Dead battery

[JoeR]

I have an L4330 and stupidly left the key in the on position after I refueled. Let me clarify, I shut the tractor off, then turned the key one click to the right to see the display to check the fuel level. Anyway, I go to start the tractor a week later and the battery is dead! I jump start the tractor and do some mowing, after 45 minutes I shut the tractor off and come back 5 minutes later and it is dead. I thought 45 minutes of running at 540 rpm on the PTO would have brought a little charge onto the battery. I know my car would have survived, but is the tractor alternator somehow different? Or did I just wipe out the battery?

Any ideas? Or should I just replace the battery and not worry about it...

Thanks,

Joe

 

[ByronBob]

Buy another one. It's not worth the hassle for $30

 

[mark1]

Alternators need some voltage to work,,so if your battery was truly dead! and it sounds like it was, then your tractor alternator won't bring it back..put it on a charger (real one) for a few hours,You'll note that even on a charger a real dead battery wont even raise the charger meter for a while,but eventually will go up to fully charging then trickle down

 

[btolle]

markl is right, an alternator has to have good voltage to charge. The old generators would charge without voltage in the battery but this new fangled stuff is different.

BTW, if you are jump starting anything it is a good idea to let the vehicle doing the charging run for at least 5 minutes to build up the battery that is down. Most jumper cables do not have the capacity to start a vehicle by themselves, they need some juice from the battery to help the jumper cables. Feel the jumper cables after you use them and they will be hot or very hot.

If the switch was left on for a few days the battery may be irreparably damaged and will have to be replaced.

Bill Tolle

 

[JoeR]

Thanks everyone...

Bill: I remember when I was in the Army, our 2 1/2T trucks had generators not altenators... I had a sudden flashback when you mentioned that. I also remember sweating when driving those trucks due to the lack of power steering, especially, when trying to park them since you couldn't roll the truck much to help ease the turning of the tires.

I have a feeling the battery is shot, so it's off to the store!

Thanks,

Joe

 

[Alan L.]

$30? I just paid $70 for a Continental batter for my Kubota B2710 today at the dealership. Didn't figure Walmart would carry that size battery.

 

[JoeR]

I paid $48 for a new 530 cranking amp battery... The old one was 525 cranking amps. Went to local auto parts store...

Joe

 

[Ziggy]

Walmart batteries aren't that great. I replace my Simplicity lawn tractor battery every 2 or 3 years with a Walmart Battery. The Battery in my 2710 is original and still works fine! It's gotta be 6 or 7 years old.

Ziggy

 

[Junkman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Walmart batteries aren't that great. .......... )</font>

I am not a fan of Wally World at all, but I have purchased batteries there in the past. The one that I purchased one evening on the way home from work when my old one died in the parking lot was a 2 year warranty battery and it is now going on 5 years with no problems. The one I put into the wifes car is also a 2 year Wally World battery and that one is over 4 years old. Both have been trouble free and excellent values. I have found that when a battery is used in a tractor that it just doesn't last as long. I believe that it is the fact the tractor has a bumpy ride and it just beats the heck out of the plates till the battery dies.

 

[btolle]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I have found that when a battery is used in a tractor that it just doesn't last as long. I believe that it is the fact the tractor has a bumpy ride and it just beats the heck out of the plates till the battery dies. )</font>

While the constant pounding a tractor battery takes would probably contribute to an early death, I used to build sewer and water plants and they had UPS systems with big banks of batteries. We hooked several 60 watt light bulbs to them so that they would be constantly discharging and recharging. Research and experience had shown that batteries that were not being discharged and recharged regularly went bad a lot sooner than if they were used.

Bill Tolle