# 6 or 12 volt system



## 196thlib (Dec 8, 2014)

I bought a 1948 john deere a . how can you tell if it's 6 or 12 volt system.The seller
told me it was 12 volt, but the coil on the tractor has 6 volt marking on it.It has a generator , but I was told that 12 volt systems had generators too.How can you tell if it's 6 or 12 volt system.When I bought it ,it did not had a battery on it.
Thanks


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

Welcome to the forum! Coils generally are all 6 volt whether it's in a 12 or 6 volt system anyhow, but if it has a generator, most likely it's a 6 volt system. I had a 1947 Chevy truck for years that was converted to 12 volt from 6, but the starter was still 6 volt and I ran that 6 volt starter with 12 volts for quite a few years. They'll take it better than a 12 volt starter will handle only 6 volts. Question here is......... does your tractor run? If you can get it running, then you could check your generator with an electrical meter to determine what you've got or..... if you have any lights at all, then check the voltage of the bulbs.


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## jhngardner367 (Apr 5, 2011)

The "A" models were 6vdc,POSITIVE GROUND system,according to Tractordata.com .


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