Replacement Battery Opinions Kubota L35

TomSeller · Dec 10, 2013

Bluegill2 said:
I wouldn't worry Tom. My oldest (over 10 years) is a blue top, used in my boat for electric motor. My brother has a yellow top that over 5 years old. I did buy red tops for both my trucks though. I have a couple yellow tops for back-ups, keep them in a solar generator I built.

The larger yellow and blues have more CCA than the larger reds. So the yellows seemed a natural for me. I don't understand why they would have a shorter life. More lead would seem to me to equate to longer life.

Bob77064 · Dec 10, 2013

TomSeller said:
The larger yellow and blues have more CCA than the larger reds. So the yellows seemed a natural for me. I don't understand why they would have a shorter life. More lead would seem to me to equate to longer life.

My two optimas are D31M blue tops, the older one is six years old and going strong.

TomSeller · Dec 10, 2013

Note Optima charging requirements are different from standard batteries

http://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us/support/battery-care/tech-tip-articles/

3930dave · Dec 10, 2013

TomSeller said:
The larger yellow and blues have more CCA than the larger reds. So the yellows seemed a natural for me. I don't understand why they would have a shorter life. More lead would seem to me to equate to longer life.

I think Optima went through a short period a few years back where they had some production issues.

Been a while since I was chasing this.... might have just been a production tweak, but I think they went to set up a new factory, and lost "the (exact) recipe" for a bit. Given how competitive the AGM market is now, I expect that got sorted out pretty quick.

The one failure mechanism I've heard about is crud shorting out the bottom of "the roll"? If mine was out of warranty, I'd try laying it on it's side for a while, perhaps with some (human) supervised charging as well. If it did come back to life, I'd likely not try driving across the Sahara with it, but it might get you another season or so on a piece of close-to-home farm equipment.

I have a 5 year old Yellow top that, knock wood, is doing well.

Rgds, D.

94BULLITT · Dec 10, 2013

Keuka said:
Thanks for the help, I'll order an Optima.

Here is a chart youcan use to fin what size battery will fit in case they don't make that group battery.

BCI Battery Group Size Chart

I ordered a Optima for my car from Amazon, they were less than anyone.

Stay away from a Blue top, it is a marine battery. The Red top would probably be best for you.

adventure bob · Dec 11, 2013

I have Optimas in everything and will put one in my Kub when the stocker dies. The beauty of an optima deep cycle is that you can kill it completely and recharge it. Regular auto batteries cant bounce back from a complete discharge. Cold weather hits optimas much less than a regular auto battery.