Got a 580B that apparently has some bad teeth on the flywheel. Previous owner said occasionally it would shutdown in a spot where the starter wouldn't engage and he had to pull it to start it. Said it eventually became commonplace and finally parked it. I got it cheap and now need to split it and replace the flywheel. Someone told me they thought those flywheels were symettrical and all I had to do was split the tractor and flip the flywheel over to the good side. Any truth to that? How bad is this machine to split? I've split several tractors bigger than this one, but not with loaders and hoes.
Welcome to HEF ihmanky! The flywheel on the B model will not be able to be turned, as it is used to time the engine. The ring gear for the starter can be replaced easily. Part # A182021 around $100 from your friendly CNH dealer.
All the engines I ever seen that did this either had a bad starter gear also, or were easy to start by turning the crankshaft a bit, usually just by pulling the fan and belt at the same time. If you replace the starter gear, check the ring gear teeth through the hole and use a file to clean up the "engaging corner" of the teeth with a file. Of course the new starter gear will wear much faster with the worn out ring gear, but still cheaper than the alternative. Before I'd go splitting a tractor of this age, especially one that has sat for a while, I'd start it up and use it enough to know it's worth the effort. Then you can fix it right when you have to split it for some other reason.