Positive and negative ground is like right hand and left hand threads on a bolt. With bolts, the nut screws on in opposite directions, with positive and negative ground current flows through the system in opposite directions. With the bolt in many cases either direction will work, but there are cases where it must be one or the other.
A properly configured tractor electric system can be made to work either polarity. However, alternators, unless specially modified, must be negative ground. A generator regulator may be for positive ground only, negative ground only, or either ground configuration.
Proper connection of the battery, charging system, ignition coil, ammeter, and possibly fuel gauges are the only concern. Switches, points/condenser, starter, lights will work either polarity. (Later add ons such as radio or other attachments may specify a particular ground.)
“Would I hurt anything if I set it up with positive ground to see if it would work.” If you just reversed battery connections you would damage an alternator, or possibly the generator regulator
Your tractor has apparently been working and is still working OK. I say leave it alone, there is no problem with having it negative ground. In fact, negative ground has a big advantage in that it creates less confusion when jump starting with a modern 12 volt negative ground vehicle. If it fails to charge, ground polarity is not the problem.
Upload one or more videos to your post. Photo filesizes should be less than 300K and Videos, less than 2MB. Formats allowed are gif, jpg, png, ogg, mp4, mov, and avi. Be sure to use filenames without spaces or special characters, and filetypes of 3 digits lower case.
We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]
Today's Featured Article - Product Review: Black Tire Paint - by Staff. I have been fortunate in that two of my tractors have had rear tires that were in great shape when I bought the tractor. My model "H" even had the old style fronts with plenty of tread. My "L" fronts were mismatched Sears Guardsman snow tires, which I promptly tossed. Well, although these tires were in good shape as far as tread was concerned, they looked real sad. All were flat, but new tubes fixed that. In addition to years and years of scuffing and fading, they had paint splattered on
... [Read Article]
Latest Ad:
2022 John Deere 5045E, 4wd, front end loader and 3rd function with grapple. 120 hrs, 55k new, must sell
[More Ads]
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy
TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.