Best Tractor Battery / charging system issues ?

[PatrickS2222]

All certainly relevant points - especially regular use and keeping charge level over 50%. General consensus amongst the automotive trade is a battery's worst enemies are sitting unused for extended time periods and being allowed to discharge significantly - to "deep cycle".

That said, there have been several notable exceptions as mentioned in recent posts. I had forgotten until now to include my own - a non-descript Chinese battery of some brand which would now be about 7yo, original battery in our 8kVA generator. We last used it just over 4 years ago during bad floods here - we were without electricity for four days. Unit ran exceptionally well, and powered everything we threw at it. Sinde then I start it occasionally, but it went untouched for two years at one stage. I put some fuel in a dry tank, turned the key, and it cranked for 3-4 secs and started as though it was working the previous day! I could not believe that puny little battery still had any life in it, much less start that albeit small Honda petrol engine! So much for maintenance charging, although there is nothing connected to discharge it, so there may also be some merit in merely disconnecting them.

Some pertinent reading I found informative if anyone is interested:

Charging Information For Lead Acid Batteries – Battery University

Battery Maintenance Facts

Charging Basics

 

[LarryD]

In response to your original question, the OEM battery in my '03 33D frequently required cleaning of the positive terminal and there was nothing wrong with the charging system. The tractor gets used at least once a month and has no other charging device attached.
Here is the thread where I expressed my satisfaction with the Odyssey battery I installed. It has now been in use for 10 years and never fails to start the tractor. When it does go, there is no doubt what I will replace it with.

 

[dickfoster]

In response to your original question, the OEM battery in my '03 33D frequently required cleaning of the positive terminal and there was nothing wrong with the charging system. The tractor gets used at least once a month and has no other charging device attached.
Here is the thread where I expressed my satisfaction with the Odyssey battery I installed. It has now been in use for 10 years and never fails to start the tractor. When it does go, there is no doubt what I will replace it with.

Along those lines here is a video of how Odyssey batteries are made. I thought it was interesting for people into that sort of thing. It shows how they pack all of that energy into such a small space.

 

[Xfaxman]

Wow, that video is amazing. But not clear on how they put the acid in it after the top was put on.

It shows it being injected through the top, but doesn't mention how the air gets out or how the hole is sealed.

 

[John_Mc]

Thanks for the thread links. I'm leaning towards an AGM battery like the Odyssey.

The PC925L will fit (as LarryD has proven). My concern is the CCA rating. There seems to be some discrepancy in the rating for the Odyssey PC925. Most vendors on Amazon state it as 380 CCA (though the label on the battery in their pictures says 330). The Odyssey site says 330 CCA, so I'm inclined to believe the 330 number.

The stock New Holland battery in my tractor is 420CCA.

I might gamble 380, but I'm concerned that 330CCA is too low for the cold winters here, especially as the battery ages. The Optima D51 size battery might fit, and has 450CCA. I've got to do some more accurate measuring to make sure.

 

[LarryD]

Your comment prompted me to go look at my battery. As you can see, it states 380CCA. I wonder if there has been a change to the manufacturing process or just a downgrade in the advertised specs.

I did mount mine on it's back as that was the only way to clear the hood latch. It moved the terminals away from the radiator as well which made me more comfortable when blowing out the radiator with a long metal air nozzle. I suppose any "reversed" terminal battery would put the connection up front.

420CCA is the rating in the manual but I live in a temperate climate anything below 20º is rare. We did get a pretty good winter storm in '12 that remained in the mid 20's for about 10 days, had to move snow a couple times and the battery worked just fine.

 

[dickfoster]

Your comment prompted me to go look at my battery. As you can see, it states 380CCA. I wonder if there has been a change to the manufacturing process or just a downgrade in the advertised specs.

I did mount mine on it's back as that was the only way to clear the hood latch. It moved the terminals away from the radiator as well which made me more comfortable when blowing out the radiator with a long metal air nozzle. I suppose any "reversed" terminal battery would put the connection up front.

420CCA is the rating in the manual but I live in a temperate climate anything below 20ｺ is rare. We did get a pretty good winter storm in '12 that remained in the mid 20's for about 10 days, had to move snow a couple times and the battery worked just fine.
View attachment 465053

I wouldn't worry about an Odyssey and cold temps. They actually work better at low temps than standard wet cell types. They don't tout the CCA so much unless you do a bit of digging but they also rate theirs in 5 sec pulse current, it's part of the model number, They list short circuit current too which is useless info. It's enough to know that if I drop a wrench across my battery terminals it will likely vaporize. I have two PCL1200s in my truck so that's over 5000 short circuit amps available. You do not want to short and spark jumper leads together alike a lot of folks do with these types of batteries. The internal resistance is much less than a wet cell battery.

If you go on their web site they have all kinds of technical info, manuals etc. available.
http://www.odysseybattery.com/documents/US-ODY-OM-012_1014.pdf

 

[Coyote machine]

Why not get an Interstate battey that fits your tractor and be done with it?
Yes, AGMs are excellent too, but I'm not clear as to why you need something special and expensive, here in VT?

I've had Interstate in all four of my Toyotas, four in my boat, at one time, now 2, (after doing away with the trolling motor). One each in my Kioti 40 HP diesel tractor, ATV, Scag ZT mower, one in my Husky 322 ride mower, one in my dr.mower/brush cutter, one in a dr. Weed mower, and one each in two generators, a 20kW, and a brand new 14kW.
BTW, my 20 kW Briggs genny ran 230 hours straight last winter, and sat through a 30 below zero cold snap this just past winter.
Phew, that's a LOT of batteries.

I was one of their dealers, years ago when I owned my foreign auto shop.

So, FWIW, I am certain you could power your tractor with one.
They're not ridiculously expensive, have marine type, as well as regular wet cell models, etc.:confused3:

 

[John_Mc]

Why not get an Interstate battery that fits your tractor and be done with it?
Yes, AGMs are excellent too, but I'm not clear as to why you need something special and expensive, here in VT?

My main reason is the corrosion issue. As noted in my original post, I've had the "cottage cheese" of corrosion build up on my positive battery terminal almost since it was new, and had to replace the lug on the end at least twice. I think there are other issues besides just corrosion of the battery & cable, since NH had a recall or service bulletin to replace some fittings or something on the hydraulic oil cooler which mounts on the front of the radiator - it seems corrosive fumes from the battery were destroying the fittings. A second reason is that AGM batteries hold their charge much longer, so If I don't have it hooked up to a maintainer during an extended period of disuse, I've got a better chance of getting it started.

I can get an Odyssey 925 for about $165 (or about $180 if I want the "metal jacket" option which lets it withstand higher temperatures). The concern there is the CCA rating since they seem to have dropped their spec from 380 to 330 for that. I can get a group 51 Optima Yellow top (450CCA) that is physically larger than the Odyssey, but will fit for $160. The Interstate MT-51 will fit, and lists for about $130. I haven't checked local prices yet, but see eBay sellers listing it at $101 (they won't ship). I've got nothing against Interstate batteries. Both our current vehicles use them, as did the vehicles we owned before them. I've used them in other tractors. I'm not sure that a flooded lead-acid battery is the best choice for this tractor, where the battery is mounted right up in front of the radiator.

In short, if an extra $30-$60 gets rid of the corroding battery cable, it's well worth it to me.

 

[Coyote machine]

Your logic makes sense, especially considering the NH tractor specific corrosion issues.

Would be great to figure out why your model suffers the corrosion problems. Sounds like a dissimilar metals creating a battery situation with the hydraulic cooler being the possible culprit. The NH bulletin may require fittings that isolate the cooler from the chassis/tractor frame, thus eliminating the galvanic action of dissimilar metals in contact with each other.

It's possible the wet battery may off gas some corrosive gasses during use, which could contribute to the 'acidic" mix present under the hood, near the radiator and battery. The perfect storm of metals and acid gas, so to speak. That's all I can think of what could be occurring....