Rewired the 3020

imabass · May 3, 2016

As I was working on replacing the steering valve, I decided that it was time for new wiring. 51 years and there were numerous cracks in the insulation and patch jobs that have happened over time. It looked like a fire waiting to happen. There were also numerous wires that I have no idea what they were intended to go to but I suspect that the same wiring harness was used for the LPG and Gas tractors and there are items on the gas version that were not used on the LP.

I pulled every wire off the tractor and started over. New ignition and light switch along with modern fuse box and relay for the lights. I decided to KISS (Keep it simple, stupid) and staying 100% original is not important to me as much as having a simple and easy to use system to more easily make fixes in the filed and not wait on replacement parts. I eliminated the high low light switch function and figured if I needed lights than more is better than less so they are all wired either on or off. I also added a 12v power port in the dash to plug in a radio or phone.

After doing wiring on several motorcycles in the past I have learned to use quality wire and solder every connection and use heat shrink tubing as much as possible and eliminate the need for electrical tape that will come undone with time. I also went to the local hobby electronic shop and purchased high temp wire loom insulation. All wires were laid out on the tractor and cut to length. Then pulled back off and ran them through the insulation sleeves to make a professional wiring harness. I had 75% of the materials already and only had to purchase a few items so the wiring job only set me back about $50.

Got all the wires hooked up and my old tractor never started so easy. Now I need to sketch out my wiring harness with colors and I will laminate it and keep it in the tractor tool box and a copy in the manual.

fidowanttobe · May 3, 2016

Wow. I would love to do that to my brothers 4020 diesel, just nervous of tackling the entire tractor. Atta-boy.

beenthere · May 3, 2016

ima
A pic or two would be great.. could you do that for us?
Sounds like a great project accomplished...

imabass · May 3, 2016

beenthere said:
ima
A pic or two would be great.. could you do that for us?
Sounds like a great project accomplished...

Ill try and get a few pictures and maybe a video.

It is really simple. If you break it down to what is needed. Power to ignition switch. From the switch, power to the coil, power to the LP relay, power to the starter motor, power to the alternator, power to the lights. There is a jumper wire from the starter relay to the coil to provide extra power to the coil for starting. Then you need the main power output from the alt to the battery and your positive and negative battery cables. Excluding the lights, you only need 7 wires to run the ignition, starter, and alternator.

I used a small waterproof fuse box that I also use on my motorcycles. They come in small 3 or 4 fuse configurations and are pretty cheap. Fuse Boxes. I used the 4 fuse box. Main fuse, light fuse, coil/ignition fuse, and 12V power port fuse. The 12V power port is a water proof port that they sell at the motorcycle shops that clamp onto the handlebars. i removed the handlebar bracket and the power port mounts like any panel mount power port.

The stock configuration has tons of wires for the lights. The light switch has a resistor for the low light then wires for the lows + high + reverse. IMO that is all unnecessary. One wire to run all the lights and the dash lights. If you are on the tractor at night and need the lights, more light is better than less light. I can't think of a reason why you would want low volume of light other than using the lights with the tractor not running. My simple solution for that is the 12V power port than you can plug in a handheld 12v light.