Remedial tractors 101

[Susanjoyce]

I know very,very little about all things mechanical, although I'm trying to learn...

When the drought hit, I didn't need my lawn tractor for five weeks. The rains finally came, and I wanted to mow. The tractor started right up and did about an acre. I came to a fence, got off to open the gate, and the battery was dead. Got the truck and jumped it; it started right up. Did another field, got off for another gate, and same thing. Jumped again, finished and gave up.

Do lawn tractor batteries not recharge when you use them? Is it safe to jump it from the truck? Can I just leave it hooked to the truck for an hour? Is something else likely to be wrong with it? Why haven't I yet had the sense to buy a charger?

Thanks!

Below is a picture of the tractor for no good reason except I like my tractor.

 

[mikehaugen]

yes they do...yes it is...I suppose you could...yes...not sure who can answer the last one

probably an issues with the battery or the stator/ generator depending on the engine. If you have a multi-meter put it across the leads while the tractor is running. Should be minimum 13.5 V DC, preferably more. If it is lower then the problem is probably the stator, or wiring issue. If is 13.5 V or higher, probably a bad battery.

Luckily lawn tractor batteries are cheap.

BTW... get a charger of some kind.

 

[swick1]

Any auto parts store should be able to check your battery for free. If it is good they will charge it for you. You will have to take it out of the tractor for them.

It's going to be an easy fix for any mechanic. It will probably cost about $200 max if the charging system needs to be repaired.

 

[Susanjoyce]

Thanks...I took the battery to my local Napa. I bought it May 2012 and it's already dead. The guy there told me to expect a useful life of 12 months, which is very confusing, as when I bought it, I told them I wanted a good quality one. Argh! At least it's an easy fix.

 

[swick1]

Sorry to hear about your luck. They really should last longer though. Go to harbor freight and buy their $9 float charger then hook it up when you finish mowing for the season

 

[sandman2234]

A new battery should put you back in business for a while. You do understand why the mower is.cutting off at each gate, don't you? The mower has a safety switch that shuts it down when the operator leaves the seat. On most equipment, there is a safe way to be able to leave the seat while it is running. Usually with blades disconnected and parking brake on, though each mower is different. Read up on yours, or just try different combinations.
David from jax

 

[mikehaugen]

Thanks...I took the battery to my local Napa. I bought it May 2012 and it's already dead. The guy there told me to expect a useful life of 12 months, which is very confusing, as when I bought it, I told them I wanted a good quality one. Argh! At least it's an easy fix.

I have never had good luck with lawnmower batteries lasting very long. I would expect more than a year, but after 2 or 3 is when I start thinking that I will need a new one soon. I think it is the vibration or something, maybe a dry cell would be better but they are quite pricey, like I said before- at least they are cheap and I will just keep buying new ones every couple years.

 

[meburdick]

You should look into something called a Battery Maintainer. Schumacher Electrical makes one that WalMart and Amazon sell for about $20. There is a "pigtail" that you screw to the terminals on the battery along with the other wires already there. The other end of the pigtail has a quick-disconnect that you attach the maintainer to. Plug it in and leave it alone. When you need to mow, disconnect the maintainer and use the machine. When you're done, plug it back in.

The maintainer will charge up a low battery and then will *keep* it charged until you're ready to use it. When a battery sits, it starts to lose charge. As the charge goes down, the battery will actually incur damage as a result and may not fully recharge or be able to hold a charge from there on.

Here's a link to it on Amazon - I have three of these and use them for the tractor and my snowmobiles.

Schumacher SEM-1562A 1.5 Amp Speed Charge Maintainer : Amazon.com : Automotive


If you have no outlet where you store the tractor, you can get an all-in-one solar panel / maintainer for about $60. Here's another link for something like that:

Battery Tender 021-1163 5W Solar Maintainer : Amazon.com : Automotive

 

[LD1]

I am going to go out on a limb and say that you have got more going on than just a dead battery. Probabally a bad connection between the battery and cables. Bad enough that it wont carry the high current required to start the tractor, but still good enough to keep it running once started.

If your battery WAS truly dead enough that it wouldnt start/turn the tractor over, a quick jumpstart from a truck would most likely NOT charge it enough to be able to cut for more than about 30 seconds.

Get a cheap volt meter. It is a must when dealing with things like this. The battery should read around 12.5V with the tractor OFF. And should be 13.5-14.5v or so with it running.

 

[swick1]

I am going to go out on a limb and say that you have got more going on than just a dead battery. Probabally a bad connection between the battery and cables. Bad enough that it wont carry the high current required to start the tractor, but still good enough to keep it running once started.

If your battery WAS truly dead enough that it wouldnt start/turn the tractor over, a quick jumpstart from a truck would most likely NOT charge it enough to be able to cut for more than about 30 seconds.

Get a cheap volt meter. It is a must when dealing with things like this. The battery should read around 12.5V with the tractor OFF. And should be 13.5-14.5v or so with it running.

Another harbor freight part! They sell them for $5-10