How long did your battery last?

[armylifer]

I have a BX1860 that I bought new in March of 2013. I am still on the original battery. I have read several posts through the years about batteries failing in as little as 3 years. The battery in mine is more than 12 years old and still going strong.

I do not keep it on a battery maintainer or any other maintenance other than keeping the battery posts clean and occasionally spray WD-40 on the posts. I cannot add any fluid because the battery is sealed, so I have not even done that to it.

I am curious if any other members experienced the same as I have so far. With the performance that I have gotten out of this battery so far, I am very inclined to buy the same exact battery when this one does finally need replacement.

 

[L35]

I replaced my battery in 2009 and then again in 2023. I keep mine on a maintainer while not in use for a while.

 

[Dchemphill1]

Got 8 years. During cooler to cold weather I keep it on a battery tender.

 

[bird dogger]

I have 8 plus years on my original battery so far. No problems to date. Tractor is garaged when not in use.
No battery tender. It starts as good as it always has.

 

[D2Cat]

I have 8 plus years on my original battery so far. No problems to date. Tractor is garaged when not in use.
No battery tender. It starts as good as it always has.

But you live in the climate where it's warm year around, batteries should last longer!

 

[RCW]

I bought my BX2360 in April 2013, so a month later.

Since I need the tractor for snow duties, I replaced it last year just in case. I didn't want a dead battery with 3 feet of snow on the ground.

Admit I might have replaced a perfectly good battery at 10 years.

I do keep a Maintainer on my tractor over the cold months.

I recommend one if possible.

I had a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Bought it new with a tender. Sold it after 11 years with the factory battery.....sold me on the benefit of a tender. Motorcycle batteries don't often last 11 years.

Another thought is a simple/cheap Battery Load Tester. I got one from Amazon not long ago after reading some posts here on OTT. Seems like it was $50 or so.

Today I would do a load test on the battery before looking at a new one.

Cheaper than the $170 I paid for the battery last year.......

I got a "good" NAPA battery in my own mind. Always had good luck with NAPA batteries, although I know NAPA doesn't make batteries.....

 

[armylifer]

I bought my BX2360 in April 2013, so a month later.

Since I need the tractor for snow duties, I replaced it last year just in case. I didn't want a dead battery with 3 feet of snow on the ground.

Admit I might have replaced a perfectly good battery at 10 years.

I do keep a Maintainer on my tractor over the cold months.

I recommend one if possible.

I had a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Bought it new with a tender. Sold it after 11 years with the factory battery.....sold me on the benefit of a tender. Motorcycle batteries don't often last 11 years.

Another thought is a simple/cheap Battery Load Tester. I got one from Amazon not long ago after reading some posts here on OTT. Seems like it was $50 or so.

Today I would do a load test on the battery before looking at a new one.

Cheaper than the $170 I paid for the battery last year.......

I got a "good" NAPA battery in my own mind. Always had good luck with NAPA batteries, although I know NAPA doesn't make batteries.....

It seems that the batteries Kubota was using at the time we bought our tractors were very good quality. I don't know what manufacturer they were using back then but I hope they are the same one when I have to replace mine. If they are not, I will search out one made by Johnson Controls. They manufacture batteries for several brands. I have always had great luck with ones made by that company.

One brand that I will never buy again is Interstate. I have two batteries in my 2007 Silverado. When one of the original batteries went bad in 2018, I replaced both of them with Interstate batteries. In 2021 one of the Interstate batteries went bad. I tried to get a replacement battery under warranty but the Firestone dealership that I bought it from was closed because of covid. When they finally opened the store again, my battery was about 2 weeks out of warranty. The store would not replace the battery even though I tried to get it replaced before the warranty ran out. The store said that Interstate policy prevented them from replacing it even though they were closed for about a month because of covid BS. I swore off from Firestone stores and Interstate and nothing could make me become a customer of either one again.

 

[85Hokie]

I too bought my BX25D in the summer of 2013 - still same battery.

I too run a maintainer on it.

 

[Yooper]

Six years here

 

[Runs With Scissors]

On my tractor I have 3'ish years on it, and it shows no sign of getting weak.

I have a maintainer, but I'll be damned if I can remember to plug it in.

I have always had the best luck with "factory batteries" .

I'm not sure what the difference is, but I have always gotten 7-8 years from my factory automotive batteries, but only about 3-5 from the replacements.

However, I must admit to using "Wally World specials", so maybe it's a "you get what you pay for" thing.

 

[old and tired]

From 2005, getting a little weaker, the green dot is long gone... only a black hole (indicator light on battery). I put a charger on it the first time I use it for the weekend, it's never not turn the engine over to start. Once started, I rarely turn it off during the day when I'm working... only charge it after it sits for very long periods. 950 hours on it...

Pretty sure, next time I'm up there, it's going to fail!!!

 

[Lil Foot]

I run a full size Optima red top in Lil Foot, and it is 15+ years old, stays hooked to an Optima charger/maintainer.

I run a full size Optima blue top in my Rhino, and it is 13+ years old, stays hooked to an Optima charger/maintainer.

I probably average 7+ years in other vehicles with various brands, but the heat out here absolutely kills car batteries.

To echo sentiments expressed above, I will never buy Interstate again. Had reasonable service from them in the past, but got one with my dump trailer, and the case split on the bottom, (6 months old) drenching everything in the hydraulics box with acid.
After clean up, it was replaced under warranty.
Less than 6 months later, the case split on the bottom, drenching everything in the hydraulics box with acid again.
O'Rielly's told me it was common for Interstates to fail with case splits.
After clean up, it was replaced with an O'Rielly's brand, (all I could get at the time) and it has been good for years since.

I replaced the last pair of Autolite batteries in my F350 with Optimas, but they have only been there a couple years, so time will tell.

I have replaced the battery in the B7100 once since I bought it in 2011.

The battery in my excavator is 10+ years old but not exactly sure how old.

 

[Botamon]

I'm not sure what the difference is, but I have always gotten 7-8 years from my factory automotive batteries, but only about 3-5 from the replacements.

However, I must admit to using "Wally World specials", so maybe it's a "you get what you pay for" thing.

Whenever I need to replace a battery it is always with a Walmart "Everstart" or whatever they call them and I've had excellent luck with them. The Walmart battery in my ancient John Deere diesel lasted 13 years, and that tractor is notoriously hard to start if the outside temperature is below 50 degrees. I have gotten excellent life out of all my Walmart batteries.

But then every vehicle I own is connected to a battery maintainer. Been using them for years now and since I started using them my average battery life has approximately doubled.

 

[armylifer]

I run a full size Optima red top in Lil Foot, and it is 15+ years old, stays hooked to an Optima charger/maintainer.

I run a full size Optima blue top in my Rhino, and it is 13+ years old, stays hooked to an Optima charger/maintainer.

I probably average 7+ years in other vehicles with various brands, but the heat out here absolutely kills car batteries.

To echo sentiments expressed above, I will never buy Interstate again. Had reasonable service from them in the past, but got one with my dump trailer, and the case split on the bottom, (6 months old) drenching everything in the hydraulics box with acid.
After clean up, it was replaced under warranty.
Less than 6 months later, the case split on the bottom, drenching everything in the hydraulics box with acid again.
O'Rielly's told me it was common for Interstates to fail with case splits.
After clean up, it was replaced with an O'Rielly's brand, (all I could get at the time) and it has been good for years since.

I replaced the last pair of Autolite batteries in my F350 with Optimas, but they have only been there a couple years, so time will tell.

I have replaced the battery in the B7100 once since I bought it in 2011.

The battery in my excavator is 10+ years old but not exactly sure how old.

I know about the reliability of the Optima line of batteries but when I went to buy one for my Jeep, I got sticker shock. I figured that I was planning on replacing the Jeep in a couple years so I went with a battery from O'Reilly Auto Parts. If I planned to keep that Jeep longer I might have sprung for the Optima. If you look at reviews about the Optima line of batteries it is hard to find a legitimate bad one.

My tractor never stays parked long enough to need a maintainer. My motorcycle on the other hand is a different story. It is so seldom run these days I am thinking about selling it.

 

[Benhameen]

Looks like I got 11 years out of mine. Replaced last year, can’t believe it’s already been that long since I bought her. I use a battery tender during the winter months, typically I run it once a week at least through spring, summer and fall.