tractor. I LOVE working with it. It will be very hard to give it up when he comes home. I've already told him that maybe he should try doing the housework. Maybe that will become his therapy so I can keep the weedeating and mowing for myself! LOL We're talking about having a mowing/landscaping type service once he comes home permanently. 'course I'll just be getting my nursing degree in May '10 so I guess the mowing business will have to wait until I retire from the healthcare industry in 20 years or so. LOL

Thanks everyone!! Ya'll have a Blessed Day!

 

[CurlyJones]

You probably know this but when mowing you need to run the engine to get the PTO speed to 540 RPMs which probably is shown on the tachometer. You then use the gear you need for the ground speed you need.

Actually I did understand this part but thanks for refreshing my memory. My husband did a really good job of teaching the kiddo 'cause she in turn explained everything really well to me. He obviously didn't go into the glow plugs or things like that but as far as the operation of the tractor, he did a great job. And so did she for that matter. But, once I found out he had told her that she could only use 1st and reverse, I now understand why she HATED to mow. I don't blame her. But, that's okay 'cause now I'm in charge of it!!

 

[jinman]

Hi Curly. Congratulations on what you have accomplished. I just want to say how impressed I am with your daughter. Your husband gave her instructions on how he wanted the tractor operated and she followed them to the letter despite hating it. How refreshing it is to hear that a child will do what they are told to do. I think she deserves some praise.

God bless your husband and keep him safe as well as all our military around the world.

 

[Charlesaf3]

glad to hear things are working out. Lots of knowledge on here, I've certainly learned a lot - I hope you'll continue to ask any questions you can think of.