Need battery help for Gator Ride-on toy

[Mrwurm]

My son has a 12 volt John Deere Gator ride-on toy. It’s pretty slick, except for the battery.After only a few months of use last summer, the battery barely holds a charge. After 12 hours of Charging, my boy is lucky to get five minutes of riding out of it. I looked at replacing the battery to the tune of $59 but I don’t want the same poor performance. The battery is similar in size and shape to a standard garden tractor battery which can be had for under $20.

I can make the battery fit and wire the connections. I can also charge the battery with my auto charger and/or trickle charger.

My question for you electrical guys is this. Will a 12 volt garden tractor battery outperform the 12 volt 12.5 AH battery that comes standard with the toy?

See pic

 

[Mrwurm]

The Gator (from an ad)

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Jerry, might be able to help if I knew a bit more. What is the technology for the original battery and the garden tractor battery (lead acid, sealed lead acid, Nickel Cadmimum)? I'm guessing the $20 battery is flooded cell (unsealed) and if so a poor choice for this application should the toy tip over. The early demise of the original battery was probably due to improper charging from the original charger.
Battery chargers need to be "smart" to get long life from the battery. All else being equal if the batteries boast the same number of amp-hours and are of the same technology and the same physical size you should get equal performance.

 

[Mrwurm]

The original battery had 12.5 AH rating. Does this compare to the 'cranking amps' on a tractor battery?

 

[daedong]

I am no expert on such matters, but i would suggest the best battery for this application needs to be a deep cycle battery. Deep cycle batteries can take severe draining were others ordinary batteries can not handle repeated flattening
have a look at this. http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm#Major%20Battery%20Types

 

[Mrwurm]

Good site ! Thanks /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Kevin37]

Jerry

I have the same Gator for my three year old. We've had it over a year and luckily the battery seems to be holding up. The wheels are a different story. They are wearing through on the outer edges ot the "tread". Just like the "Big Wheels" I wore through in the early '70's. Replacement cost from Peg Pergo: a mere $85 !!!! Holy cow, there must be a better alternative then that. Got any wheel ideas?

Thanks
Kevin

 

[Mrwurm]

I've seen some wheel liners on ebay that seem to be strips of rubber that slip on the tire like 'retreads'. I'll bet you could make some from sections of truck inner tube.

 

[Tractors4u]

Jerry,

Let us know if you find a suitable replacement. My daughters little Gator's battery is shot as well.

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

No not really, although a high capacity(Amp-Hr) battery will generally have high CCA. Cold Cranking Amps is a rating used in the battery industry to define a battery's ability to start an engine in cold temperatures. The rating is the number of amps a new, fully charged battery can deliver at 0° Farenheit for 30 seconds,while maintaining a voltage of at least 7.2 volts, for a 12 volt battery. The higher the CCA rating, the greater the startingpower of the battery.

The 7.5 Amp Hour rating means that at the C rate for the battery it will delivery the stated Amp Hours. For a 1Amp C rate the battery will delivery 1 amp for 7.5 hours. Higher currents will have lower Amp Hour products lower currents will have higer amp hour products.

This application for a battery is very demanding. The depth of discharge is high (boy runs the car until it stops going) and this is repeated many times. This is the best way I know to kill a lead acid battery and this include the "deep cycle" type, repeated discharge below 50% for a deep cycle battery is also a killer.

The best technology at a reasonable price is Nickel Cadmimum, the kind you have in your cordless equipment. You will need a charger designed to charge Nickel Cadmium batteries matched to your battery.