I've gotten really good service out of mower batteries. The last one went 7 years! I had bought it at NAPA and took it with me for the new one. The counter guy was shocked when he checked the date code.

what kind of a gauge or meter could a guy ad to his riding mower that would show battery condition?

About 3-5 years is about what you can expect, in my experience.

quote:

Originally posted by mcrimm:
I have both a Kubota Zero turn and a Kubota B series tractor. Both factory batteries lasted about 8 years without any maintenance. I left both in the machines in summer and winter with no trickle charging or removal.

Companies can install good products if they want.

This has been my experience with my Kubota. I'm going on the 7th season.

I'm still on my original Cub Cadet battery, I bought the mower in 2012. I haven't checked it this year yet, though.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
what kind of a gauge or meter could a guy ad to his riding mower that would show battery condition?

A volt meter would give you a slight indication of it's condition, would show if the alternator is working.

However, if you really want to know if a battery is good, you need to put a load tester on the battery. They're hand held with 2 battery leads and you press a button to test it. (Not something you'd permanently install on a mower or vehicle). Good tool to have if you have several vehicles and Harbor Freight sells them as cheap as $19.99, however their better one (500 amp verus 100amp) is $49.99 or a battery analyzer.

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:

quote:

Originally posted by bubbatime:
Trickle chargers can cook a battery if left on all day everyday.

I put mine on a timer. The batteries get 4 hours of trickle charge once per week. This seems to be the sweet spot of keeping a battery alive for the long term. My motorcycle and garden tractor get this treatment.

And yeah 2 to 3 years is average life for a tractor battery. Use my trickle advice and you can stretch that for 5-6 years.

A lot of the modern trickle chargers don’t keep charging the battery all the time. They monitor the battery once charged and then start charging again once the battery gets down to a certain level.

That's true. I keep an old car at a small vacation property that I pretty much only get to in the summer - so it sits for 9 or 10 months straight each year. I leave it on a NoCo Genius battery maintainer for the whole time. Works great.

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
I get 4-5 years out of mine but I keep them on a trickle charger during the winter. Before I started doing that sometimes I wouldn’t even get 2 years out of one.

We store our mower in the winter too. Trickle charger makes all the difference.

Brother says 5 1/2 years on his 700 series J.D. 2 w.d., trickle charges it all winter.