'51 Farmall M - Died while driving/Won't Start

Greetings - New to the tractor gig. renting a farm in ND and the landlord let's me use the M. Great site - I verified the year via the serial# FBK271780X or close to that.
I live in ND. Have used the M several times for several hours w/o a hitch. Always fired up and ran strong. It has the F11 Farmhand bucket, live Hydrolics, and has been converted to a 12v system, w/ a 6v resistor to the IH distributor - most of this I've learned from this site.

PROBLEM: I was moving snow, when all of sudden the M flat out died - couldn't get it to even crank. Seemed like an electrical problem. After troubleshooting - found the Voltage Reg was blown! The wire harness was in bad shape, so I remade the wiring harness using proper ga wire, and bought a new VR. Got everything put back together.
Now, I can get 'er to crank, but it just won't start. It sounds like it's trying to 'catch' but won't fire up.I retraced the wires and all appear to be intact and in the proper place. When I shut off the starter, I get a bunch of gas blowing out the carb bottom - whether it's choked or not (tried both ways). It has fuel in the tank, block heater has been on so it's 'warm' and it cranks strong (actually having to use hi capacity charger to keep from killing the battery).
So, where do I go from here? I'm not a whiz-bang at this stuff, have limitied tools (no multi-meter) but I have some technical skills; So, please keep it simple. My neighbor has a '49 M - he's helping, but we would like some guidance.

Thanks in advance - ND in ND

Check that porcelain resister, mine cracked on my H and kept it from running.


Randy

I think you are flooding it. Let it sit for at least 4 hours. Then try it cranking for about 5 seconds with about 1/3 choke, and then shove the choke off. They don't require much choke.
To verify, after you have tried to start with nosucess, pull a plug. If it is really wet then you are flooding. May have to rebuild the carb, as the needles seat is sticking open.Also ttapping on the carb before you try to start.

Gordo

Also a side note. If it has been seriously flooded, consider an oil and filter change! You don't want launch the lower end with fuel in the crank case.

In addition to Gordo's advice, shut off the fuel at the sediment and pull off the air hose at the carburetor. Open the throttle wide and let it air out a while before attempting to restart.

When you do go to start don't reopen the fuel shutoff until AFTER the engine fires. Now open it slowly while listening/watching for signs it's flooding again.

If it does show it's flooding again a few gentle taps on the carb bowl will often clear it up. Otherwise you'll need to go inside the carb to find/correct the cause.

my 53 super m did the same thing when we first tried starting it. took both wires off resistor and tied them together to get it to start for loading. finally found out it was the resistor, one of the contacts was bad. changed it and havent had a firing problem since.

Ok everybody has given you good advice here BUT i think that they all missed it , i could be wrong BUT you did say yo were moving snow with the loader and it DOES have live hyd. on the tractor so there for it has a live pump that is ahead of the dist. and they have been knowen to either shear the key on the PUMP gear or the cam gear. So if it did infact SHEAR the key she is out of time and that is why it will not start . So a little more checking is involved here . Pull #1 plug and start to bring it up on comp. stroke and with the aid of a straw or something soft and long find TDC and check the timing mark on the crank pulley , then remove the dist. cap and look where the rotor is setting then look and see where #1 plug wire is and see if it matches up with the rotor . If not then ya need to start to dig deeper and the first place to start is the PUMP and pray that it is the Key on the pump as it is the easiest to fix with little tear down . If it is intact then i would remove the valve cover and see if the valves on #1 are closed if one of them is open then the ft. of the engine will need to come off and to do that will require a lot more tear down . Keep all of us updated on what ya find so we can try and help .

Yay! We filed the points w/ an emery board, since the points were lookin' a bit rough. Leroy, my neighbor, then adjusted the points. She fired right up and I spent about 3 hours movin' snow - not a hiccup!
I was going to order the Ignition tune up Kit, Comprehensive, from YT. Since the points, plugs etc look like they shold be replaced. Once I get that, then things should be better. I will be making a new post re: hydraulic issue w/ the F11.

Thanks for all the input..... ND in ND

My M would start without using the choke but I needed to work the choke some to keep it running
untill it warmed up.

steveormary