Help! Tractor will not hit at all

[livemusic]

Mahindra 5010 50hp diesel tractor, not that the model likely matters, but it won't turn over at all. When I turn the key, the glow plugs activate like normal and the battery tests 12.5v. Has been running fine for months and one morning, nothing when I then advance the key to turn the motor over. I don't know where to start. I first thought I'd just try to jump it with a screwdriver across the solenoid posts but that can certainly be dangerous. Surely you'd know if it's in neutral but I had an elderly friend killed that way. I guess it was in gear.

So, I am no mechanic much but I'm thinking... solenoid, starter, safety switch on clutch, PTO, seat. Any tips on how to diagnose this?

FEL on front, bushhog on back. I have been using it to bushhog.

[btulloh]

Safety switches are always prime candidates. Especially the one on the clutch. Actuator can go out of adjustment. Ignition switch can go bad. See if power goes to solenoid in start position. Work back from there. You can also use a piece of wire and jump from battery post to solenoid terminal terminal that comes from the starter switch. 

Safety switches are good candidates but can be tricky to trace down.

[charles mann]

Start at the switch and ensure there is voltage when in the crank position. Move to the starter and check voltage at the signal wire from switch to starter. As for safety switches like a seat or clutch or gear safety, you can jumper the connector at the switch, taking it out of the loop and tricking sys into thinking the switch is closed. Where those switches are, i have no idea. 

[beenthere]

livemusic
Have the battery load tested, and also remove and clean all battery cable connections (both ends). One of the two is likely your problem.

[scsmith42]

Check first to make sure that you did not leave the PTO engaged the last time that you drove it.  

Tractors can have both clutch and PTO safety switches.  My friends JD even has a "park" position on the manual shifter and it won't start outside of park.

[mudfarmer]

Brush hogging? Doesn't do anything at all when you turn the key? Check the safety switches... Got into some buckthorn one time and somehow a piece ended up taking out my neutral safety switch on the kubota.

[goose63]

I have a Mahindra if the p t o is in gear it wont turn over

[livemusic]

I always shut off the PTO when I stop for the day but I will check that. Many good suggestions, the most obvious being to check the battery connections! I have had that be the culprit on vehicles before, something that simple. I forgot to check it the other day when I left, was in a hurry. Duh, might be it!

[Resonator]

Safety switches would be my thought. I've had dirt under the "Treadle Pedal" forward-reverse on my Kubota and cause it to not turn over before. The seat has a switch under it too. Ran a friends New Holland a while back, it had more alarms and safety switches than I could count. :

[Corley5]

Check your grounds.

[firefighter ontheside]

I had all kinds of trouble with my tractor last winter and this spring.  Sometimes it would start and sometimes it wouldnt.  My dad said negative cable and I disregarded it.  After all kinds of hours trying to jump it and charge the battery, I said OK dad, i'll replace the negative cable and find a new place to ground it to on the frame.  Haven't had a problem since.  I then apologized to my dad for ignoring his suggestion.  He even had a negative cable hanging in his garage.

[thecfarm]

I don't usually drove through brush with my tractor.
But needing some dirt to put around the garden to slope it off, I drove over some small fir, maybe 3 feet tall. I put down the bucket and back dragged. Made a pile to pick up. All was fine.
Until the next morning.  
Nothing, not a thing. Lights worked and that was it. I rattled the gear shift and checked the PTO and jumped up and down on the seat about 10 times.  :D 
Not a thing.
So under the tractor I go. I had no idea what to look for. But in no time, there it was, a wire was pulled out of the safety switch for something. I just stuck it in, and it fired right up.

[Don P]

That one has caught me in the truck in the middle of nowhere before. A stick had snatched the neutral safety connector off the tranny.

I check from the starter and go back to the keyswitch. Make sure everything is in neutral and controls are down. Screwdriver jump the starter, will it spin. Then check for voltage on the solenoid tickler wire. If the starter spns and the solenoid is getting tickled then it has gone bad. If no tickle check for voltage at the keyswitch on that line when in crank position. If it is dead there the switch is bad. If there is voltage at the top of that wire but not at the solenoid there is a switch in the line open somewhere.

But its almost always a loose connection or bad ground. Take every connection apart, clean and tighten everything back down. The case of things like the starter and solenoid is the ground "wire", brighten up their seats before bolting them back down. Vibration and moisture are the usual culprits.

[kantuckid]

Me thinks Corley5 named the by far most common, first step, ailment of a dead tractor as the frame ground is steel and gets corroded. other than something real simple like the PTO switch named being on. 

[aigheadish]

Can someone explain the screwdriver to the starter trick? I was attempting to diagnose some trouble on my old car when my neighbor came over and pulled that trick. I didn't quite understand what he was doing and apparently it's a more common practice than I realized.

[terrifictimbersllc]

One large lug on the solenoid has  battery positive connected to it, the other has the output to the starter motor. When the solenoid is working properly, positive input to the small lug energizes the magnet inside to connect the two large lugs internally.  Using a screwdriver across the two large lugs connects these externally providing  a direct path from battery to starter.

[livemusic]

Can someone explain the screwdriver to the starter trick? I was attempting to diagnose some trouble on my old car when my neighbor came over and pulled that trick. I didn't quite understand what he was doing and apparently it's a more common practice than I realized.

One reason you might do this is because if the solenoid has gone bad and the motor won't turn over due to no connection, using the screwdriver on the solenoid lugs creates a connection, firing the starter. I used this trick on my lawnmower recently. Did the screwdriver trick a few days until I got a solenoid in and then replaced it and all is normal now. If you ever do this, just make sure your transmission is in neutral and you are nowhere that you can be run over. I think it's best to just do it as a temporary solution. One reason is that using the screwdriver can create a 'weld' due to the electric current surge and it can mess up your connections. A proper connection is best!

Those more knowledgeable than me can give better advice.

[barbender]

And I don't care how many times you jump a solenoid or how prepared you think you are, it will scare you every time when you make the connection😂

[firefighter ontheside]

When my tractor wouldn't start I tried to use a screwdriver at the starter and it wouldn't work.  It would spark a little, but wouldn't turn over.  It was actually one of the clues that told me the negative battery cable may have been the problem.

[Southside]

Be aware, that will make a machine start in gear, and if it has enough throttle it will run off or over you.

[firefighter ontheside]

Yeah, I made sure the shuttle shifter was in neutral and the gear shifter was in neutral.

[Andries]

And I don't care how many times you jump a solenoid or how prepared you think you are, it will scare you every time when you make the connection😂

Agreed! . . and don't use a nice favorite Proto long reach tune-up screwdriver. Jumping the solenoid is aka "spot welding"  🤦‍♂️  Dig around for your bent up old toad stabber screwy driver, that'll do the trick.
.
There are quick an'dirty bush fixes, and then there are proper shop fixes.
Jumping the solenoid is a bush fix that'll carry you to the shop fix.
😁

[aigheadish]

Is that also a situation where you shouldn't be touching the metal of the screwdriver? You gonna get a shock through it? 

[Southside]

It gets warm in a hurry

[Resonator]

I don't use a screwdriver. Mechanic showed me years ago to use a short piece of heavy copper wire (solid wire not thin braided), bent into a horseshoe, and held with an insulated handle pliers.

[barbender]

You can purchase a bypass switch that is made for testing and troubleshooting. $20 or so? It has two leads with alligator clips, and a push button momentary switch.

[barbender]

Performance Tool W80586 Heavy Duty Remote Starter for Car and Truck Engines with Push-Button Switch and 5-ft Wire Leads , Black Amazon.com: Performance Tool W80586 Heavy Duty Remote Starter for Car and Truck Engines with Push-Button Switch and 5-ft Wire Leads , Black : Automotive

This would help someone isolate a weak solenoid, bad starter switch or an open circuit. If you tried jumping directly across the solenoid to complete the starter circuit, the wires aren't heavy enough for the load and you'll probably cook it😁

[Don P]

Also make sure all controls are down and loose. If the hydraulics move when you hit the solenoid that might not be a good thing. 

One more way to field check the solenoid a little is to jump from the battery lug of the solenoid to the trigger wire spade. That feeds a  known good 12V trigger voltage to the solenoid and should cause the electromagnet inside to close the connection to the starter's big lug on the solenoid. This is the low spark way to jump a good solenoid with a bad keyswitch or trigger line. If the solenoid is bad, the magnet cannot close the connection by jumping to the trigger spade, but jumping across the 2 big lugs will work. If you don't have a meter but do have a screwdriver, that can help diagnose a little.

[Wlmedley]

When you have got your hand down around starter connections do not have a ring on your finger.I've seen a few fella's short out a ring to ground and get their finger get burned really bad.I was warned early in my career as a mechanic to never wear a ring. I never have.Also on a heavy duty starter such is on heavy equipment jumping the two large lugs will only make starter spin.I will not kick out and engage flywheel.

[Wlmedley]

Back in time before they started locking steering wheel and transmission shifter with key switch you could start and drive off any car by running a wire from battery positive to positive on coil and jumping solenoid on starter.Don't ask how I know.Only took a couple minutes.

[barbender]

I won't wear a ring, for the same reason. I told my wife I would get a tattoo of a ring on my finger if she wanted, and I dislike tattoos😊 I snagged my rings on a few equipment ladders when we were first married, they are generally just a bad idea IMO.

[Resonator]

They make non-conductive (silicone) wedding rings, available in different colors.

[Don P]

Mine is in my wife's jewelry box. My BIL arced his to his finger on his honeymoon jumping the old goat. My Dad had his on when he got his ring finger tangled in a belt sander. They had a time cutting it off with the swelling going on. I don't need anything there to add to the excitement.

[rusticretreater]

I hooked my wedding band on a chain link fence while putting a tarp over a open top dugout at a baseball field.  I stumbled off the bench and I could have lost a finger easy.

[barbender]

I tried the silicone ones and couldn't find any that fit right. I figure after 24 years everyone pretty well knows who I belong to😊

[firefighter ontheside]

I haven't had my gold ring on for at least 3 years.  I think mine is also in my wife's jewelry box.  The silicone ring does me just fine.  I had a black one for a few years and then my wife got me this one with the red line which signifies fire fighters.

[livemusic]

I finally discovered the problem, a plastic wiring connector failed, the wire just corroded and broke at the connector. It was under the front where the battery is. I wired it up and it cranked right up. Thanks for posts.

[charles mann]

Good deal on getting it fixed. 

[barbender]

Thanks for the update👍

[maple flats]

Glad you got it started.
However I have a Mahindra, a 3616, cab model, hydro. It is a 2012 and has been a great tractor, BUT it has had some issues. The first is that the neutral safety switch is at times hard to find. By that I mean there is no positive centering position on the hydro control, I often need to push the forward pedal to the floor and let go of it, as the pedal rises, with my left foot on the clutch I hit start repeatedly when it is in the right position it starts, sometimes I need to put my toe under the hydro forward pedal and raise it slowly with my toe. 
I had one time just early this past summer when it wouldn't start after repeating that process 3-4x, so I checked the battery, the cheap cable clamps, actually the positive one had corroded and broke. I replaced it with a lead one, issue fixed. I don't like those cheap clamps, in fact my 2011 F350 diesel has them on both batteries, I just bought 2 pair last week to replace the cheap ones with brass ones (like the old lead ones but in brass).
The only other times my tractor wouldn't start I'd forgotten to shut the PTO off. 

[Ljohnsaw]

I was reminded of this thread late yesterday afternoon.  My SkyTrak was turning over sloooowly.  I ran it at high idle but that didn't help the next time.  Had to jump it.  It's a diesel and has two batteries hooked in parallel for more cranking power.  The battery clamps look like they hadn't been touched in quite a while.  I've had it for about 8 years and never looked at the batteries :  I'm thinking, they're old and now I gotta buy some new one.  Fiddling with a new meter, I read 11 volts each after pulling the cables.  So, took a long shot and cleaned up the connection but no joy starting.  Jumped it again and checked the alternator for output.  It was putting out 13.2 or so (not great).  The amp meter on the dash shows just a little positive (always has).  Ran it around for moving stuff for a little bit.  Today, works fine.  I think the corrosion wasn't letting it charge good.