Relocating Lawn tractory battery, (Safety Question)

[deepNdirt]

I have a lawn tractor I wish to relocate and install a larger battery, There is plenty of room up front of the engine under the nose of the hood, However the muffler is also in the lower part of this area, the exhaust exits out to the side, the heat rising will be the main issue, I'm thinking I could build a battery box to set it in, much like what a boat would have for it's battery,
You ask why I want to use a larger Battery? 1- these small lawn mower batteries have low starting amps and only last 1 year 2 at the most, and every other time I go to start the tractor I need to jump it off,
So! I'm thinking if it had a larger 600+ amp car battery or even a Deep cycle marine battery It wouldn't fail so often, #2- because this tractor is my dedicated tilling tractor I keep the rototiller attached at all times resulting it being heavy to the rear and adding a larger/ heavier battery up front would help with ballast, as the topic states: could there be a safety concern here?
Thanks. DND

 

[tcartwri]

There is way too much heat in that area for a battery. Hot enough that I think the case would even get soft.

The original batteries in these things only last about 2 years. A decent replacement of the original size will last much much longer, and have alot more reserve.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

I agree with Tim in moving it too close to a large heat source. Vibration, heat, poor connections are hard on batteries. What you might want to do is put a rubber matt under the battery. Clean up connections all of the way from terminals up to the charging system. Make sure how ever it is being charged is working by putting a voltmeter on it after you have started it. Actually check the voltage before you start it and after it is running. The next thing is if you have power out to where the tractor lives put a small trickle float charger. They have them that can be wired on and just left on. You unplug it before driving off. That will give you more years out of your battery.
The biggest thing is bring clean connections from the battery post to ground and charger.
Another thing is clean out all of the lawn clippings from the engine shroud so that it runs cooler. Less heat under the hood helps the battery and engine both.

 

[Soundguy]

id vote for slapping in the largest battery you could get into the oem battery carrier ( usually under the seat. heck.. I'd even go for trying to modify the oem location to take a larger battery, vs reloacting it near the muffler. I just looked at my murray... takingthe oem plastic bat tray out.. i could go 1" larger on side and more lengthwise. i could probably fit a compact car battery in there easy, making a new bat box out of 1/8 and pop rivit it in to the underside fender frame using underslung hidden l brackets, vs having a plastic carrier that set in and rode on the top fender frame.

at that point i'd upgrade the wireing.. many of those mowers use an anemic 10ga wire.. I'd go 8g or 6 ga tothe starter/genny.. or from the charge stator ring..e tc.. whatever your particular machine has.. dynamo.. etc.... that and clean good connections... wire upgrade alone probably help..

 

[ray66v]

Yes, the $19.99 batteries are junk. Buy a good lawn and garden battery like this one: Interstate SP-35R Lawn & Garden Battery 300 CCA

It has 300 CCA at 0F, and can last 5 years of more, if you use a float charger like this, (Automatic Battery Charger - 12V), when you don't plan to use it regularly.

 

[deepNdirt]

Thanks for the advice, I kinda thought It might not be such a good idea, but thought perhaps if I built something to set the battery in to shield it from much of the heat, But I suppose the box could build up heat as well and cook the battery, Its an older lawn tractor with the fuel tank in the rear the battery is behind the dash and the exhaust up front, I suppose they built it this way for a reason, A battery maintainer would be a good Idea, though the tractor is a twin cyl. and sometimes it doesn't seem to have enough ump to turn it over strong enough, and is another reason for needing a higher amp battery,

 

[BigE_]

I'm on year 9 for my little die hard lawn tractor battery. I use a battery tender charger when it is not in use.

My battery is up front just in front of the steering wheel, next to the engine. It isn't near the muffler, though.

 

[k0ua]

Thanks for the advice, I kinda thought It might not be such a good idea, but thought perhaps if I built something to set the battery in to shield it from much of the heat, But I suppose the box could build up heat as well and cook the battery, Its an older lawn tractor with the fuel tank in the rear the battery is behind the dash and the exhaust up front, I suppose they built it this way for a reason, A battery maintainer would be a good Idea, though the tractor is a twin cyl. and sometimes it doesn't seem to have enough ump to turn it over strong enough, and is another reason for needing a higher amp battery,

All the advice seemed good to me.. but I would add a couple of things. I have a little 1.5 watt solar charger, ( I have a window to put it in) and it works well. Also the Battery tender Jr. is a very good AC charger/maintainer with a lot of smarts to keep from cooking your battery. Now on the the thrust of my comment. If your engine is a Briggs and Stratton OHV engine then you should consider this: If the valves are just a little out of adjustment, and the valves in these engines often are, It will make for very hard starting or no starting. The engine will come up to top dead center on the compression stroke of one of the pistons and will stop as you attempt to crank it. Bad battery right? Well the battery might not be quite as strong as it was when new or the terminals might be a little dirty or the starter solenoid contacts might be a little burned. BUT the root cause is the valve adjustment.. I fought a mower for 3 years or so replacing solenoid, batterys and cleaning and lubing terminals..Yep sometimes a new battery would make it start for a while, but it would quit again later on. Dang cheap batteries. take them back and have them load tested.. answer "well it is in specs, maybe not new, but still good". So I got smart one day and googled Briggs and Stratton starting problems.. Oh boy.. open the floodgates of reports of hard or no starting on the Briggs 2 cylinder OHV engine.. Fix is quick and easy.

James K0UA

 

[Toddao]

I have since bolted it down to prevent movement. But this seems to work well

 

[Soundguy]

then where do you put the spare 1g gas tank you carry?

that's where I put mine to prevent long walks.. as mine always runs dry at the end of a long row out mowing the roght of way..