What Battery?

[rScotty]

TBN'ers

It is about time to replace my 2012 OE battery for the B2620. What are you all using for replacement?Per my computer, I see the dealer replacement at about $124. Is that about right? Or, are there others that are just as good at a much better price?
Cheers,
Mike

What makes you think it needs replacing? Is it not taking a full charge? Or enough charge to crank the tractor? If it cranks and starts the tractor it is OK.
The battery on our Kubota is 12 years old and is still doing fine. It has already corroded the connections enough to require new wiring to the battery.

Oh, ..... you also asked if $124 is expensive for a Kubota's direct replacement battery. Yes, IMHO it is rather high. For that much at your local auto parts or battery shop you can buy a better battery (AGM or gel type sealed battery) and have enough left over to buy half the cost of a basic smart charger.

Kubota uses an automotive type wet cell battery in their OEM installations. It's nothing special other than physical size, +- terminal layout, & being 12 volts. There are basically 3 different types of car starting batteries available: Wet (flooded) Cell, AGM (applied glass matrix), and gel cells. The latter two types are much better, more expensive, and won't corrode surrounding parts because they are sealed. They have another benefit in that you don't have to worry about how long they have sat in the shelf in the battery shop. If they take an initial charge, they will still be just fine.

The flooded wet cell is the traditional car battery and is OEM Kubota equipment because it is the cheapest type. I wish they would go away forever. Flooded wet cell batteries all have the downside that the acid fumes given offtends to corrode the battery connections and nearby parts. In fact, the OEM battery will often cause the wire connections to the battery to need attention/replacement before the battery itself does. Flooded batteries also need the battery acid level checked periodically. Also check the the connection from the negative terminal to the frame ground. Clean all connections.

Sealed AGM or Gel Cell batteries not only work better and last longer, they don't outgas, need no maintenance, and don't corrode the connectors so badly.

Batteries are standard, not specifically Kubota. Any 12 volt that will fit will work. More CCA or Cold Cranking Amps means more battery muscle in cold weather. More is better in CCA. Our 60 hp Kubota has a 650 CCA 12 volt battery of size 24F. It is directly replaceable with any battery from any automotive parts store that will fit. All 24F are the same size. Terminal layout differs, though. So when you need a battery, get an AGM type if you can buy one that fits and has the right terminal placement.

Batteries can last a long time if the tractor is run for an hour a month to charge them back up. Or if not doing that, then periodically charge the battery. Try to use an modern battery tender type of intelligent charger. The best of those - like the "Battery Minder" type can be left hooked up all the time and will actually extend battery life.
Enjoy,
rScotty

 

[radios1]

Sealed AGM or Gel Cell batteries or Lithium have limited charge rates, which is stated right on the battery, if that is exceeded, they WILL be damaged. wet cells can be charged much faster. that's why Golf Cart batteries are wet cell batteries.

 

[ruffdog]

Physical size of the battery doesn't always guarantee a certain CCA rating. My Deere x744 diesel calls for a smallish battery but a rating of 500cca which limits my choices and boosts the price. My Toolcat's standard battery is a 650cca but came with the optional 1000cca battery. Many motorcycles and jet-skis will have batteries that are small but have high CCA, and yes, the price goes up accordingly too.

 

[zoltanthegypsy]

Someone probably already said this up-thread, but ... whatever battery, for tractors that can see seasonal use, or like mine are hobby machines, keep some kind of battery maintainer on them.

I use the little sealed Deltran 800mA unit on everything around here, and can tell from past experience it's making a serious difference in battery life. The Deltran is a smart maintainer, not a trickle charger.

FWIW,
Z.

 

[brmccolley]

subscribed for updates

 

[oosik]

I put an Odyssey Group 31 @ 1150 CCA on my 2009 Kubota M6040 as replacement for the OEM battery. That was two years ago. I keep a Deltran battery tender on this battery also. The idea being - an AGM battery + tender should last longer than the OEM battery.

 

[rScotty]

Sealed AGM or Gel Cell batteries or Lithium have limited charge rates, which is stated right on the battery, if that is exceeded, they WILL be damaged. wet cells can be charged much faster. that's why Golf Cart batteries are wet cell batteries.

Yes, that is why most vehicle charging systems are a simple single rate compromise that isn't at its best for any battery. But that's the world we have......

I was involved in battery/charging design for awhile, and here is how I see the whole lead/acid rechargeable batteries.... Some other opinions may differ, and of course I'm always interested in the difference.

Charging rate is a complex subject even when not comparing different types of battery technologies. Basically, for the very best battery life and efficiency for any rechargeable battery they really ought to be charged at several different charge rates over a full day.

There is one fast "bulk charge" rate that can be used for charging to about 70%, next comes a different rate for topping off the charge, and later on yet another different rate for maintaining the completed charge.

That ability to measure where a battery is on its charging cycle and vary the charging voltage to fit the situation is what the new type of smart charges are doing. They are called "smart chargers" because they vary their output in response to the way the battery is taking a charge. If you haven't tried one, you will be surprised at how well they work. Batteries get a higher charge and hold it longer. Sometimes the smart charger will even rehabilitate a weak battery. Nifty & techy.....

The downside to the smart charger is partly that it's sort of expensive, and partly that for an old-time mechanic like me the smart charger leaves me with a whole rack of outdated basic chargers that are no longer useful in the shop but too good to throw away. That includes the old heavy red Snap-On roll around charger that was once our shops pride and joy. The new pocket-sized smart charger is simply better.

Lots of vehicles still use refillable wet cell batteries specifically because they can be charged faster because any water loss due to high charging can be made up by adding fluid. The downside of charging at too high of a rate for the type of battery is that the battery can get hot and outgas some hydrogen and acidic water vapor. Wet cell batteries have caps which you can and should take off periodically to check and fill the fluid level inside. Sealed batteries try to dissolve the gases back into the fluid instead of expelling them -a process which works better as pressure goes up and also allows them to have a slightly higher AH rating .... but only IF the manufacturer wants to spend the extra manufacturing expense to take advantage of the slight storage effiency boost. All sealed batteries have a safety vavle to prevent over-pressure from rupturing the case. A wet cell doesn't need that since it vents into the atmosphere.

The odd thing is that most cars and tractors don't have a smart charging system to take advantage of the way that batteries like to be charged. You would think they would, but most still have the simple traditional alternator + rectifier + voltage regulator set to charge at one bulk hi charge rate continuously.

Since that charging rate has to be compatible with all kinds of batteries people might buy: all the wet cells, plus sealed AGM or Gel cell type batteries, the vehicles single charging rate has to be a conservative compromise. It's actually a pretty good compromise up to a certain capacity point. Unless you are a techy with instruments you are probably not going to notice the difference in the way your vehicle battery charges. As long as the battery is doing OK, the plan seems to be that you won't miss the little bit (20 to 30 % !?) of Amp*Hours the battery can't store without using a multirate or "smart" charger.

I maintain that it is because of that charging rate compromise that the main benefit you get from using sealed batteries in your tractor is the freedom from corrosion and the typically longer life of the sealed battery. There should be an efficiency advantage, but when running the tractor, it's charging system isn't able to take full advantage of the slightly greater top end charge efficiency of the sealed batteries.

So the advantage of sealed batteries is reduced to costing more lasting about that much longer, plus the anti-corrosion aspect. To me the higher price is worth the extra life, and I sure do like not having the terminal corrosion to deal with. YMMV....

I lean towards sealed batteries in most my equipment. However, for anywone that simply wants an inexpensive battery and doesn't mind that it requires some maintenance for fluid and corrosion there is nothing at all wrong with going with a wet cell type. Cars, trucks, and tractors have used wet cells for most of a century. Our Ford diesel still has a pair of we cells.... Genuine Ford batts for under $300 for the pair.. & the corrosion is free. The sealed batteries in the big JD310 TLB cost twice that for similar Amp*Hour AGMs.

rScotty

 

[radios1]

I knew all of that, but it's good info for other members. one thing I haven't thought about though, is how to isolate the battery from the other circuits to allow the alternator to smart charge the battery without affecting the circuits that would run off the alternator!.. I am talking about a single battery system.. I don't like to "re-invent the wheel"..

 

[SCWOOD]

My cardinal rule of thumb with ANY flooded cell or wet charged (including AGM) battery is:

1. Never buy a battery that has dust on the top of it.
2. Always buy from a volume dealer
3. Forget about the little date thingy's, meaningless.

Any wet charged battery, AGM included, begins it's life when charged at the factory. The longer the battery sits around after it's built, the shorter it's in service lifespan becomes, why it's important to buy your battery from a volume seller like Walmart for instance or a heavy truck dealership because they turn over batteries quickly so you are very likely to get one that was made not long ago.

Never buy a battery that has dust on the top. That battery has been sitting around for a long time waiting for someone to take ity home and all the time it's been sitting idle, it's still having a slow chemical reaction inside (sulfating) and that is what renders a flooded cell battery useless.

Finally, heat kills a battery, not cold. Cold lowers the amperage output because it slows the reaction inside but it's heat that really destroys the battery internally, not cold. The reason flooded cell starting batteries 'seem' to fail during the first cold snap is because the battery was weakened during the hot summer months and when it gets cold, the added amperage requirement when starting a cold engine overcomes the weak battery's ability to supply the required amperage.

That only applies to wet batteries, flooded cell or AGM, not Li-Ion or any hybrid battery.

This man knows what he is talking about! Go buy a fresh Walmart battery! It is not the space shuttle. I get 5+ years out of them!

 

[ruffdog]

When I traded my 2006 RTV900 in, the original Yuasa battery was still going strong and that was 12+ years!