These days you can get a very good little wire-fed mig welder for around $3-400 bucks. Less than I paid for mine 10 years ago. They are excellent for armatures for several reasons. The head is small enough to get into tight spots. You aren't contantly having to "reload". They are very forgiving and easy to learn. You can even get rigs that will weld up to 3/8" steel and still run on ordinery 110v house current (some require 220v, which is fine if you have it everywhere you need it...but, I never have). Biggest advantage of "stick" welders is the ease of going from one kind of metal to another (just pick up a different rod), but to date, 99% of everything I've done in the last decade has been regular old steel. As for galvanized, I weld it all the time and can even weld stucco lath by dialing way down the mig. You do need to try and avoid the vapors, but many masks have filters in them today and staying "up wind" in even a slight breeze (or with a small fan) seems to keep the nasty stuff at bay. Notes on masks...you need the face protection, otherwise you can get a really bad sunburn anytime of year. Also, take a look at the new "Auto-Darkening" masks, but avoid any that are "solar-powered" unless you only work outdoors on sunny days between 11am & 2 pm. The good ones are NOT cheap (like $180 for a good one)...but then the last time I checked, replacement eyeballs are getting kinda' pricey thesedays too . Hornell-Speedglas is probably the best around and they are indeed proud of them. Best of luck and remember...once you have a welder...you can be a metal sculptor too.

Google the Briggs alternator chart. That should get you hooked up.

Let me work my way backwards... "NO, The charging system plus the battery and the ignition system are completely independent, or better be or the ignition system of this engine will be fried promptly." That is correct according to the schematic for the currently installed engine which is the B & S model no. 311707 0125 E1. Here is the quote from that schematic word-for-word... "Your tractor is equipped with a special alternator system. The lights are not connected to the battery, but have their own electrical source. Because of this, the brightness of the lights will change with engine speed. At idle the lights will dim. As the engine is speeded up, the lights will become their brightest." "You're probably cooking solenoids from extended use with a battery that can't do the job." The tractor battery is either jumped in series with a good car battery that is still in the car, or that tractor battery is removed and the car battery is jumped directly to the tractor battery's cables (in the tractor seat area). BTW, the PTO isn't connected because the deck isn't connected. I didn't mention that in my first post and apologize. It is just the tractor frame, it's parts (clutch, hydro-tranny, starter, etc.), the electrical, and the current engine which started via key switch multiple times with no issue and then stopped (and continues to be stopped after mulitple solenoids). The deck is available, just not connected...yet! "So then is the lack of a voltage regulator what could be cooking the solenoids? How? It's not charging when you are trying to start it." It charges fine after it is started becuause the dead battery won't die, however I have to jump it from my car neg. battery to neg. tractor batt. post (or clamp to neg. batt. connection if tractor batt. removed) and then BYPASS pos. batt. directly to starter. That will start engine and once running it goes and goes (well, unless tractor batt. is removed and then I can't drive it anywhere). But if tractor battery is in, it will go until fuel tank runs out! "I can't decipher the rest of your description. Sounds like everything hooks to everything.' It LOOKS like that too! But still, the thing would start right up no problem when I turned the key when I first got it. Now it won't start no matter what when I turn the key. No click from the solenoids, nothing. That's why i'm here!! "Realize that the machine you now have is not a "pedigree" any longer." It wasn't a pedigree to begin with. It ran, now it doesn't. I haven't changed anything to do with the wiring, only the parts I stated originally and now i'm at a loss because it 'lost' its original 'panache'!

Ruggs, this answer is for you. ***"is that the trick where i pull the plug and use a screw driver and rotate the piston till its at TDC? where the screw driver is at its farther point outward?"*** Yes, sorta, kinda! But there are 2 points in the rotation of the crankshaft where that will occur, if you don't get the right spot of the 4-stroke cycle, one of the valves will not be in the right position to check/adjust the clearance. The "right spot" is at Top Dead Center on the COMPRESSION stroke, and then turn the engine further until the screwdriver drops down 1/4" into the cylinder. You can tell if the engine is in the right spot by "shaking" the rocker arms and/or looking at the valve springs. If the engine is at TDC on the COMPRESSION stroke, both valve springs of the cylinder will be fully extended and you will feel "looseness" when you shake the rocker arms. If the engine is at TDC on the EXHAUST stroke, the exhaust valve spring will be depressed and appear shorter than the intake valve spring. You will also observe that there is no looseness in the rocker arm on the exhaust valve. mcherchio, you need to start a thread of your own now to continue pursuit of your problem. I should have suggested that right from the start but sometimes posters get intimidated if you make that suggestion right from the start because they feel they are being chided or brushed off. Surely you understand now how hijacking an existing thread can lead to confusion. I mean, currently, I'm talking to two people about 2 different machines. If this keeps up........I'll soon be talking to myself. Just fix yourself a thread for your problem and we will pursue it there. We have "borrowed" ruggs' thread long enough. :^)