On Wed, 23 Dec 2015 05:09:02 -0600, wrote:

On Tue, 22 Dec 2015 19:48:09 -0700, rbowman wrote:

On 12/22/2015 07:08 PM, wrote:
Anyone have any clue what's happening. I sure dont!!

This is a long shot. Do you have a meter to verify the positive terminal
is in fact positive? It's rare but it is possible to reverse the
polarity on a discharged battery by connecting it backwards.

It's the farm tractor part that makes me suspicious:

http://fergusontractors.org/fena/wp-...-Generator.pdf

Like I said, it's a long shot that the entire system might have been
reversed.

As I said in a prior reply, YES, the entire system appears to have
reversed. It may be rare, but it did it. My VOM meter proves the battery
is reversed. Your URL link explains well how to get the polarity set
right, (and I vaguely recall doing this many years ago on my first car),
but how do I get the battery reversed again? -OR- do I just reverse the
leads on the battery? Or maybe I'll have to replace it. (It was a good
battery).

To get the battery back to normal you need to totally kill it first.
Hook up a couple of headlights and leave the connected untill they
don't even glow any more, then try with a small bulb like a tail
light, and leave it connected untill it doesn't glow any more either -
then connect the charger the right way and recharge it.

When the battery is properly recharged, reflash the generator to the
proper polarity, reconnect the battery and restart the tractor. Make
sure you follow the flash directions to the letter when repolarizing -
someone sometime or another did not - resulting in the situation you
now have.

There is a possibility the battery will be no good when you are done -
but it is worth a try.

Now I know why they quit using generators. This one will be replaced
with an alternator real soon. When I bought this tractor, it ran well
and did not have any major problems. I knew the wiring to the lights was
chopped off at the switch because of bad wires, and there were a few
other minor issues, but just seeing that generator gave me a sick
feeling. (now I know why). Almost every antique tractor still in use has
been converted to an alternator and NEG ground. But not this one, it
still has the POS ground too. This will be converted soon, if not
immediately.