Decompression Lever

[Eric_Phillips]

I was out aquiring some tractor implements from my wife's uncle's house. He passed away last month. To do this I tried getting his new FarmPro tractor started. It is a 30hp diesel. One of the batteries was dead so we tried jumping it with several different batteries. I could not get any of those batteries to turn the engine more than one or two revolutions. Then I found the decompression lever. I opened that, got the engine spining for a second or two then released it and the engine started. Is that the proper use of the decompression lever? My 27hp diesel doesn't have one so I have no experience.

I can tell you after driving that thing around for a little while I like my S. Korean tractor way better than that Chinese tractor. The streeing was very heavy, that might be tire inflation. I also was chainging directions and gears a lot and it was a chore.

Eric

 

[roxynoodle]

Well you can shut off my Yanmar using the decompression lever so I would think it is possible you need to push it in to start some tractors.

 

[knute_m]

That is the correct way of starting an engine with a decompression lever.

When starting, open the throttle full (with the decompression valve open). As soon as it starts, back it off to a reasonable idle.

Most tractors with decompression levers are stopped by closing the throttle all the way down. (I would not suggest stopping it by opening the decompression lever, way too many things could go wrong.) Some diesels have a fuel shutoff valve that is used to kill the engine. A few will stop with the ignition switch.

Happy Tractoring,

Knute