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jeff lary

New Battery Time What Brand to buy?

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jeff lary

I will keep this short, I have a 1995 3/12/8 and it gets used a lot in the winter snow blowing. It has in it right now a Wally World Ever Start Extreme? 350/275 cca. I went to start the tractor the other day and she was dead as a Hake this battery is quite old maybe 5 years.

 Anyway I put it on a trickle charge for a couple days and even now she seems to have less oomph than I would like. Now maybe I ought to just go get another ever start $30-$40 dollars most likely. But I just called Napa to price a "good I hope battery" They have a Johnson Controls AGM 450 cca battery for $129.00. What are you cold weather guys buying I have all manner of part stores around and TSC too. Also today I bought a Battery Tender jr that will be attached to the WH when I decide what to put in her. Thanks Jeff

Edited by jeff lary
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SPINJIM

I also buy NAPA brand batteries, but I always ask for the ones made by Deka , and private labeled for NAPA.  I've had very good luck with them.  I buy the highest CCA available.   They cost about $55, and less one sale.   For the price of that Johnson Controls battery, I can buy two or three Dekas.

 

Edited by SPINJIM
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jeff lary

 He had a few larger cca but they were 8x8x6 I think,.. my battery box is 6 1/2 tall x 7 3/4 long and 5 1/8 wide. Oh and they were top "post" style mine is a  "bolt through style"

Edited by jeff lary
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WVHillbilly520H

If you have had good luck with the Everstart then stay the course, especially with a battery tender you should be fine, I personally use the AutoZone Duralast Gold 425ca/340cca ($47.99 + $10 core) last one made it 8 years, using a tender/maintainer during the winter months on my 520H, they now have the state of charge eye built into them like ACDELCO car batteries (green charged yellow weak ,black dead) , Interstate used to be a decent battery too, Jeff.

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pfrederi

I have changed over to DekA but not long enough to give yo a real buy recommendation... Reason i changed.  a few years ago I had a dead battery on a my tuck while out of town.  i have AAA they came out an replaced it.  that battery had a 100% 3 year warranty.  2 years and 10 months later it died.  They sent a guy out  my house (i the boondocks) to replace it.   He was very surprised as he said ti was exceedingly rare for one of their Deka batteries to fail.   If AAA bets that Deka batteries will normally last beyond the 100 % warranty i will go with them.  It cost a lot to send a truck out to the boondocks to replace a  battery so i imagine they pick a reliable source.  Mine must have been a bad sample.,

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shallowwatersailor

I just had to buy a Group 45 battery for my 523Dxi. It isn't a L&G battery so a bit pricey. For comparison, this size is used in a Mazda Miata as well! This was the second time I have used Batteries Plus and have been very happy. If you order online, there is also a 10% discount.

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jeff lary

Just what I figured lots of choices ha ha . I am not sure what I will do I don't mind the cost I guess but he did tell me that it had a 2 year free replacement. I thought 2 years? I bet Walmart has a 2 year plan for god sakes. I do like the idea of a brand name battery as I am a " do it once do it right" kind of guy. To be honest though $129. for 2 years does not seem all that spectacular to me.

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squonk
41 minutes ago, WVHillbilly520H said:

If you have had good luck with the Everstart then stay the course, especially with a battery tender you should be fine, I personally use the AutoZone Duralast Gold 425ca/340cca ($47.99 + $10 core) last one made it 8 years, using a tender/maintainer during the winter months on my 520H, they now have the state of charge eye built into them like ACDELCO car batteries (green charged yellow weak ,black dead) , Interstate used to be a decent battery too, Jeff.

Those charge eyes only show the state of charge of the cell it's over. So if it shows dead, well that cell is dead. If that cell is good but another is bad, it will still show good. 

 

I buy the TSC batteries usually with a 10% off coupon. I have 5 tractors and when the oldest battery in the fleet gets to 3 yrs. old I replace it. 

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jeff lary

yes we have a tsc nearby,

 After a quick google search it seems the Walmart Ever Start or Maxx  battery is made either by East Penn / Deka or Johnson Controls made in Saudi Arabia. Looks like the batteries are sourced from a quality manufacturer . 

Edited by jeff lary

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WVHillbilly520H
12 minutes ago, squonk said:

Those charge eyes only show the state of charge of the cell it's over. So if it shows dead, well that cell is dead. If that cell is good but another is bad, it will still show good.  

In my personal experiences with the ACDELCO batteries it was pretty much accurate for the state of the whole battery, the new Duralast I just got this past winter/spring time will tell

Screenshot_20171115-175040.png

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squonk

25 yrs. in a GM garage. I saw dozens of green eyes but dead batteries. Not disputing what you posted, just relaying my experience. 

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KC9KAS

I had a motorcycle battery last 7 years, and I was very happy with that. I contribute the longer life to using a battery tender the past 3 or 4 winters when the bikes were stored.

That being said, I think a Walmart (cheaper) battery will last 4-5 years with a tender on it.

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rjg854

Myself, I've had good luck with Interstate batteries. If I remember correctly they are not that expensive. I bought my zero turn back in '11, and it still has the original battery, an Interstate. 2 of my tractors have them also.

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jeff lary

I will go look soon, thanks for all the suggestions.

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WVHillbilly520H

I will have to say the original YUSA brand battery that came with the 520H in '97/'98 was a long lasting one too, till the voltage regulator let go and overcharged it 1 too many times, 

1 hour ago, squonk said:

25 yrs. in a GM garage. I saw dozens of green eyes but dead batteries. Not disputing what you posted, just relaying my experience. 

Not arguing either, reckon I was one of the lucky ones that it worked like it was supposed to :think:.

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WHX??

Good info ther on the green eye Jeffrey.. aways wondered how those things work. :handgestures-thumbupright:

Truth be told and as cheap as I am and as many tractors I have got that have a battery Jeff Lary. I buy the cheapest thing I can lay my grubby hands on and run it. I do however have a handful  of the Shumacher/Diehard battery maintainers and i usually get 5 years +- out of them. Some I get 7 or 8  out of but I suppose it has to do something  with which boat they came over on! :lol: I also pull my batteries out of tractors that are in winter storage and bring them in a heated shop in winter. May not help or hurt but I can monitor them  easiler that way. Correct me if I'm wrong fellas but doesn't the chemical reation slows  down the colder a battery gets? Thus the  old wive's tale of keeping your AA's or D cells in the freezer or a higher CCA for winter apps?

No matter what batt you end up getting keep the terms clean and tight and a maintainer on it. Nothing like the way that motor whistles over even in the cold!

 

Lots of other good threads here on whats the best battery... we've been kicking this around for years with good info. 

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pfrederi

Buy a John Deere Battery.  The one in my JD GT-235 is the original from when I bought it new in 2001. Some times you get lucky...some times you don't. (JD doesn't make their batteries  have no idea who made this one.

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WHX??

Likewise Paul the original battery In my 2005 Yamaha ATV, not sure the brand, just keeps ticking. 

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jeff lary

I know what you mean about getting a good one. I have a 95 Kubota that I bought in 2007 the battery in it was old ,..looking when I bought the tractor. I would say it was 2 years old or more in 2007. I cannot remember the make but it will start that tractor in minus 20* weather or plus 90*. Every Fall I say " boy I ought to change that battery" but so far it works flawlessly.

As for the WH goes I am leaning toward a Walmart battery just because I do believe I can get at least 5 years using my maintainer. The ones on their web site says $29.00 for the expensive one ha ha.

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SylvanLakeWH

I have found the trick is to keep a tender / trickle charger on it...For years it was 3 years and out for my boat battery regardless of brand. Started using a solar trickle charger and went to 5 years...

 

:twocents-02cents:

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jeff lary

I just got home I went and bought an Everstart it is on the tender right now $32.00 all in

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Sarge

Every single battery I've had that failed in the past dozen or so years was from a shorted/broken cell plate . Kohler engines are notoriously hard on batteries - especially the UL1 lawn/garden sized units . Even with a good working compression release it takes a lot of demand to whip over all that cast iron - add a weak/old starter and the amp draw can hit some pretty high rates which hurts those plates . The vibration on these modern batteries will kill them pretty quickly - the lead isn't nearly as thick as it used to be and not a very good purity either - recycling has made most battery plates very contaminated in comparison to years back . I have 1 Die Hard gold left in the 1277 that is from '03 - still works and holds a charge fine despite being hit by a starter/generator and the old iron K-301 Kohler . These days - if I can find a Deka or Odyssey in the group size needed I'd stick with those two brands - if the off road world trusts them they will last since we beat ours to death with high draw equipment/vibration and abuse . Autozone's best Duralast batteries used to be pretty good but I'm sure they've joined the rest . They gave me 2 free replacements when I rolled my Samurai several times and dumped the acid out of them , shorting them out badly on the hood as well - they didn't even hesitate to warranty them . These days the best warranty I can find on a UL-1 is 90 days - and that isn't pro-rated either like they used to be . I shoot for whatever I can stuff in that tray without interfering with the fuel tank or anything else and highest CCA available .

 

I see from looking directly at Deka's web site they show several small engine batteries under the lawn/garden tab -

http://www.dekacatalog.com/

 

Pretty sure it's down to rolling the dice these days unless you get a AGM type - and those are quite costly .

 

Sarge

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Skipper

32$ and probably another 5 years of up'n go......................Seems like a good "no brainer" deal to me :-)

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squonk
20 hours ago, WHX12 said:

Good info ther on the green eye Jeffrey.. aways wondered how those things work. :handgestures-thumbupright:

Truth be told and as cheap as I am and as many tractors I have got that have a battery Jeff Lary. I buy the cheapest thing I can lay my grubby hands on and run it. I do however have a handful  of the Shumacher/Diehard battery maintainers and i usually get 5 years +- out of them. Some I get 7 or 8  out of but I suppose it has to do something  with which boat they came over on! :lol: I also pull my batteries out of tractors that are in winter storage and bring them in a heated shop in winter. May not help or hurt but I can monitor them  easiler that way. Correct me if I'm wrong fellas but doesn't the chemical reation slows  down the colder a battery gets? Thus the  old wive's tale of keeping your AA's or D cells in the freezer or a higher CCA for winter apps?

No matter what batt you end up getting keep the terms clean and tight and a maintainer on it. Nothing like the way that motor whistles over even in the cold!

 

Lots of other good threads here on whats the best battery... we've been kicking this around for years with good info. 

Back in my Napa days we switched battery manufacturers like 3 times. Exide,Johnson Controls and Deka. All the battery wharehouses kept them on cement floors to keep them cool during the hot summer month's.

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oliver2-44

Ambient temperature has a lot to do with battery life 

working with the large industrial batteries ($15k to $20k )in our dams/power plants the manufacturers guarantee battery life at 78 Deg F.   At plants with air conditioned battery rooms they last 20+ years in plants with no AC and 100 Deg Texas summers they do good to last 12-15 years.   I've tried many brands of wet cell batteries and get about 2 summers out of them on garden tractors, jet skis etc. car batteries last about 4 years. You guys up north definitely have an advantage when it comes to battery life

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