Kohler winter starting and a 5 year old battery

MossRoad · Jan 25, 2007

Went out to start my 2001 model year PT425 with the 25HP Kohler this morning. 18 degrees. Factory original battery. Been on a trickle charger for 5 years at all times. It cranked really slow, but managed to pop off after 4 or 5 seconds. I didn't think it was going to pop, but it did. It hadn't been started for well over a month. I'm thinking it may be time to change the battery and I may upgrade to a battery tender, VS a trickle charger as well.

Any thoughts about battery brands, types and the battery tender?

I hear a lot about Optima bateries. Are Optima batteries worth the $$$? I mean, heck, they are over $120.00!!!

The battery in my PT425 I can replace for about $40 and it lasted 5 years. So, I can spend $40.00 every 5 years three times or buy one Optima. Will it last 15 years?

MrJimi · Jan 25, 2007

I think a 5 year old battery is on borrowed time. I use and own 6 real battery tender plus and they all do good, I have lots of toys with batteries that i don't use all the time and they claim that a true battery tender will extend the life of a battery heaps. And the optima battery is a very good choice but I understand that you should use their battery maintaining charger which is lots of $$ . I will stick to the sealed batteries and a battery tender plus They can be bought for less than $ 40 in your hand.
Jim

Bob999 · Jan 25, 2007

MossRoad said:
Any thoughts about battery brands, types and the battery tender?

I have had good experience with Interstate and John Deere batteries. I use the Battery Tender and have had excellent results.

My suggestion would be to buy a Battery Tender (brand name) first and use it on your old battery--it might keep it going for another year or two if it is not too far gone.

woodlandfarms · Jan 25, 2007

MossRoad said:
Went out to start my 2001 model year PT425 with the 25HP Kohler this morning. 18 degrees. Factory original battery. Been on a trickle charger for 5 years at all times. It cranked really slow, but managed to pop off after 4 or 5 seconds. I didn't think it was going to pop, but it did. It hadn't been started for well over a month. I'm thinking it may be time to change the battery and I may upgrade to a battery tender, VS a trickle charger as well.

Any thoughts about battery brands, types and the battery tender?

I hear a lot about Optima bateries. Are Optima batteries worth the $$$? I mean, heck, they are over $120.00!!! The battery in my PT425 I can replace for about $40 and it lasted 5 years. So, I can spend $40.00 every 5 years three times or buy one Optima. Will it last 15 years?

From an automotive perspective, I go with Optima first, then Interstate. I believe Interstate owns Optima.... Costco has them on sale BTW. Also, a battery that is failing is on a quick and slippery slope. Get rid of it ASAP... It will leave you in the woods when you least expect it...

I would think the would be ideal for tractors with the harsh vibration...

J_J · Jan 26, 2007

MossRoad said:
Went out to start my 2001 model year PT425 with the 25HP Kohler this morning. 18 degrees. Factory original battery. Been on a trickle charger for 5 years at all times. It cranked really slow, but managed to pop off after 4 or 5 seconds. I didn't think it was going to pop, but it did. It hadn't been started for well over a month. I'm thinking it may be time to change the battery and I may upgrade to a battery tender, VS a trickle charger as well.

Any thoughts about battery brands, types and the battery tender?

David, I use two of those Optima batteries in my F-250 Ford diesel. Sometimes the truck has not been started for up to 3 months , and it starts right up. Those batteries have diffrent colors to represent cold cranking amps. I use the red top batteries.

To warm up the Pt before starting in cold weather, let me recommend the kerosene, or propane heaters that are used in garages , construction sites. Just fire them off and aim them at or under the PT with a tarp over most of the PT, for about 30 min, and it should start fairly easy. They also make an imersion heater that you could drop in the hydraulic tank and keep the fluid warm. One of those battery jump starters that is kept charged and warm could also be useful.

MossRoad · Jan 26, 2007

Thanks for the advice. As for cold weather starting problems, I have never had them in the Kohler PT. I never pre heat anything and really don't want to. That's one of the main reasons I bought a gas engine. I have never failed to get one started in any weather with a good battery and at the most, a quick shot of ether. I've never had to use ether on the Kohler, even at -10. I keep it in a shed with the battery plugged in and that's it. So, I'm just concerned with the battery at this point. I will start pricing them out. The battery tenders run around $35-40 dollars here. Seems like money well spent, so I will pick one up.

BobRip · Jan 26, 2007

MossRoad said:
It hadn't been started for well over a month. I'm thinking it may be time to change the battery and I may upgrade to a battery tender, VS a trickle charger as well.

Moss, my main concern here is that you had not started it in a month. Are you spending a little too much time on Tractorbynet and not enough time on TractorbyPowerTrac?

Seriously, if having it on a charger full time and it is slow cranking then it's time to replace it. At its full charge condition it's just barely adequate.

KentT · Jan 26, 2007

Moss,

I had to replace the battery in mine this past summer. I think it's likely just a few months older than yours (was bought in December 2000).

I used an Interstate battery from Autozone, as I recall. Biggest hassle was trying to remove the heat shields from the muffler... I ended up unbolting the heat shield from the engine and removing the whole muffler instead.

IMO, if I get another 5+ years out this Interstate battery, it'll likely be time to replace the muffler itself at that point...

MossRoad · Jan 26, 2007

We haven't had any snow to speak of all year. We only had 4" the other day, and it was light and fluffy. I didn't have to plow it, but I wanted to!

As for chaning the battery, if I do, I plan on removing the heat shield and muffler as well. I don't think there is a way around it.

Gravy · Jan 26, 2007

David,

I haven't tried one yet, but the feedback I've seen on the Optima/Odyssey/Hawker (I *think* they are all the same item) batteries has been as near 100% positive as I've ever seen. The consensus is that they have effectively zero self-discharge, so there is no need for a trickle charger. They also apparently provide a lot of cranking amperage for their size and weight. I've heard lots of stories of strong cranking after over a year of unattended storage. The next time I need a battery for my PT or my motorcycle, I plan to get one of these.

Gravy