allright, after some reading, this is in 1929 mind you: "Most manufacturers ground the negative (-) terminal of the battery and generator. The Westinghouse Co. grounds the positive (+) terminal in a number of its systems." (Dykes Automobile and Gasoline Engine Encyclopedia 15th edidtion p. 412)
page after page of wiring diagrams and just as many positive ground as negative ground cars back then. The model T ford is covered in its own chapter and shows negative ground (no model A in a 29 book?...i bet it took 2 years to catch up with print materials back then). There were some voltage regulator equiped cars, but many still had to be regulated manually.
I love this technical history stuff.
The correct way of teaching which way the current flows will probably never be settled. Someone on yt, likely John T, said it's *only* the Theory of Electricity. Every few years new discoveries at the atomic level are made, helping us understand a little bit more, or making us blush in embarassment for believing a certain factoid for 50 years.
bottom line when it comes to correctly grounding your tractor is, check the charging/regulation system before battery is connected. if you have an alternator, it's probably negative (some exceptions). If you have a generator, check the back of the regulator if equipped for ground indication. that should help let less smoke out of the components. I'm not sure how pos ground or alternate voltage alternators are identified, and if polarity matters on a cut-out manual regulation system.
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