While not likely to be the book you curl up with before you turn out the lights for the night, this comprehensive 19-chapter primer is an essential guide to vintage tractor magnetos and electrical systems. Offering a light and engaging but informative prose style, along with 150 black-and-white illustrations, author Neil Yerigan indicates that “I do my best to explain how a magneto works and how you can repair one.” In his introduction he summarizes the book’s content: “I begin by reviewing basic electricity and explaining how magnetism interacts with conductors, and how electrical current produces a magnetic field. I also explain the difference between a capacitor and an inductor and how they affect an electric current. I try to tell you everything about magnetos that you ever wanted to know, and then some.” In addition, “I give you a distillation of thirty years experience in fixing old junk,” … “I also tell you more about meters and gauges than you really want to know.” Yerigan also explains how to take apart, check, and reassemble 11 representative magnetos. Concluding, “To help you keep your tractor purring like a kitten, I examine basic generators, voltage regulators, starters, and wiring.”

Book Review by Robert Gabrick