Battery Info

[ultrarunner]

Seen it often… check your grounds…

If you can try connecting cables or jumper cables as close to the starter and see if it makes a difference.

A very early success of mine that had both the dealer and independent mechanic stumped after several new batteries and a starter was as simple then as a $3 braided ground strap from the frame to a starter bolt…

Doesn’t hurt to tug on the battery cables… seen it were the cable just pulled out and separated…

 

[LouNY]

Grounds or cables likely to be bad, have you checked the battery voltage with it disconnected from the tractor?
Also if you can wrangle a second set of hands try checking the voltage from the battery positive post to the starter solenoid connection, with the key off should be zero volts, when starting or trying to start the indicated voltage shows what the cable is eating up.

 

[varmint]

I bought my present Kubota L3400 used in 2014 from a careful previous owner who had taken excellent care of the tractor and even added some premium accessories. It came with a NAPA battery, which is still serving me. The tractor lives in a barn, and I keep a cheap Harbor Freight battery maintainer on it when I know it will sit for weeks, especially in the winter. Never any issues with that battery. I'd hope to get 4-5 years out of any car battery, considering the cost.

 

[JimRB]

I had to put a new end on my positive battery cable. New end with an extension as JD puts in exactly the length of cable with not enough length to put on a new clamp. OEM positive cable was a silly price and had some custom connections happening. Oreilly's had it on their wall. https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...s01/08202?q=battery+repair+cable+6+inch&pos=3

 

[airbiscuit]

Bad grounds or battery cables would explain the no start, but I don't get the low voltage readings. Frustrating.

 

[grsthegreat]

I had a few issues with my positive battery cable on my tractor with intermittent non starts. I replaced the cable and all issues went away. The copper inside the rubber cover was rotting away from battery acid.

 

[ultrarunner]

I had a few issues with my positive battery cable on my tractor with intermittent non starts. I replaced the cable and all issues went away. The copper inside the rubber cover was rotting away from battery acid.

I did have one starter that acted like a bad battery until I put a meter and saw the huge draw when engaging the starter.

A bronze bushing on the end of the starter armature shaft had come loose enough to cause the armature to no longer align creating a huge amp draw…

I was swapping out the starter when I saw the loose bushing.

 

[DarkBlack]

The weather was nice today and the ground is dried out, so I decided to install the new battery and get the last of my mowing done.

The new battery is identical in size and configuration. It was a simple swap.

I got in my tractor and everything was dead. I tried again and the dash lights came on, but the started didn't make a sound. I put my volt meter on the battery and it read 11.8

I hooked up the jumper cables to my truck and I was able to get some clicking noises from the starter. I let it run for 15 minutes without any improvement. I let it run for another 15 minutes without any improvement.

I decided to try my backhoe battery instead of my truck. The backhoe battery is less then a year old, 950 CCA. After hooking it up, I got the same results as with my truck. I let it run for half an hour and there wasn't any improvement.

With the jumpers on the new battery in my tractor, I'm at 12.08 volts. Without the jumpers, the battery in the tractor is at 11.8 volts.

This is odd to me since I was expecting 14 volts or better with the jumpers. I've had the new battery on a trickle charger for two weeks, and it's odd that my voltage is so low.

Right now I have an old battery charger on it for the night to charge it better than the trickly charger. It's an older Schumaker charger, and the meter isn't showing anything to indicate that it's charging. I don't know for sure if it's working. I probably need to put my meter on it, but I haven't done that yet.

What am I missing?

I’d disconnect one lead from your new battery, and charge it disconnected. If you have a machine to test start it, do it to prove out the new battery. Now you’re at square one.
Next , rule out a parasitic draw on your tractor. Connect one lead. Put your voltmeter in dc amps mode and connect the other battery terminal through your meter to the unconnected cable. You should have much less than an amp flow with your tractor off.
Next, Connect up the cable normally.
Measure voltage from directly on the negative battery post to a good paint free part of your chassis while someone is engaging the starter. The voltage should be less than one volt.
Do the same with the positive to the furthest positive run you can access.
Again the voltage readings should be less than a volt.

 

[BubbaSam]

My Kioti CK30 HST battery lasted 15 years. Replaced it with a new one (exact replacement) and it's going strong 4 years later (of course). I don't even keep a charger on it but then it's kept inside. Cold Cranking Amps (CCA) if you can get one that will fit i that has even more. Like one person said... it's what gives the tractor (car, etc) more umph... Best to take your battery to wherever you want to purchase it for side. BUT, as another dude said, measure the battery pan and height of the area as you MAY be able to put an even larger one in the OEM's place.

 

[IH3444]

New Holland had faulty battery cables from the factory due to the crimping method they used that allowed moisture to infiltrate and then wick up the copper cable and cause corrosion inside the crimped cable. Happened to my neighbor's TC35. He went around for several weeks trying to find out why his tractor wouldn't start. I was telling him to put new ends on the battery cable and even had a few spares for him. He did this while I was gone, and that's when he found the extensive corrosion inside the crimped cable housing, and the infiltration of the corrosion into the copper wires of the cables. He went to an automotive supply store and purchased new copper cable, new copper cable eyelet ends, and marine brass battery cable ends. He then expertly soldered the copper eyelet ends to the cables and attached the brass marine battery cable ends. Problem solved. I can't tell you how much time he spent diagnosing this problem, and how ripped apart his tractor was while he was testing relays, his starter, etc. I think he even bought a new starter, and it still did the same thing. No starting issue.
This problem has its own threads here on TBN.