Lawn Tractor battery costs have gone UP UP UP

[Melensdad]

Needed a new battery for the Ventrac lawn tractor. Figured it would be about $65, give or take a bit.

My lawn tractor takes a fairly large battery, but still, it's basically a lawn tractor.

With TAX and a credit for core-trade in on my old battery, price was $208.

WTF, I thought the gubmint said this "inflation" was only 'transitory' and would not last?

 

[bczoom]

Dang Bob. That must be some special battery.
I pay $49-69 for small engine batteries (mowers, ATVs...)
I think I paid about $150 for a good Deka battery for one of my cars with a V-6.
I was told to expect to pay $250 for a new battery for my Silverado.

 

[Melensdad]

It's a small automotive battery. I was freaking shocked at the prices. Seems to be over-sized for a lawn tractor!!! The old battery was dated April 2019, so I clearly got my use out of that thing. But damn.

 

[bczoom]

The old battery was dated April 2019, so I clearly got my use out of that thing.

Did you though? That's only 5 years. To me, that's darn near still in warranty period.
I can't think of the last battery I had that didn't make it at least 10 years.

 

[Melensdad]

I consider 4 years to be an actually lifespan of a lead/acid battery, anything beyond that is bonus time. So I'm not unhappy with 5 years.

Maybe lead acid batteries have improved and my frame of reference is bad.

My dad used to change his car batteries every 3-4 years.

 

[bczoom]

Correction - the aforementioned car battery was $230. The receipt says it has a 5-year warranty so I'm thinking battery life-span has increased.
I do keep spare batteries on tenders. If a vehicle isn't going to be used for a week or two, it too goes on a tender.

 

[J5 Bombardier]

That's a pretty stiff price for a lawn tractor battery , unless it's a jell battery of some kind .
J5 Bombardier

 

[Melensdad]

Apparently it is not limited to tractor batteries.

Buddy of mine just put a new battery in his Road Glide. $228 with tax/core trade. He replaced a 2 year old battery that cost him $142.

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Don't know what the markets doing , I just bought 2 legend group 65 batterys from Napa (uap) , total came to 455.00 Can , so that's around 333.00 US for 2, 825 CCA batts . I'm a firm believer in kill switches on the equipment and tenders on vehicles that sit alot.

 

[tommu56]

@Melensdad I cant understand that huge price increase inflation is only just over 3%

 

[Melensdad]

Don't know what the markets doing , I just bought 2 legend group 65 batterys from Napa (uap) , total came to 455.00 Can , so that's around 333.00 US for 2, 825 CCA batts . I'm a firm believer in kill switches on the equipment and tenders on vehicles that sit alot.

FWIW, the new battery is a 500CCA battery. Same code as the old battery, same size. Old battery only had 450CCA.

 

[FTG-05]

About the same price I paid for a Duralast Gold for my Kubota ZD326 diesel ZTR. Outrageous.

 

[m1west]

I won't buy anything but Optima, Lead acid have gotten to be nearly as expencive and I have a red top that is still gong strong thats 10 years old.