Tractor battery

[Chuey]

Batteries have been a mixed bag for me. I've bought Oddessy batteries for my bikes and about half of them have been problematic. I admit I'm buying them from an ebay battery warehouse in Florida and some of the problems have been with them instead of the actual batteries. I'm done buying batteries from them.

Lawn tractor batteries have been mentioned here more than once. This is So Cal and most of us don't have enough property to have a need for a tractor to mow our lawns. Matter of fact, I'm conflicted about having a lawn in this desert in the first place. In other words, finding a tractor battery was an all new adventure for me. Surprise! They have them at Sears.

A motorcycle battery at Sears was $130.00 "on sale". The tractor battery, the heavy duty one, was $50.00. Thing is, it is a quarter inch wider than the battery tray. I consider my time almost worthless, I guess. That, and I like to make things, led me to widen the battery tray for my bike. The sides are spot welded onto the back/bottom piece. I drilled out the spot welds and positioned the sides 1/8" further out and brazed them into place. The battery is going to fit in the tray. I filed the slots for the top rubber mounts so they will still fit.

So, tomorrow, it's off to the powercoater with the tray. Of course it would have been nice to share a couple of pics but the data card for the camera is at the shop. I'll get some pictures up when I pick it up from the powdercoaters.

Chuey

[ME 109]

Will the battery fit through the frame? Or have you had it in there already, thus discovering the narrow tray?

[lrz]

Having recently done business w/ the same Fla warehouse, would you care to expound?

[dwire]

Can I mention here so the topic is "modern" If you are not using a battery that you dump fresh electrolyte into brand new plates (I.E. a gel or AGM battery) your enemy is time. I won't go into all the details as there is a wonderful site called (I think) "the 12 volt side of life" you could Google - in short, Gel and AGM batteries if they sit an the shelf for more than a couple weeks to a month might as well be junk. I have personal experience with this on several occasions. If you cannot verify the date of manufacture of a gel or AGM battery, don't buy it; it will fail rapidly if it has been sitting about for some time (or for instance in my case essentially be a failure out of the box in my Jeep) and you'll be displeased. I am pretty convinced the stories of folks having good and folks having bad luck with gel and AGM batteries this is the most likely reason. My junk Optima in my Jeep after realizing it would not take a charge and all around was little better than what I had replaced (another Optima) I finally found out had been on the shelf for over well over 9 months - so it was already junk. For these reasons alone, I buy good old lead acid batteries for my M/C that I know are brand new when I dump the acid in them and charge them for the first time.

Optima dose make a good product, at least for a motor vehicle like my Jeep, but that is all for not when you install a battery that has been on the shelf for a year or so. I would ONLY EVER buy a gel or AGM battery if I knew I were getting them from someplace that just got them in off a pallet from PA where most of the non-imported batteries are made in the US. Or a super-high volume dealer of them. I, like the OP jammed a battery that really was a bit too tall and maybe pushing the other dimensions just a bit because it was all I could find at the time that was reasonably priced and I was the one converting it from a plastic case with lead plates and terminals to a living breathing battery ready to be charged/topped off by personally filling it with electrolyte. It is on it forth year now. While I admit to not riding the bike more than 100 miles or so in that time for various reasons, the bike went an entire winter without trickle charging or any attention and fired right up.

I'd suggest anyone that has gotten sick of batteries not lasting or not living up to their potential from day one to go check out that site referred to above; you might be surprised what you learn, I know I learned a great deal of things I simply had never considered - as I am not an automotive or M/C battery expert...

BTW, I have no affiliation with ANY battery companies or the website referred to above. Too bad I did not know of the site prior to learning such things the hard way. I am still running around with that Optima that has no parasitic load on it other than the Jeep's CPU and if it is not started and run a decent distance every 4 or 5 days, it must be charged or jumped and then taken out for a charging drive which is an utter waste of gasoline, time and resources...

[Bob Bennett]

Hi Chuey,

This one does it for me in my R80 Mono.

http://www.centurybatteries.com.au/sear ... ies/ID-120

They seem to last up to 5yrs with little maintenence.

[Chuey]

Having recently done business w/ the same Fla warehouse, would you care to expound?

The company ships the batteries with inadequate wrapping. Two of them arrived with the plate that covers the vents broken off. One had a corner broken as well, and the other one that was damaged just popped all the little plastic tabs that go into receptacles. Once they shipped me a 925 instead of a 925L. That is, the terminals were on the wrong sides. UPS wouldn't ship it back or wanted more than the cost of the battery, I can't remember which. Finally, they sent a pick up order and UPS or FedEx, I can't remember which, picked it up with no questions in spite of the fact that it was going to a place with "battery" in the name. This last one lasted well under a year. I emailed the company but got no response. I was in the giving up stage at that point.

I wish I'd gone to the motorcycle shop and bought an official battery but the cheap price was so seductive. It tells me too much about myself that I was more attracted to the adventure of re-sizing my battery carrier than convenience.

Chuey

[dwire]

We've all been there done it. Mine as mentioned is too tall and I "think" my poor little tray might be bulging a bit. I think the battery I put in mine as well very well could have been a tractor batter. IIRC, I had to tear some stuff out to get it in and it is tight enough the rubber hold downs are not needed. Also because of its height, they (those straps) want to sit right where the terminals are, so it is will never be a concourse winner, but hopefully will always get me home with my "thanks for participating and losing" pin...

[lrz]

Thanks, Chuey.

That was exactly my experience w/ WestCo. I would not want one of their units at no cost, in all seriousness.

As for the tractor battery, I tried that route myself. One issue was size, which I was willing to deal with.

The other was Made in China/Vietnam. Considering there was not a significant difference in price, I just didn't want to purchase what may be, based upon other experiences, a throw away battery. All of the wet cells I looked at were just that.

OTOH, I honestly don't expect great things out of the Oddy-see either.

Color me a beaten down consumer.

[Roy Gavin]

I have had a $50-Powervolt lawn mower battery in my lightly used R75/7 for about 5 years now, and it still works fine.
It was supplied dry charged, with the acid in a six pack of plastic bottles.
It has lasted longer than two Oddessys did put together, although the second was free warranty issue.

The Motobatts in my XT and G/S have been splendid so far, coming up for two years in the G/S. It is 5mm too big all round for the G/S,as they only make one battery to cover the two BMW 519-- sizes, so fitting it involved a bit fettling but the results are worth it.

I recently bought a mid range Bosch 12 volt battery drill and both the Ni cad battery packs are U/S in under 3 months. They have the build date in them - Nov 2009 so they had been sitting almost 27 months before I bought them and both required charging before use.
I have been informed by Bosch that batteries are not covered by a warranty, as they are a wear item.
Last time Bosch get any of my business.
So it seems that if you are in the market for a battery drill it pays to buy one were you can open the box and check the date and charge of the battery, as if they have stood flat or near flat they are or soon will be scrap.
I have a battery repack guy locally, and for $50- he can repack them with the best Ni-mh cells he can buy, which will have double the amps, a 2 year unconditional warranty and a five year expected life with home use, so all is not lost, but it is a lesson learnt.

[ME 109]

Me too for the Motobatt, two years never a slow crank.
But then my BMW battery did that. But they also priced themselves outa the game.