Farmall Starter

Will this work on my Super M ?

My SM (converted to 12 volts over 25 years ago) continues to start reliably its stock, 6 volt starter. Similarly my first ever 12 volt conversion – a ’56 S180 farm dump – continues soldiering on with it’s original 6 volt starter, with over 30 years of service on 12 volts.

Key is to have the starter in good shape! (If the commutator is burned, the brushes badly worn, etc., converting to 12 volts will only accelerate the starter's inevitible demise...)

Incidentally I've had excellent luck using the local heavy truck starter/alternator shop to rebuild starters for me. Last one I had done (Super H, 6 volt) had ALL wearing parts replaced including the complete armature assembly and contact button. It even got a fresh coat of Farmall red paint! Price out the door was $100.

You pull a lot less amperage with 12v even spinning the engine faster, and I believe it is amperage that burns contacts. A motor is not like a light bulb. Light bulbs are straight resistance and when you double the voltage you double the amperage. Motors consume enough amperage to put out the horsepower required for the job. Double the voltage and the amperage cuts in halfwith the same load.

As I've said many times, different people have different experiences so that's why we have a difference of opinion on this board. However, any starter that burned the contacts up probably also had the Bendix locked into the ring gear or some other problem.

I drove a '54 Chev well over 10 years with the same old 6v starter so I know I started it at least twice per day (going to work and coming home). Those Delco starters aren't much different than the Farmall starters.

My Farmalls are all 12v with 6v starters, and I only start them a few times a year, baling hay in the summer, then feeding cows in the winter, but they get relatively light duty spring and fall since we quit cropping.

I agree it is cheaper to rebuild what you have.

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