Tractor Issue

[yoderjac]

I have an old, well weathered, Kioti DK45. It has always been a problem with much more time in the shop than other tractors I've owned. Someday, soon I hope, I'll get a new tractor, but until then, I've got to keep this Kioti running. I had been having an overheating problem with it, but it looks like that was solved for now with a new fan belt. It was a simple fix I could do myself. I have near zero mechanic skills.

Inside the cab, on one of the pillars, there was a cigarette lighter. I used to use it to drive the compressor for my Po Boy Foamer until I noticed it was heating up after enough use. I opened up the pillar and put a regular house outlet in it. I wired that inline with the lighter. I then put regular plugs on my compressor, fans, and anything else I needed 12volts for.

When I was mowing last week, I noticed the fan plugged into it stopped working. Since I'll need that outlet to spray soon, I decided to figure out what was going on today. I checked the fuses and the fuse actually broke as I pulled it out. Easy fix I thought. I replace the fuse and the fan started, but in less than a minute it stopped. The new fuse blew. I got out the voltmeter. At the fuse box, the hot wire is jumpered from the next fuse. That fuse is good and not blown. That tells me the short is in the wire going from the fuse box to the outlet, not the hot wire. Since that wire runs up the pillar and through the ceiling and who knows where before it gets to the fuse box, I don't want to track down the short.

I decided to abandon the outlet/lighter and unplugged the connector in the pillar and reinstalled the cover. My plan is now to put a new outlet in close to the fuse box. I'd just clip off the wire with a short and attach a new one. I'll then run that to the new outlet.

As things develop, I'll take some pics.

 

[yoderjac]

The add-a-circuit fuse jumper came in today so I completed my Rube Goldberg on the Kioti. I put together a switch and outlet in a new-work box and headed out to add it to the tractor. I clipped off the wire that had a short right at the fuse box. I had to cut the lower corner out of the fuse box cover to make the add-a-circuit fit.

I installed the new-work box on the shelf I had built for the console and hooked up the hot wire from the fuse box. I used an angle grinder to take the paint off the column at a bolt location less than a foot from the switch. Once I hooked up the ground to it, I tested the modification using the fan. It worked like a charm.

I now think I'm good to spray for the fall plant.

 

[jsasker007]

Rube Goldberg. For some reason that just about made me spit my coffee. If you're dealing with wiring and having any success you are a better man than I am. I can do damn near anything as long as electricity isn't part of the equation. Hope it holds up for ya!

 

[yoderjac]

So far so good! I really like not having to plug and unplug the fan and foamer. I can now just switch them on and off.