Reviving a Tiny Tractor
I have an old lawn tractor that was once a Murray riding mower. It was old when I got it and soon became unuseable as a lawn mower because of the deterioration of the mowing deck, so I have long since dropped the deck off of and gone another route for a mower.
But I kept the tractor. It’s an 18 horse V-Twin engine and it runs fine. Once you get it started, that is. Something is wrong with the ignition circuit. I have been trying to revive it because I want to use it to pull various things around that I don’t want to tear up the lawn mowing tractor doing. But it has been a little frustrating so far.
I can jump the terminals on the solenoid and it will start. I think I have cleared the solenoid as the source of the problem. I placed a wire between the (+) battery terminal and the ignition switch “S” post and it cranks, so I know the wire from the switch to the solenoid terminal is ok.
Which leaves the ignition switch. It does look in pretty bad shape on the backside. They make a lot of different styles of switch. They are easy to find, but getting the right one takes a good understanding of what part is needed because the terminals on the back of the switch are different for different types of tractor. Needless to say after the first day of trying I don’t have it fixed. But I’m getting closer. And along the way I’ve learned how many different switches there are and what most of the letters next to the terminals stand for…and that they are in all manner of different arrangements. I think I’ll have that situation fixed soon.
Which means I’ll have time to look at the flat front tire. Jeez….. 
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Well, I finally got it done. After replacing the bad switch I had to replace a fuse I’d blown while testing the system….and voila it all worked. Even the ampmeter. It took a lot longer than it should have, but darn these switches come in a million varieties - never thought it would be so hard to get the right replacement.
And I found out that “Slime” will plug some pretty significant holes in tractor tires. The flat front tire is ready to go. So we’re up and running.
The letters on the back of small ignition switches to the best of my knowledge:
M = Magneto Kill (ground it, kill engine)
S = Starter / Solenoid
G = Ground
L = Lights
A = Accessories
B = Battery (perhaps via stator or amp meter)
I = (not sure - perhaps “ignition” for battery ignition types)
R = Regulator
Ah yes, this pulls the DR field and brush mower through the field very well. Nice to put the old tractor to use and not have to drive my new John Deere through the rough parts of the field, getting all kinds of junk jammed up in the deck on it. The old tractor with deck removed makes it through the field just fine.
In addition, with no deck I did not feel the need to keep any of the dead man switches in place so this old tractor can be left running when I step off the seat if I use it to drive out through the field killing volunteer elms or brush with poison. Saves a lot of wear and tear on starters/batteries and keeps me from having to drive the truck out into that grass and risking a fire from the catalytic converter igniting the brush.