I was cutting grass on Sat, going along just fine for about three hours. Wife came out to tell me something and I turned off the tractor. Now it won't start. I was initially just going to blame it all on her... but decided I do have to eat every day.
It turns over fine, and fires up, then just stops immediately. I replaced the fuel filters and checked that it was actually pumping fuel. Filled it up with diesel (was on about 1/2 tank when it quit working). Bled the fuel lines. Checked fuses. Checked gear-shift and PTO levers to ensure no obstructions.
It really acts like it's not getting fuel flow, but I turned the key when changing fuel filters and it's pumping.
Henro...... Your power of recall is remarkable. That is exactly what happened to the other person and that is exactly what the problem was. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Just rechecked the fuses again. None blown. I even replaced them all one-by-one, trying to start after each, same thing. Rechecked all after replacing. None blown.
I was hoping that someone would come up with the thread. I remembered the condition happening on another post, that's why I asked about when it was cutting out. Junkmans right, Henro, your the man. You remembered it better than I could.
Bird pointed out a similar problem some time ago. It was due to his releasing the key too sharply; the key's return spring was sufficient to then rotate the key to the "off" position.
EBS
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( releasing the key too sharply; the key's return spring was sufficient to then rotate the key to the "off" position )</font>
I've wondered whether I'm the only dummy who's done that, or whether I'm just the only one who's admitted it. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Gave up and took the tractor to the dealership today. Three of them were climbing all over it scratching their heads for a while, then decided to shop it. They called me this afternoon and said something (maybe mice) had been chewing on some wiring.
After hearing that I remembered seeing a clump of hay fall from under the steering column on Saturday when I took the cover off. Noticed it, but didn't register it at the time. Just wrote it off in a millisecond as some grass on the tractor. I was focused on the fuel system. But now I'm thinking... no, that was hay... and how did hay (or grass for that matter) get up in there? The BX lives in the barn and was parked for most of the winter.
Mice have a nasty habit of trying to get into small spaces and when they get into that small space, they try to eat anything that is in there. One problem is putting away a warm tractor in the winter, because the mice will look for that temporary warmth and nest in it. I haven't found any fool proof method of keeping mice out of things that I own, but I have had good luck keeping it to a minimum amount of damage, usually limited to cleaning up after they are gone. I have not had any physical damage to my antique cars or my tractor. I do use a lot of rat and mouse poison for them to eat when they get hungry. I also have found more than my share of dead mice on the lawn in the winter. Two winters ago, I didn't use a lot of poison and the mice girdled a dwarf tree in the front lawn by eating all the bark. It died the following summer. Now it is a full out war to keep them at bay. If I didn't have 3 dogs, I would have a cat. We did have two cats, but the Dachshund made their lives so miserable that we adopted them out to a friend. They are a lot happier now and so is the Dachshund and my wife.
Junkman has a weiner dog ha ha ha /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif !
It's funny how you get a mental image of others on the board and occasionally one gets shattered. We had a weiner dog when I was a very little boy. It's name was wow wow... Go figure, I didn't name him. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Junkman has a weiner dog ha ha ha /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif !
It's funny how you get a mental image of others on the board and occasionally one gets shattered. We had a weiner dog when I was a very little boy. It's name was wow wow... Go figure, I didn't name him. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif )</font>
Does that picture look like a weiner dog??? My wife has a weiner dog.. Mine is a Weimeraner. Are you familiar with them? You might say I also have one now, because one of the pups was born with a birth defect and has difficulty keeping food down. I am in charge of feeding her and managing her health care. Just came from the vets today and she is almost 8 months old and 6 pounds. Skin and bones, but full of spunk. A 8 pound bag of food will last her 2 months, because she can't eat very much and it takes almost a whole day to digest it. Guess that you could say that a weiner dog owns me. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Everytime I hear that word I think of the VW commercial where the girl says "Weimeriemers are from Germany". If you've never seen the commercial, ytou can't imagine how stupid she sounds saying it. It always made me laugh every timre I heard it... I'm laughing now thinking about it. Good luck with the new pup.
I put little trays of moth balls under the hood of my tractor and sprinkle them on the seat and in spots that won't cause a problem when I put it away for extended periods. Seems to have worked, but then maybe our mice are just better fed and haven't resorted to eating wire.
