Welded on a trailer now the tractor won't start

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I had to weld something on a snowmobile trailer. I hooked to it with the tractor and pulled it into the barn. Did my welding and went to start the tractor and I have no power.It never crossed my mind to disconnect the trailer.This is a 1981 Mitsubishi with very simple wiring. Alternator/voltage reg/ starter/glow plug1. I checked main fuse and it is fine. I even swapped it just in case.2. I still have head lights and the temp light on the dash works. But the gen and oil light no longer light up with the key on. so the power stops somewhere.3. There is no click or anything when the key is turned. 4. The only safety switch is on the clutch pedal and I already tried to bypass it with no change.5. The ground cable was connected well to the trailer not the tractor at a place I cleaned with the grinder.6. The bucket on the tractor was full of snow and sitting on the concrete floor.7. The type of welder if it matters is a Century wire welder with Flux core. (the polarity is reversed for the flux core)Do you think this is just the time the tractor failed or could it be related to the welding?Does anyone have any sugestion of where to start looking?Last edited by Mundy; 03-01-2010 at 09:07 AM.Regards,Mundy
Reply:Sounds like a tractor failure, not something caused by your welding.  A solid ground on the trailer should have prevented any stray current from arcing through the tractor's components...I start looking at the starter to begin trouble shooting, but that's not much more than a guess on my part...good luck.Benson's Mobile Welding - Dayton, OH metro area - AWS Certified Welding Inspector
Reply:Do you have a volt meter? If so, you can use it to check the starter switch, starter circuit, and battery voltage. My bet is on tractor failure also. Good luck and keep us posted
Reply:I'm going to be the third to say tractor failure. It would be so unlikely that stray welding current got to the tractor, even less likely that if it did it was able to get to the electrical line of the starter. Check the starter, though. Hook up A DMM to the starter just to insure you are getting voltage. I would bet either the starter or the solenoid controlling it.
Reply:bad timing from bringin it into the heat....yer battery isnt strong enuff anymore ill bet
Reply:It was the ignition switch. Had to take the dash apart to get at it to test.I traced power to the switch  but it did not come out when the key was turned. I sprayed it with some Kroil and worked it forward and backwards a few times and I got power to the glow plug leads when turned to that position. So I sprayed it again went and had lunch and when I came back it works fine.I don't think the welding had anything to do with it. The only thing I could maybe relate to the welding is the welding feild could maybe have speed up corosion if there was water in the switch through some sort of electrolysis. Maybe????I am going with just a coincidence.Thanks for all the input and help guys.Last edited by Mundy; 03-08-2010 at 08:25 AM.Regards,Mundy