Sorry for the delay in replying - I've been out of contact - and thanks Ray, IN for the comments on ensuring your gear levers are both in neutral - a good point and one I should have made, although I think I suggested disconnecting the starter, so your engine couldn't start. Right, now on to your question. This is probably the only valid test you can do on a solenoid - see if it clicks, but without seeing yours, I cannot give precise details - what you could try is as follows. With one end of a length of wire connected to the positive battery terminal, flash the other end of the wire against the solenoid - on the connector that goes to the neutral switch - the solenoid should click. From your description, the solenoid is wired as follows - the wire to the battery, and the wire to the starter (both big thick cables?) are the 'switched' wires. The body of the solenoid is grounded to earth and is the coil for the solenoid - and the wire to the neutral switch provides the momentary positive 12V to the coil, which pulls in the connector to operate your starter. If it doesn't click, the solenoid is dead - replace it. If it does click, it looks like the problem is in the neutral switch - replace it. I would not want to drive a tractor without a neutral switch - it is there as a safety feature, and should be respected as such.
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