Finally realized Svc Dpt Vic is pulling my leg: 850CCA?!!

[ShaunBlake]

Read the Battery Basics article and went looking for Service Dept Vic's recommendation: an 850CCA battery.

<sigh> No doubt somebody around here stocks a 51R 850CCA battery, but even NAPA doesn't, and I couldn't find one more powerful than 500CA/400CCA.

I might have "settled" for the 500CA battery but sticker shock sent me into cardiac arrest and I had to be rushed home and heavily medicated. Now that the Jamison has helped me to recover, I'm thinking that if it's going to cost 200 bucks and up for a proper battery, I'd better figure how to rig the puppy for hand-cranking.

It's hard to tell (the dealer who sold the tractor painted everything except the fuel tank) but the existing battery might have been 425 or 450CA or might have been CCA. So maybe the little 'B's don't need such a powerful battery? Or is there a better source -- that is, somewhere they aren't so expensive?

 

[sheepfarmer]

Hmm, out of curiosity looked up specs for my 3560 in the manual, RC 133 min, CCA 582. A lot less than 850.

Is your Bota still in the back garden?

 

[Daren Todd]

I measured the battery box and clearance and stuffed the biggest battery I could get in there. Try o'reilly auto parts. Picked up mine for around $130 ish with a five year warranty.

Got as close as I could to the 850cca


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[Diydave]

Both my Kubotas, the L2202, and the L185 get the batteries out of whatever is closest, and will fit in the hole. I take batteries out of cars, as they age, as long as I get a reading of about 250 CCA, with no bad cells, and will still take a charge, it goes into a kubota or on the shelf, for future kubota use. I have friends in the battery business that told me the higher amperage batteries are not as tough as the lower ones, in a high vibration environment, like that of a 2 lunger diesel...

 

[Tooljunkie]

Both my Kubotas, the L2202, and the L185 get the batteries out of whatever is closest, and will fit in the hole. I take batteries out of cars, as they age, as long as I get a reading of about 250 CCA, with no bad cells, and will still take a charge, it goes into a kubota or on the shelf, for future kubota use. I have friends in the battery business that told me the higher amperage batteries are not as tough as the lower ones, in a high vibration environment, like that of a 2 lunger diesel...

This is so true, had a 24c-1000. That thing packed a whallop. But failed in very short order. I find the best bang is a 650cca battery for longeveity. Reccomended cranking amps for automotive use is 100 amps/cylinder. I have never had a problem with cranking anything in the winter with a proper sized battery.
One odd exception,put a 450 amp battery into a full size chevy,it went for three years.

 

[Stubbyie]

Try installing a ride-aboard electronic sealed solid-state battery float charger maintainer. Shumacher makes a good one. Looks sort of like a hockey puck with a 120-vac plug and a red-black DCV wire set. Tractor Supply, Atwoods, WM, for about $30 each on sale. Stay away from Harbor Freight (boils batteries dry).

Every piece of equipment on the place has a float maintainer on it. I'm consistently getting 7-8-yrs out of the cheapest WM auto battery I can find. Even the lawn-n-garden batteries on the big ZTRs last 5-6-yrs.

The mobile iron gets plugged in every time it's parked, year round. Really makes a difference in the wintertime. Combined with a lower radiator hose heater everything lights and runs at -10F without fail and with only one cycle of the glow plugs.

Please post back your continuing experiences so we may all learn.

 

[D2Cat]

Like most said, the largest automotive battery that fits in the battery box.

Remember, we're not on the space shuttle!!

 

[ShaunBlake]

Hmm, out of curiosity looked up specs for my 3560 in the manual, RC 133 min, CCA 582. A lot less than 850.

Is your Bota still in the back garden?

<snarl> Oh, great! Let a lady in (and a sheepfarmer to boot!) and she embarrasses the ol cowhand by underscoring the obvious! {sound of grinding teeth}

My manual (now that I've checked it... duh!) says, "12V 45Ah". What? I doubt that a 45Ah battery could approach 500CCA, and I don't want to think of the cost. But... Instead of working backwards, finding the correct size class in a thread on TBN and using that number (51R), thanks to sheepfarmer's unintended nudge, I have a more correct number to use. Discovering that the price of a proper battery is a bit lower (a very little bit <sigh>).

Yes and no, dear lady: the dear thing is still stranded, and I wish it were in a garden; perhaps I'd be less reluctant to be wrenching on it.

 

[ShaunRH]

CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) and AH (Ampere Hour) have little to do with each other.

You could have a 1000AH battery and it couldn't turn over a drill at 0°F. It's about battery type and chemistry to determine CCA.

Most decent car batteries, new, can easily crank our compact tractors. If you're really worried about it, pay the premium for the Optima series batteries as they isolate the cells from each other, but they aren't needed.

If you are having cold weather issues, put a trickle charger on the battery and a battery blanket or a blanket over the whole tractor (better yet, store it inside a shed or something). This will heat the battery and keep it ready for a cold start.

Be wary of Marine batteries. Many actually have lower CCA's due to their 'reserve' (deep cycle) function. They can crank longer but not as hard in cold weather.

All of the above has been given to me by experience and folks I trust. If any of it is wrong, I have yet to find what that is so I'm open to knowledge from anyone, anywhere.

 

[ShaunBlake]

Okay, guys, thanks! I really was only hoping for a little information, and instead you gave me a wealth of knowledge.

I use the tractor on such an irregular basis that I plan to add a battery minder to it.

Short-term I have to do something quick and the cheapest I can find. After the stalled projects are finished, I'm going to man-up and tackle the wiring. Then look at some lithium-ion conversions or find a more durable powerful lead-acid battery.

 

[D2Cat]

ShaunBlake, if you are really in this situation, "Short-term I have to do something quick and the cheapest I can find." might try this.

I have a friend who own an auto "recycle" yard. I can get used batteries from him for $25-$35. Sometimes I just take 2 or 3 old batteries and make a trade. I use them in my trencher, fence charger.....anything they fit. Sometimes I get nearly new batteries from Wal-Mart. They still have warranty on them. Just think outside the box, and being frugal.

Oh, you can get recycled antifreeze there for your tires also!