The Haunted 129 -_-
 

In 1973, my grandfather purchased brand new his 129. It was his workhorse on his home in Pennsylvania for 15 years. He was a tough old man, WW2 POW (Battle of the Bulge), purple heart recipient, however he was kind to me. He had pictures of me on it with him driving around the yard. After some time something happened with the 129 and he through a tarp over it and purchased a red cub. About 20 years later, I purchased my home in MA and my grandfather decided to give me his old 129. He brought it to his local cub repair shop and had the engine rebuilt and had it purring for me and brought it up to MA for me. I am not very mechanical and I have tried to maintain it while using it as my workhorse. My grandfather has since passed away from Alzheimers. After he passed, I have had issue after issue with the cub. Again, I know, its a 42 year old tractor. But I at this point I can't explain what is going on. Most recently I am getting no crank when I turn the key, just a single click. I have replaced the starter generator, the solenoid, the voltage regulator and the battery. I have wire brushed battery terminals and ground to frame from the battery. I have confirmed that I have voltage to the starter generator when I turn the key. I also confirmed that the new starter generator does spin after disconnecting from the cub and using jumper cables connecting the positive leads. My lights work as well. I've been searching for days now you tube help videos, wiring diagrams and electrical trouble shooting tips to no avail. So I signed up for this page. My wife wants me to get rid of it. She thinks it's cursed. I'm not there yet and don't think I will ever be. Any suggestions?

Welcome to OCC
 

There will very knowledgeable folks along shortly to help you sort this out. You have come to the right place.

How did you check to make sure your getting power to the s/g? The s/g needs both positive and negative to turn so if you really do have positive at the s/g then it must be a ground issue, are you testing with a test light or a volt meter?

ACR not working? If there is a problem with the ACR the S/G may not be able to turn over the motor.

Yes I used a voltage meter. I used the same meter to confirm the solenoid is functioning when I turn the key.

Hi! What is the ACR? I'm sorry, just not super knowledgeable with this stuff.

Yes used the multi-meter and I did use the negative on the separate battery and attached the ground on the starter generator and the hot on the post.

Acr stands for auto compression release, the camshaft has the acr built into it and it makes the engine turn over easier. If you take the belt off the s/g does it spin when you hit the key? If it does you may have an acr issue but if it still doesn't spin then the issue is elsewhere.

Oh thanks! Yes it spins the motor. I left the starter generator pulley attached but disconnected the electrical and then used a battery to jump it. It spun the motor.

Ok then I doubt its the acr. Like I said if you really have positive at the s/g it must be a ground issue, as a quick test to confirm you can hook a jumper cable up to the negative terminal on the batt and hook the other end to the body of the s/g and if it turns when you hit the key then you know you have a ground issue.