Starts right up. First time, every time. Misses, spits, sputters, sounds like it's fuel hungry. I can run it, but placing any kind of load cause backfiring and missing that sounds like a .375 H&H. A real crack of a backfire, loudest I've ever heard. Carb is getting plenty of fuel. Where it goes from there, I don't know. Unscrewed the drain from the carb. The fuel that came out was clean, no sediment. Tank is full of new gasoline.

Let me tell you folks, I'm a computer geek/horse trainer. I don't know what breed that is, but I ain't got no tractor mechanic blood in me, that's for sure.

Tomorrow new, wires. Did the new plugs today. I know about the metal wires and soldering. I can pull that off. If that doesn't work, I'm going to the front mount dist. I can point with my mouse on the computer, but I seriously doubt if I can find the points in the dist. If I saw it done once, I could do it, but I haven't. Next will come a new coil. I can handle that one.

How badly can I screw up this tractor? Right now, it at least starts and I can go for a Sunday morning drive around the farm if I don't have much of a breakfast. The backfiring might wake up the neighbors, but hey, life's too short to spend all day in bed anyway. Playing with the distributor, points, timing, etc... am I likely to do something for which I would be castrated if I lived in China? There are backyard mechanics around here, been there, done that. Would be glad to pay to have it done (to a point). Compression is 90+ on all 4. Plugs get a little carbon, little oil, but hey, it's 52 years old. Gimme hope, gimme support or

Can't get the distributor off. Can get the cap off, the coil off, but can't get the left nut off (funny, I've had that problem before) (sorry 'bout that)) to free the dist from the block. The cap looks to be in very good shape, very clean. Can't get to the rest of the dist until I can get it off. Have applied some penetrating oil to the bolt.

At least I know fuel's getting to the carb.

I do believe in Murphy's law.

Will keep you posted.

front mount distributors aren't hard to work on if you do it on the bench

I know of a documented case of a lawyer successfully changing points and condensor in one

don't try to do it on the tractor. arrange the plug wires so you can put them back the way they came off; undo the wire on top of the coil; release the coil bale and remove coil; pull clips and remove cap--note rotor position; take out two cap screws; you can maneuver distributor around fan and fan belt; then do it on the bench. Impossible to screw up timing unless you try.

You are sure the gas is opened at least 2 full turns from closed, right? Fully close and fully open the valve a couple of times with the carb end of the line stuck in a mason jar and watch the flow. You may have an obstruction in the valve itself that this could cure. If that doesn't do it, loosen the cap and see if it flows then. If none of this helps, you will then have to drain the tank and clean those screens.

As someone on this illustrious board so elloquently put it a while back, if you remove the fuel line at the carb and look at the flow of gas into a glass jar, the gas should flow about as fast as a man taking a healthy pee...

HTH

;) Njoy the day. 9N'er

As for the 'healthy' part...
There are 3 stages during imbibing Adult Beverages, and they are:

1. Healthy

2. Like a Racehorse

and,

3. Oops...Too late...

:-)

Something I was just thinking about: Since this is a gravity fed fuel machine, once the line to the sediment bowl is disconnected from the gas tank, shouldn't fuel run out of the tank? I disconnected it (line from sediment bowl to tank) today and no fuel ran out of the tank. Then I reconnected the sediment bowl to the tank, still no fuel to the bowl UNTIL I cranked the engine, which I would guess created suction. Why is suction necessary to fill the sediment bowl with fuel if it's gravity fed? Could it be blockage at the tank filter/screen or is cranking necessary to pump the gas already in the carb into the cyls to make room for the gas coming out of the tank? Hope that ? makes sense. Thanks, Al.

In this case, with the gas tank cap off (so there was NO question of vacuum lock!) and the sediment bowl off, I could NOT even get the last gallon of gas to drip out. It came out ONLY after I removed the valve assy from the tank. It was "fun" trying to catch the gas pouring out. :-(

Here is another picture of a "crudded up" valve top screen along side of a new one.

I also had the screen at the top of the sedement bowl plug up. Tractor had been running fine, when all of a sudden it wouldn't run worth a plugged nickle - like yours I'd guess - under ANY load, even just moving it's self!