Battery Connection question

[dsmreaper 10]

So, I had to do some terminal work, basically I needed to install shims on the top post terminals as they were tight but still loose, any who, after I began I noticed the positive of the battery was hooked strait to the frame!!! Does that mean my tractor(67' 1077) is what they call a positive ground?  Anyone have diagrams on this?

[rmaynard 16,992]

The 1077 is a negative ground system.

 

Edited Monday at 11:14 PM by rmaynard

[pfrederi 20,062]

It is possible that some PO really messed up.  But as long as he switched the wires to the coil and you have an S/G  that gets polarized when you start it ... it may work.  I know regulators are sometimes listed as + or -  grd.  but they still sometimes work....

 

Is the small + terminal on the coil hooked to the ignition switch or is it hooked to the points and condenser.

Edited Monday at 11:25 PM by pfrederi

[ranger 1,851]

Has someone fitted a positive cable, which has a larger clamp, to the negative post on the battery? That could explain why it is loose? Assuming the battery has the conical posts of course?

[wallfish 19,499]

23 hours ago, dsmreaper said:

) is what they call a positive ground?

If that's how it's actually connected, then that's what they call a mistake. 

That should be a negative ground system

Could be someone wasn't paying attention

[dsmreaper 10]

On 3/30/2026 at 7:23 PM, pfrederi said:

It is possible that some PO really messed up.  But as long as he switched the wires to the coil and you have an S/G  that gets polarized when you start it ... it may work.  I know regulators are sometimes listed as + or -  grd.  but they still sometimes work....

 

Is the small + terminal on the coil hooked to the ignition switch or is it hooked to the points and condenser.

 

What is an S/G? I am not new to mechanics or automotive work and systems, but tractors and small engines, albeit sometimes similar, are a whole new game to me.

2 hours ago, wallfish said:

If that's how it's actually connected, then that's what they call a mistake. 

That should be a negative ground system

Could be someone wasn't paying attention

it is for sure hooked up backwards, I will have to check the coil like another commentor stated, I did not check the rest of the wiring, just that I have a 26 group battery and noticed the positives cable ran strait to the frame about 4 inches away!!!

 

14 hours ago, ranger said:

Has someone fitted a positive cable, which has a larger clamp, to the negative post on the battery? That could explain why it is loose? Assuming the battery has the conical posts of course?

this is possible, but both clamps were actually lose, they are the softer lead style and seems to have been over tightened previously as well, and were not down all the way on the posts either, which did not help either. 

 

On 3/30/2026 at 7:23 PM, pfrederi said:

It is possible that some PO really messed up.  But as long as he switched the wires to the coil and you have an S/G  that gets polarized when you start it ... it may work.  I know regulators are sometimes listed as + or -  grd.  but they still sometimes work....

 

Is the small + terminal on the coil hooked to the ignition switch or is it hooked to the points and condenser.

I will check and get back to the post on this one.

[dsmreaper 10]

Yeah not sure what is going on, the + on the coil goes to the ignition switch though. You can also see the POS on the battery clearly in the photo.

[wallfish 19,499]

Does it start and run like that? Can't imagine it would charge the battery

Kinda looks like someone slid the battery in backwards and hooked'er up. Reversing the polarity

I've never tried that, yet! LOL

 

SG for Starter /Generator of which that engine has. 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 02:15 AM by wallfish

[ineedanother 1,973]

 

[dsmreaper 10]

24 minutes ago, wallfish said:

Does it start and run like that? Can't imagine it would charge the battery

Kinda looks like someone slid the battery in backwards and hooked'er up. Reversing the polarity

I've never tried that, yet! LOL

 

SG for Starter /Generator of which that engine has. 

 

 

Oh okay, and yes it does start and run, I haven't check the charging system while running so I can't say for sure it charges.perhaps the older models and tech were so simple it didn't matter as long as there is voltage? I definitely had the thought the battery is in backwards though when I saw how close the terminals were to the S/G though.

[ineedanother 1,973]

If it were me, the first step I would take would be to check polarity. If I'm not mistaken, that battery could have actually be charged backwards had it been depleted at some point. 

[Handy Don 16,062]

10 hours ago, ineedanother said:

he first step I would take would be to check polarity.

I recommend getting out a voltmeter and start testing. Battery first and then onward. 

 

[pfrederi 20,062]

I have a couple old big tractors with positive ground and old school generators and the whole thing works great... but that your coil + is fed from the ignition switch is a question.  I think (not sure) they will run with the coil reversed just not well.  In your case I would switch back to a negative ground. After you do make sure have 12v at the small + on the coil when the ignition switch is in run.  The S/G will polarize itself the first time you start it.

 

Does your Generator red warning light work at all??  

 

Also from your photo it is hard to see if your regulator is wired correctly.   It is easy the terminals on the regulator are marked .  The 3 you can see should be F field and that wire should go to the F terminal on the generator body.  There is a B and that wire will go to the + on the battery (when you redo you r system).  the L load goes to the cigar lighter.  There is a hidden terminal on the bottom of the regulator it goes to the A terminal on the generator body along with the heavy wire already there.

[dsmreaper 10]

28 minutes ago, pfrederi said:

I have a couple old big tractors with positive ground and old school generators and the whole thing works great... but that your coil + is fed from the ignition switch is a question.  I think (not sure) they will run with the coil reversed just not well.  In your case I would switch back to a negative ground. After you do make sure have 12v at the small + on the coil when the ignition switch is in run.  The S/G will polarize itself the first time you start it.

 

Does your Generator red warning light work at all??  

 

Also from your photo it is hard to see if your regulator is wired correctly.   It is easy the terminals on the regulator are marked .  The 3 you can see should be F field and that wire should go to the F terminal on the generator body.  There is a B and that wire will go to the + on the battery (when you redo you r system).  the L load goes to the cigar lighter.  There is a hidden terminal on the bottom of the regulator it goes to the A terminal on the generator body along with the heavy wire already there.

I am not sure about the light, it has not come on yet any way, I will have to check the wiring and all because stranger still, I did probe it with a multimeter, and it does in fact say the positive is positive. So the battery is in backwards and still somehow works!!??

[dsmreaper 10]

My question now is, What would happen if I swap the battery to normal? I will look at the wiring diagram again, but if its all normal as it should be, shouldnt it be fine if I swap the battery around to how it should be connected? I just dont want to burn anything critical up since I know this stuff isnt just sitting on a shelf locally anywhere anymore now a days.

[pfrederi 20,062]

The light should come on the moment you turn the key to run.

 

Not sure I understand how you tested to find out Positive is positive.

Swap in another battery and wire it correctly  (you can borrow it from another tractor or a car).  + terminal to the heavy cable going to the ignition switch  - terminal to the engine block.

[dsmreaper 10]

43 minutes ago, pfrederi said:

The light should come on the moment you turn the key to run.

 

Not sure I understand how you tested to find out Positive is positive.

Swap in another battery and wire it correctly  (you can borrow it from another tractor or a car).  + terminal to the heavy cable going to the ignition switch  - terminal to the engine block.

The light has never come on at all so probably not or isn't connected correctly. As far as the battery test, I used a multimeter and put red to red and black to black set to vdc, got a positive of almost 12 volts, when I reverse the probes red to neg and black to pos, it shows the same voltage as a negative, telling me the POS terminal is actually positive.