The starter in my 782D decided it had enough about a week ago. The solenoid wouldn't stay engaged, and it drew so much current that it fried the key switch. I decided it was time to upgrade to the newer starter that's described in the Tech Library. I picked one up off of ebay for about $80 and installed it. A hole has to be drilled in the engine mounting plate so the battery cable stud clears the plate. The info in the Tech Library said to drill a 1 1/4" hole, IIRC, but I drilled a 61/64" hole (I wanted 1" but this was the closest I had) as the 1 1/4" hole is unnecessarily large, IMO. I didn't want to weaken that plate any more than I had to. No wiring changes were necessary for this; everything hooked up. I put one of those little rubber boots from an old wiring harness over the end of the positive cable so there would be no way for it to short against the engine mount.
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While I had the tractor half apart for the starter, I decided to upgrade the glow plugs as well, to new NGK Y-103V plugs, which are about $9 each at NAPA. Before upgrading the glow plugs, the tractor would need 20-25 seconds of glow plug, even at an ambient temperature of 85 degrees. The old glow plugs can't handle much current or voltage; the glow indicator in the dash is actually a resistor that knocks the current down to about 6A and allows only about 1.5V across the glow plugs. The new glow plugs can handle 12V (supposedly) and more current. I eliminated the glowing indicator from the circuit. Now the glow plugs get the full 12V and can draw up to about 51A, which means some additional circuitry is necessary since the key switch and wiring can't handle that. I installed an 82 series solenoid (actually a generic Ford solenoid that is basically identical but only about $6) opposite the fuel pump, using the fuel pump bolts since they have the same bolt hole spacing. I ran a new wire from the glow plug power terminal on the key switch to the "S" terminal on the solenoid, and an 8 gauge wire from the positive terminal of the battery to the solenoid, and another 8 gauge wire from the solenoid to the rearmost glow plug. If I were doing this again, I'd use 6 gauge wire- I had to drive all over town to find 8 gauge wire and terminal ends.
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Now the tractor will start easily with 5-7 seconds of glow plug. The new starter turns the engine over much faster, and I no longer have to worry about the battery being charged enough to start it. This should be much easier on batteries, and the tractor's anemic charging system won't have as much trouble recharging the battery after a cold start. If you have a diesel, I'd highly recommend this modification. I wish I had done this a long time ago.