JD 650 - Help

Striker · May 2, 2008

Well, I found this website and it seems very helpful, so I'm hoping I can get some basic help considering the situation I'm in. My sister was recently widowed, very shockingly because her husband was only 45 (heart attack). The problem is that they lived on 15 acres of property of which my brother-in-law religiously mowed the back 13 acres every other weekend with his JD650 (about 20 years old). Now it's the first week in May, and the property is real close to needing a mowing. I went there last week to see if I could start the tractor because realistically my sister can't do it, and I'll have to figure out how to start the JD, and then second problem is going to be the proper levers to engage the PTO to start the mower. I'm hoping someone can at least point me in the right direction as far as getting it started. It turns over fine, it has diesel fuel in it, and my estimate is that it was last used in November (my brother in law died in December). I think I read in one of the posts that you have to turn the key to the left to get the glowplugs to heat up the fuel. I had not tried that last week, so I'm hoping someone can either confirm that or offer other suggestions.

As some background, I was a diesel mechanic about 25 years ago before I decided to pack in that career and go off to college, so a lot of things have changed in those 25 years, and truthfully I just don't have enough of a recollection that is useful.

It's a real bad situation, and it really made me realize last week that it's amazing when someone passes away, all that great information they had in their head which was always a great resource is now completely unavailable. He was a great guy, and he maintained his tractor well, I'm just hoping I can continue some of his good work. Thanks for any help.

Mech · May 2, 2008

Very sorry to hear about your brother-in-law.

I don't know the 650. I have a 790 and if it is similiar I could give you some info on the controls. You might want to call some JD dealers and see if they have an operators manual for the tractor.

Mowing isn't the safest activity on a tractor so if you are new to tractors and PTO operated mowers I would be very careful. I don't mow with mine, no grass to worry about at my altitude, but I'm sure some hear can talk about some of the things to watch out for. If your tractor doesn't have a ROPS (roll bar) you need to be careful about slopes and holes. These little tractors can be turned over pretty easily.

Gilford · May 2, 2008

Striker,

Sorry to hear about your loss.

My dad has a 650 JD, and I used it a fair amount when I still lived at home. You are correct that you turn the key to the left to use the glow plugs. If I remember right, a couple of red lights should come on in the dash board when you do that. You also have to set the hand throttle foreward a little when you go to crank the engine because you pull the hand throttle all the way toward you when you shut it off. If you don't set the hand throttle ahead, you won't be supplying any fuel. If you have a mid-mount mower, it is controlled by a switch on the dashboard which controls the electromagnetic clutch for the mid pto. If you have a 3-point mower, there is a yellow lever on left side near the floor of the operator station which engages the rear PTO. There should be markings on the tachometer showing the correct engine speed for operating the PTO. Hopefully this helps a little.

Mech · May 2, 2008

Striker said:
Well, I found this website and it seems very helpful, so I'm hoping I can get some basic help considering the situation I'm in. My sister was recently widowed, very shockingly because her husband was only 45 (heart attack). The problem is that they lived on 15 acres of property of which my brother-in-law religiously mowed the back 13 acres every other weekend with his JD650 (about 20 years old). Now it's the first week in May, and the property is real close to needing a mowing. I went there last week to see if I could start the tractor because realistically my sister can't do it, and I'll have to figure out how to start the JD, and then second problem is going to be the proper levers to engage the PTO to start the mower. I'm hoping someone can at least point me in the right direction as far as getting it started. It turns over fine, it has diesel fuel in it, and my estimate is that it was last used in November (my brother in law died in December). I think I read in one of the posts that you have to turn the key to the left to get the glowplugs to heat up the fuel. I had not tried that last week, so I'm hoping someone can either confirm that or offer other suggestions.

As some background, I was a diesel mechanic about 25 years ago before I decided to pack in that career and go off to college, so a lot of things have changed in those 25 years, and truthfully I just don't have enough of a recollection that is useful.

It's a real bad situation, and it really made me realize last week that it's amazing when someone passes away, all that great information they had in their head which was always a great resource is now completely unavailable. He was a great guy, and he maintained his tractor well, I'm just hoping I can continue some of his good work. Thanks for any help.

You might want to put this on the John Deere Owners/Operators section of this forum. You will have a better chance of 650 owner seeing it.