Uploaded June 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The Keykeeper, Furhead and myself all visit the farm to try and get a forgotten Allis-Chalmers tractor running again.
The clutch was merely stuck and dislodging it proved easier than I thought it would on a subsequent visit. The electric starter can still spin the engine over even with the mowing deck engaged. This put enough load on the clutch to break it free, and it works normally again.
The carburetor needs some help, as it's gotten full of rust and other junk. It's off the tractor right now and being cleaned.
The generator is a bit more involved. When I sent it off to have a much-deserved restoration done, it came back with what I was told was a "solid state regulator". The printing has long since worn off, and all I can tell you now is that it was a Transpo branded part. I cannot find any currently produced regulator of that type and brand. However, the Transpo D100 "drop out relay" looks identical to what I have, and I have to wonder if maybe the generator rebuilder thought the tractor had an external regulator. (Why they would have thought so, I can't say. The old regulator was still attached to the generator when I sent it in.)
If that's what I have, the Transpo D100 isn't a regulator. It's a device used to prevent backfeeding once the generator's output voltage drops below that of the battery. I'm just not sure. The tractor never overcharged its battery after the generator came back.
The generator appears to be good., as it will run when "motored", or supplied with external electrical power. (To my great surprise, its direction of rotation is polarity insensitive. It always turns in the same direction when running as a motor. I'm probably overlooking something that I know which would explain this.)
"Motoring" a generator is mostly an academic exercise, but some early lawn tractors used their generators as starting motors in this way.
The Keykeeper, Furhead and myself all visit the farm to try and get a forgotten Allis-Chalmers tractor running again.
The clutch was merely stuck and dislodging it proved easier than I thought it would on a subsequent visit. The electric starter can still spin the engine over even with the mowing deck engaged. This put enough load on the clutch to break it free, and it works normally again.
The carburetor needs some help, as it's gotten full of rust and other junk. It's off the tractor right now and being cleaned.
The generator is a bit more involved. When I sent it off to have a much-deserved restoration done, it came back with what I was told was a "solid state regulator". The printing has long since worn off, and all I can tell you now is that it was a Transpo branded part. I cannot find any currently produced regulator of that type and brand. However, the Transpo D100 "drop out relay" looks identical to what I have, and I have to wonder if maybe the generator rebuilder thought the tractor had an external regulator. (Why they would have thought so, I can't say. The old regulator was still attached to the generator when I sent it in.)
If that's what I have, the Transpo D100 isn't a regulator. It's a device used to prevent backfeeding once the generator's output voltage drops below that of the battery. I'm just not sure. The tractor never overcharged its battery after the generator came back.
The generator appears to be good., as it will run when "motored", or supplied with external electrical power. (To my great surprise, its direction of rotation is polarity insensitive. It always turns in the same direction when running as a motor. I'm probably overlooking something that I know which would explain this.)
"Motoring" a generator is mostly an academic exercise, but some early lawn tractors used their generators as starting motors in this way.
