Sometimes it really does take a bigger hammer!

Can't fix it? Get a bigger hammer! ...or so the saying goes.

Over the past few months we've been having a problem with the ignition switch in one of the tractors. Sometimes when you put the key in the switch will turn to the 'pre-heat'/'on' setting, but it won't let you turn it further to the 'start' position. It's frustrating as hell because it usually happens when I really need to do something and I'm in a hurry. I simply can't think of something more frustrating than a piece of equipment which won't start (I'm a nut about this, and it makes me crazy). Anyway, for a while if you dinked around with the key (for about 15 minutes) it would eventually let you start it (usually about the time I'm so mad I want to start throwin' stuff!).

Over the past couple weeks it's been getting really bad, and sometimes you can't get it started at all...and THAT...SIMPLY...WILL...NOT...DO!!

Last night was the final straw! Damn thing wouldn't start, and I was as mad as a hornet with butt rash! So I got out the tools and took the whole dashboard apart (BIG job!) and removed the ignition switch and wiring harness. I'd bought a new ignition switch to replace it, but the wiring was not compatible. The existing switch had a 5 wire harness and my new switch was only 4 wire (no work-ee). Now it was WAR!

I couldn't get the tabs off the switch housing to get at the guts to investigate the problem, and no amount of prying or jimmying was working. Okay, Plan-B. I put the switch in the vice and squeezed the crap out of it a couple different ways (just for some revenge). Then I stuck the key into it. Upon much more careful inspection I discover the key isn't going in all the way. Hmmmmm...

Okay, let's get a hammer. Kind of worried a bit because hammers and electronic devices don't go to well together, but hey it ain't workin'. So I whacked the top of the key a couple times. Still no work-ee. So I whacked it a couple more times. Still no work-ee. Nothin' left to lose now...

Time to get a bigger hammer! So that's just what I did. Grabbed one of my bigger ball-peen hammers and pounded the crap outta that dang thing. (boy did that feel good too!) Well, well, well...looky there! Mr. big bad switch must be vewwy vewwy skeeerd of Mr. bigger badder ball-peen hammer because now it works great! I'm in amazement, kind of disbelief actually, so I get out the multi-meter to check it. 'Pre-heat' checks good, 'On' checks good and whatdaya know 'Start' checks good. Too good to be true, so I head out to the tractor. Still not really believing I fixed this thing with a 'bigger hammer' I decide to check out the functions without re-assembling the whole dashboard. So I put the wiring harness back together, but didn't put the switch in the dash. Now let's try it. BOOM!!...tractor starts right up! Tried it a second and third time, works flawlessly.

Put the whole dashboard back together, and tried it again. Works like a champ! AMAZING!

So I guess the moral of the story is...Sometimes it really DOES take a bigger hammer!

I am a sheet metal worker for over 30 years, yeah get a bigger hammer is a thing... and funny enough, my wife and I stopped at a garage sale this morning, and I bought the biggest hammer I have ever seen. Guy called it a rock splitting hammer. Got to be 20 lbs steel head, like a splitting maul only bigger.

I had to have it. 5 bucks lol

a reply to: tinner07

Can't really imagine swingin' a 20lb hammer for very long!

That sounds like, ummm..."work"!!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

yeah... not sure about the 20 lbs... but it is the biggest hammer I have ever seen... still in my car. I'm gonna bring it in and weight it

Just one silly question. Do you live in an area where some-one is liable to come up and steal your tractor? If you live on a farm miles from anywhere just why have an ignition switch. They are only to make vehicles slightly harder to steal.
Why not just junk the ignition switch and rewire to toggle switches. One off, one preheat and one run.

bathroom scale said 20 lbs...I was spot on.... and I have read your stories, I'm pretty sure you do not shy away from work.

When all else fails....BFH

a reply to: DAVID64

BFH

Yep hear that often. Most guys run a 16 oz tinners hammer. I did for years. I gave mine to a first year apprentice. my buddies kid so shopped for a new one.

I got I think a 22 oz tinners hammer. Seems normal to me now but when other guys ask for my hammer they are like "damn"

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Honestly I can't imagine swinging it once and probably never will... but you can't pass up a purchase like that....

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Time to get a bigger hammer! So that's just what I did. Grabbed one of my bigger ball-peen hammers and pounded the crap outta that dang thing. (boy did that feel good too!) Well, well, well...looky there! Mr. big bad switch must be vewwy vewwy skeeerd of Mr. bigger badder ball-peen hammer because now it works great!


As a metal worker my main tool is my hammer. i bought a cool ass store display of ball peen hammers at an estate sale. I dont use ball peen hammers and really not sure what they are made for but looks cool hanging in my barn

a reply to: tinner07

I had to look it up myself. It's also known as a 'machinist's hammer'. It's used for "peening" of metal, or surface hardening. Peening is also used for decorative reasons on iron (I knew that much, but I didn't know about the surface hardening part).

When I was framing houses back in the 80's I used a Vaughn 28oz Rigging Axe (with a cleated head). People used to pick it up and say "Dang, this thing is heavy!!" Didn't seem heavy to me at all, I could swing that thing all day. Vaughn also came out with a 32oz framing hammer, but the rigging axe was handier for framing and the 32oz version didn't come in a rigging axe configuration or I'd have used that. As it was, I could drive a 16d framing nail in one swing with the rigging axe. I usually used two swings though because it didn't leave as big of a mark in the wood. It was fun for winning beers on a bet though. Still have that hammer too. Vaughns are the best hammers in the world (IMO).

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

It's amazing how many different types of hammers there are. I have no clue as to what a rigging axe is and you may not know what a tinners hammer is. By cleated head I assume you speak of a typical claw hammer. The heavier ones have longer handles than a tinners hammer.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I had to look it up myself. It's also known as a 'machinist's hammer'. It's used for "peening" of metal, or surface hardening. Peening is also used for decorative reasons on iron (I knew that much, but I didn't know about the surface hardening part).

Yeah I don't get to do that pretty stuff,,, maybe after i retire.

a reply to: tinner07

Yeah, the cleated head basically looks like a wood rasp on the face. Even if you hit the nail off center the head won't slip / glance off. As for what it looks like, it looks like a roofing hatchet on steroids. It has a hatchet where the claw would be and the other side looks like a regular framing hammer. They are very well balanced, and they hit HARD (like real hard), and they do have a very long hickory handle. I always carried a cat's paw anyway if I needed to pull a nail, so i didn't care if my hammer had a claw on it.

You can see what one looks like...HERE

And you are correct, I don't have any idea what a tinner's hammer looks like. Are they the wide flat headed hammers? Like the ones they use to pound seams and edges flat?

ETA - I was just looking through Vaughn's website and I see they don't even sell the 32oz framing hammer anymore. They must have discontinued it. I should have bought one. Probably a collector's item now.