positive or negative ground?

0 or 00 gauge cables (I buy my cable at a welding supply house and then solder my connections and use industrial shrink wrap to seal the joint).

Good clean connections at every point (generator, starter, battery, ammeter, etc).

A good battery.

A charging system that matches the battery set-up in the tractor.

A clean fuel system and properly adjusted carb help out a h*lluva lot when it comes to starting too!

I have two Farmall's (H and M) that are still 6 volt positive ground and they start marvelously in this beautiful Wisconsin weather (the H popped off yesterday morning at a whopping 6 degrees)!

That should give you some places to start. Good luck with it. Let us know if you need anything else!

Billy

• Hobby farm

This alternator was used on 1978-79 Nissan 620 pickup with a 2 liter engine and a 1980 Nissan 720 pickup with a 2 liter engine. At NAPA it is part #2138130. The cost of a rebuilt alternator is approximately $50 + core (And they won’t take a generator as a core). The alternator is 4 1/2" in diameter and 7" in length and will go right on the original mountings on the tractor. Use an 8" x 3/8" bolt and some pipe and/or washers for spacers. Being Hitachi means that it is METRIC. You will need to drill out the mountings to 3/8". The tension adjusting bolt is also metric thread. The alternator is a three (3) wire set up which can be converted to one (1) wire. There are spade connections labeled S & L and a BAT post connection. The L spade is for the idiot light and can be disregarded. Use a jumper wire from the S spade to the BAT post and you are good to go.

The pulley maybe a split type that you can widen using a spacer (once again metric). You may need to use a disc type lock washer and some “Locktite” because there won't be room to reuse the split lock washer that comes with it. I put the washer between to parts of the pulley to make it fit the existing belt. I have installed 4 Hitachi alternators – two were split pulley and the most recent two were not.
There is a built in regulator and a resister to keep the battery from feeding back to the alternator. This is a sweet fit under the hood that he has used on H's, M's and W models, also Cubs and many others. I add the following from my experience:
Be sure to switch the polarity of the battery to Negative ground to avoid damaging the Alternator.
Consequently, you need to switch the wires on the coil, if you are using a coil.
Use a plastic covered connection when you connect the jumper wire from the S spade
On a Farmall M, turning the bracket upside-down will allow the alternator to fit nicely inside the hood using the existing generator belt.

I have installed two Hitachi #14231 alternators on two Ms and two on F-20s without any problems.

You may also want to go and take a look at the following link (trying something new, so I'm hoping the link appears). Hope this helps, tractorsam

• Bob M's Wiring diagrams