Tractor Batteries

[Ray,IN]

Fix the parasitic drain! It's a tractor relatively simple to troubleshoot not many accessories.

There is on a John Deere built in the past 5 yrs. My cousin has a 150HP one that has all manner of electrical problems. The John Deere shop said the complete wiring harness has to be replaced, just the harness is $795. At present, sometimes the engine will not shut down, when it does shut down,, often one headlight comes on which means a dead battery. I forget what else he said was happening.
I guess you're right, replacing the harness is simple, and a lot of labor.

 

[Texasmark]

for group 31 battery i buy them at heavy duty truck dealer my go to place is Packer City IH they are the cheapest are fresh they sell a ton of batteries

Is a Group 31 the size of a 27 but has centered 3/8" studs? If so, that's what I get at the OTR dealer. They buy them by the pallet, are 1000 Amp rated and are a lot cheaper than smaller batteries at regular retailers.......but they are heavy.....but that's OK. The other service they have is the ability to build battery cables for you.

 

[Jim.ME]

Is a Group 31 the size of a 27 but has centered 3/8" studs? If so, that's what I get at the OTR dealer. They buy them by the pallet, are 1000 Amp rated and are a lot cheaper than smaller batteries at regular retailers.......but they are heavy.....but that's OK. The other service they have is the ability to build battery cables for you.

The group 31 (available with top posts or 3/8-16 top studs) is actually slightly larger than the group 27 batteries. If you got it from an over the road truck shop it is likely you got a Group 31 battery. Group 31 is commonly used now in OTR truck generally making the cost better at such shops due to the volume used.

BCI battery group chart

 

[buickanddeere]

Can not go wrong with the highest AH battery that will fit in the battery compartment.

 

[Texasmark]

Can not go wrong with the highest AH battery that will fit in the battery compartment.

Normally for farm use and the normalities of farm life I'd agree. I'm a STO and everything is basically touched or within reach every day. I have some improved trickle chargers on most all my batteries and if they aren't on one, being the larger (as you mentioned) batteries, they get checked at least once a week and if needed I get out the extension cards and trickle them back up.

 

[chuckthin]

For anything that I can shoe horn a group 31 into, that is what it gets. Change the terminals to 3/8 rings and be done with it. At any given time one of the local truck dealers has stud top batteries on sale.

My next choice is a 65,

Back in 2010 a dealer wanted $400 to replace a battery. No way! I replaced with a group 31 and changed the ends and ever since then I use
a group 31 into all cars that I can.

 

[buickanddeere]

Let’s not forget that “Group 31” is the case size if the battery . The internals , the height, width and thickness of the plates vary .
You have to read the AH and CCA on the side of the battery .
There are premium group 24 and 27 batteries that are superior to the low cost group 31 batteries at Bargain bob’s auto parts store .

 

[ss55]

Parasitic drain is in the tractor wiring and I can't find it. It is so small that there is no spark when I switch the battery on in the dark. Putting a switch on the battery solved it! Tractor sits 10 - 20 times more than it runs.

A $10 VOM ( Volt-OHM meter ) can be used to hunt down a parasitic drain. Failing alternators, starters, radios are common drains.

 

[Ray,IN]

The battery itself has a parasitic drain!

Lead-Acid batteries, including AGM, self-discharge at the rate of 3%/month when unhooked.
Following ss55's lead, virtually all radios never turn off, they always have a phantom-draw to keep the memory status valid.

 

[showcrop]

Soon after retirement I realized that replacing batteries was something that didn't give me adequate return on what I was spending. I bought four maintainers and have replaced just one battery now in five years, and that was in a daily driver.

 

[Ray,IN]

Soon after retirement I realized that replacing batteries was something that didn't give me adequate return on what I was spending. I bought four maintainers and have replaced just one battery now in five years, and that was in a daily driver.

I've returned several batteries to service by using a pulse-charger to desulfate the plates and equalize the charge across cells.

 

[thelonepatriot]

Parasitic drain is in the tractor wiring and I can't find it. It is so small that there is no spark when I switch the battery on in the dark. Putting a switch on the battery solved it! Tractor sits 10 - 20 times more than it runs.

If there are electronics on the tractor (or a vehicle) there will always be a drain on the battery.

Just for the fun of it disconnect the alternator and see if the drain goes away. If you are using a test light be sure it is one with a real light globe inside it. Don't use an electronic test light. The normal computer draw will light the electronic test light. Also on computerized systems if you have the battery disconnected there will be a spark when you reconnect the battery because the computer will need to power up.

 

[Ray,IN]

Is a Group 31 the size of a 27 but has centered 3/8" studs? If so, that's what I get at the OTR dealer. They buy them by the pallet, are 1000 Amp rated and are a lot cheaper than smaller batteries at regular retailers.......but they are heavy.....but that's OK. The other service they have is the ability to build battery cables for you.

Battery size and measurement chart is near the bottom of webpage.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

If the battery starts the tractor adequately, who cares if it's bigger/smaller/lighter/heavier/pink/purple/plaid?

Complaining that you bought the wrong battery because you didn't do your homework first, and trying to blame it on Walmart, though. That seems a bit irrational. Not Walmart's fault. They sell automotive batteries, not commercial/farm.

If you just want a cheap battery, Walmart's Value line of batteries are only like $70 each. Anything else is a waste of money unless you need a specific size. Group 24 makes a good general purpose tractor battery, but they have a Group 65 with a bit more CCA. There's a one-year warranty but if the battery lasts you more than a year, you're money ahead over buying the expensive batteries.