Not a problem at all, Tom. I am here "under the weather" and bored as can be, and it took very little time at all in any case. I will be back at work tomorrow, however.
If you rolled up with your tractor on a trailer, once we got it in the garage out of the weather, here is what I would do:
a)replace the fuse with the correct size.
b)turn the ignition on
c)say "Tom, it's cold out here, let's crank the heater and go in the house and get a cup of coffee" all the while, leaving the ignition on.
d)when we got back out, check that the fuse is not blown.
e)turn on the lights. Turn on the blinkers. Turn on the directional blinkers.
f)turn all that stuff off.
g)get on the tractor,and try the glow plugs
h)turn the switch off. Turn it back on, and listen to the pump.
i)leave it on, and jiggle every wire I could get my hands on.
j)slap the dash a couple of times.
k)put the tranny in low range so it will not start, and fake start it a few times by turning the key to start. All the while, I would be very sure the fuse did not blow.
L)start the tractor for real. It could take a while. During all activity, I would be mindful that the fuse has not blown.
m)if it blew only after starting, I would
1)fix the fuse and do an advanced fake start by having everything ready to start, but pulling the starter solenoid wire off.
2)if it only truly blows when the engine starts, I would look carefully for wires going to ground only when the engine is shaking
3)if none of that works, I would resort to voodoo and disconnect and check the voltage regulator per the manual. If it checked bad, I would disconnect it, replace the fuse, and try again. ***
4)if none of that worked, I would turn all the lights off, and get you to watch one side, I would watch the other, and we would repeat the wire jiggling, and other tests, hoping to see a spark somewhere easier in the dark.
5)If all else fails, I would remove the starter switch, and repeat the process while the switch is hanging by it's wires, or sitting on cardboard, thinking that the only way the switch can cause a problem other than not conducting terminal to terminal is by going to ground through the switch mount, which would be impossible if it is not mounted.
6)If we found the switch bad, I would have you swear an oath that you will admit the switch was bad, but you will NEVER tell anyone all the stuff I did before I found out the switch was bad.
***It seems to me that your tractor should not run (long) with that fuse blown, yet you say it ran for hours. It makes me wonder if somehow when the dynamo starts turning, it back-feeds the circuit, blowing the fuse, but powering the fuel pump.
