battery cables pos. neg.

i just bought 1968 ss12 sears tractor there is a red wire from amp. meter that is burned into.i have a 1970 ss12 with same tecumseh 12 hp motor and the hood sayes it is neg. ground. they both have the same solid state ing. same fly wheel the ground cable from motor on 1970 is hooked to hot post on battery and it does fine. both motors and elec. look the same could some one please help me out and what is the red wire from amp. where does cable from switch that says battery go pos. or neg. also when 1970 runs gas comes out of carb just had rebuilt. thanks 123 mooneye

sounds like you got a mess.
First, the battery ground (neg) is just that, the ground. It should be grounded to frame somewhere and attached to Neg on battery.
The "b" on your switch should be a small wire that goes to battery from the B terminal on switch, this give switch the power it needs, that's the wire your asking about.
The big red wire from positive post on battery goes down to one of the posts on the starter/gen, it's the one not with "F" beside it.
The ammeter has a wire that comes from the "A" on switch, wire comes off switch to one side of ammeter, then other wire from ammeter goes down to regulator to the "b" terminal.
The "f" wire from regulator goes to "F" post on starter, my 68 SS12 is green wire.
There should be another wire coming from regulator, maybe brown, it goes over to starter on same post as large red wire from battery.

Here's a manual from a 71, but wiring will be the same. Go to page 28 for proper wiring breakdown.
http://www.stripmine.org/sears/manuals/91725630.pdf


On the carb, if you have gas leaking while running, sounds like the float is not adjusted properly and it's letting too much gas in or the float has a pin hole and is filling with gas which will also cause it not to shut off.
Remove carb, turn upside down and see what position float is in. There should be a visible level gap between the float and bottom bowl flange of carb. If that looks correct, then remove bowl and put down in a bowl of water. If bubbles appear, it's got holes and needs replaced.