1175 won't start

Hooked up the 1175 to my post hole auger and started making post holes. Had to drill in a weedy area, auger got a bunch of weeds stuck in the bit and the auger quit going down.
Raised the auger up and shut the tractor off,... got off the tractor cleaned the weeds off the bit,... got back on the tractor,... hit the ignition switch,.... and "NUTHIN" happened.

Cleaned the ground cable real good, turned the switch on,... amp needle jumps to 12.5,... continue turning the key to the "start" position and "NUTHIN",... but the needle falls back to the left of the amp gauge with the key still in the "on" position.

Got my test light and put it on the "hot" cable (up by the starter), cleaned the ground cable some more, and noticed that whenever I turn the key to "start" the amp needle falls back to the left side of the amp gauge, the "hot" cable going to the starter is NOT "hot".
Wait about 10 seconds with the key still sitting in the "on" position, and the amp needle jumps back up to 12.5 and the test light comes back on.

Do you fellas think my ignition switch is bad, or the starter selanoid? (it has always started great before)

Thanks
Spotted Horse

my first thoughts are the solenoid,

Next i would check the switch and also the start safety switch thats wired in line with the solenoid.

Sometimes you will get a loose or dirty connection at the start safety switch.

Sounds to me like you still have a bad conection in the battery cables since your volts are intermitent. Recheck all the connections and feel allong the battery wires for a broken wire. If you don't find it yet then have someone hold the key in the start position and feel along all the wires for a hot spot. That will tell you where the problem is. Be careful not to get burned tho, a bad spot in the wires can be red hot. Had that happen on my semi truck, couldn't find why it wouldnt charge. batteries checked out fine, same for alternator. Finnally I was tracing down the wireing so I could rewire it and I burned my hand on a wire. Repaired the bad wire and everything works good now.

Thanks fellas, I'll check those things out.

after attempting to crank FEEL THE CONNECTERS OF ELECTRIC COMPONETS , WHICHEVER IS warm to touch is a poor connectiion . sounds like bad connections somewhere .. . spray parts with wd -40

I spent about an hour trying to locate the problem last night, but still haven't found it.

Question,... shouldn't the starter do something if I short the "hot" post on the solenoid to the little tiny post on the solenoid with a screw driver????
I tried that and can't even get a "click or spark",... or does the saftey swith prevent electrical contact by going that route?

Thanks fellas
Spotted Horse

(quoted from post at 10:26:32 09/07/11) I spent about an hour trying to locate the problem last night, but still haven't found it.

Question,... shouldn't the starter do something if I short the "hot" post on the solenoid to the little tiny post on the solenoid with a screw driver????
I tried that and can't even get a "click or spark",... or does the saftey swith prevent electrical contact by going that route?

Thanks fellas
Spotted Horse

Click to expand...

You eliminated your starter switch and neutral safety switch as being the problem by doing that.

The problem is either battery, cables or solenoid.

(quoted from post at 07:50:35 09/07/11)

You eliminated your starter switch and neutral safety switch as being the problem by doing that.

The problem is either battery, cables or solenoid.

Click to expand...

Thanks RG, that's what I thought.
The batteries are fully charged, so that narrows it down even more.

I think I'll start with a new set of cables and see what happens.

Thanks
Spotted Horse