Old mower batteries save or recycle?

[Boyd in Mn]

I have about 10 riding mower batteries sitting around. They have sat on the floor of my unheated shop here in Mn until the last 5 days. I have a voltage tester. What is the voltage dividing line to determine whether each is good or bad?
 

[Stanley OByerly]

Here in Indiana where I live, they give $5.00 at scrap yard for old lawn mower batterys, and I think about $8.00 for car batterys.

Put battery tester on the batterys that will tell if they are any good.
 

[DiyDave]

You can trade a lawnmower battery for the core deposit, at wallyworld, which is $9.00, here in MD!
 

[ShadetreeRet]

If they have just been sitting around for a while, you may need to hook a charger to them for a while to see if they will take a charge at all. If they do take a charge, check the voltage, let them set about 24 hrs. and check voltage again. If there is much variation, I would recycle. I also use a hydrometer to check the specific gravity of the fluid in each cell. This is one of the better ways to check a battery.
 

[SuperABen]

The only way to tell for certain is to charge them up and put a load tester on them.

If they are bad, I would save a couple for trades on a new battery to reduce the risk of a core charge. They won't care what you give them, as long as it has a positive and a negative terminal and is larger than Duracell.

In fact, I'd take one of your batteries right now to save the core charge as I buy a battery for my battery-less Montgomery Wards 14.

Ben W. in Va
OldPathsEquipment.com
 

[Old Roy]

I was just looking for some You Tube vids of Desulfication of lead acid batteries.

Some show that they don't dissolve compleatly the Epsom salts with the distilled water. These same folks say it doesn't work..

I haven't tried it myself yet, but next bad battery I will.

I have friends that have done it with good results as long there wasn't a separated cell.

If Battery water level is high, remove enough to let the level be just above the plates.

Mix a solution of Epsom salt equal to two teaspoons for each cell with about two cups of Water.(Make sure completely dissolved)with "distilled water"
Add evenly to each cell and charge overnight at low voltage.
 

[rustyj14]

Bite the bullet--go buy a new battery, and get back to work. Then, accept the fact, from time immemorial, that car, truck, lawn tractor, any kind of wet cell batteries don"t last much more then 2-4 years, depending on how many times they are used to start something!
Unless__
Unless there is something wrong with the charging system, which should be checked if you are having dead battery problems.
The main reason that batteries go dead, is the fact that the safety gurus have made the newer machines run batteries down sooner than they used to: Just think---every time you raise yer butt off the seat, for more than a second or two--the engine stops. This calls for another start. Then you drive down behind the shed, get off to dump the load--and BINGO-shuts the engine down. And another start! Do this twenty times in a day or so, and the battery is losing the stuff off the plates in the battery! And, thats why lawn tractor batteries go bad in a year or so! Figger this: Your car or truck battery only gets used maybe 2-4 times in a day. The same principles apply, but car batteries last much longer in average service, because you might drive at least 5-10 miles and that replaces the charge rather quickly.
Lead-acid batteries, as used to start most engines, be it car, truck, or lawn tractors, have the problem of lead dropping off the inner plates each time you start something. The lead falls down into cells, upon which the plates set.
When the lead droppings get high enough, it contacts the bottoms of the plates, and shorts out the inner workings of the battery! At that time--you scamper off to the auto parts store, or wally-world, and buy a new one, which should give at least 2-3 years of use.
Note: expensive batteries have deeper cells at the bottom of the case, which makes the battery last longer. Cheap batteries have shallower cells, which fill up faster-resulting in a trip to Joe"s Auto Parts, to buy another battery. And, sooner than you wanted to!
 

[Boyd in Mn]

Most batteries were dead. A few showed about 5 volts and one showed 12-13 volts. I kept the one good one and brought the remaining 11 into Autozone for $5 each in store credit of $55. I bought a 30' tow strap and a Masterlock lock set for my class 3 reciever hitch and trailer. I had to pay $0.68 in to cover the difference. I was happy for what I got for my batteries today. Thank you to everyone for your advice.