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.

 

[Melensdad]

I'm thinking my new $208 battery, purchased May 25th of this year, so literally 2 months old, is not charging while the engine is running?

Now that should not be a battery issue, it should be a tractor issue.

Hooked the battery to a charger and jump started the tractor last week, worked perfectly, didn't think much of it.

Yesterday went out and it seemed like the battery was nearly dead, I had to jump start it again, and it fired right up.

3 1/2 laps around the front lawn and lawn tractor died out by the road, about as far away from the workshop as possible, but in a nice open area. Just died. Tank full of fuel. Turned the key, nothing. No clicking sound, no nothing. Grabbed the big tractor, towed the little Ventrac back to the shop.

Put it on a real charger and let it sit overnight. Checked this morning, says it is charged. Disconnected the charger and attempted to start it up. No go. Not enough juice in the battery. Back on the charger and it fired right up.

So at this point I think I need an alternator and I also wonder if my new battery is trash too?

Looked up the engine, it is a 21hp Kawasaki FH641V. 2 cylinder, vertical shaft.

Did a search for an alternator and the results come back as a Voltage Regulator Rectifier. No clue what that is. Any thoughts on if that is the lawn tractor equivalent of an alternator and if it, theoretically will keep the battery from totally discharging while the tractor is running?

 

[FrancSevin]

Last winter we had -19F and it fried the two batteries in each of my Crossfires. Replacement cost $255.00 US.
These used to cost $120.00, which was insane even then.
Fortunately, one was less than a year old and O-Reily's replaced it for free.


For me there are two questions.
Why do they cost so much and why did -19F destroy them and damage electronics in both Crossfires.

For the record both my '95 and '97 Dodge one ton diesel trucks started with no issues

 

[Melensdad]

... Put it on a real charger and let it sit overnight. Checked this morning, says it is charged. Disconnected the charger and attempted to start it up. No go. Not enough juice in the battery. Back on the charger and it fired right up.

So at this point I think I need an alternator and I also wonder if my new battery is trash too?

Looked up the engine, it is a 21hp Kawasaki FH641V. 2 cylinder, vertical shaft.

Did a search for an alternator and the results come back as a Voltage Regulator Rectifier. No clue what that is. Any thoughts on if that is the lawn tractor equivalent of an alternator and if it, theoretically will keep the battery from totally discharging while the tractor is running?

I was ON THE RIGHT TRACK with my investigation

Thinking the alternator is not recharging the battery I found the Voltage Regulator Rectifier. Should have Ground Wire + 2 AC wires + 1 Battery wire that feeds back to the red terminal of the battery.

Go inspect mine and I see an empty terminal. The terminal that should have a wire that leads back to charge the battery is not connected to any wire! Fish around and I find a red wire with a terminal clip that is not connected to anything, somehow it got knocked off of the terminal.

I'm just going to guess, about a month ago my sister in law filled the fuel tank with diesel. I had to go through all sorts of contortions to empty that, replace a fuel filter, fuel line, etc. This terminal is within a few fingers width away from the fuel filter and fuel line. So it is likely that while my hands were down there fixing one thing I probably inadvertently pushed that wire off the terminal.

Battery is now back on the charger. Battery feed wire from the Voltage Regulator/Rectifier is re-connected. In theory my problems should be solved as soon as the battery is back up to full charge.

 

[Melensdad]

Went out to the shop, disconnected the charger. Turned the key, Ventrac started right up!

Now if it continues, then I fixed the problem. We had rain, so wet grass now, I'll be waiting to mow another day, but I think I got the engine problem solved. Not being a 'small engine' guy I had no clue other than a basic guess that if the new battery is dying, it is not getting charged. So working backwards from that, using 1960's era car engine logic, I think I got it.

Yippee for me

 

[300 H and H]

Lead prices are way up. It has been nearly a decade or more since the last lead mine in Mo. was closed down.
Now we recycle and import lead. Even though we still have lots of it we could be going after.
The left has waged a war against mining as well as petroleum. It is just a fact that the war against mining
just doesn't make the news cycle very often.

 

[FrancSevin]

Lead prices are way up. It has been nearly a decade or more since the last lead mine in Mo. was closed down.
Now we recycle and import lead. Even though we still have lots of it we could be going after.
The left has waged a war against mining as well as petroleum. It is just a fact that the war against mining
just doesn't make the news cycle very often.

The last I heard, there are no lead battery manufacturers in the states. Which is one reason why there are no operating lead mines in Missouri.

 

[300 H and H]

The last I heard, there are no lead battery manufacturers in the states. Which is one reason why there are no operating lead mines in Missouri.

EPA closed the mines if I remember correctly.
Battery manufactures may have had little choice If you cannot source lead here.
Lead is a metal used in ammunition, and we are making a lot of that right now.
Another reason lead is high priced.

 

[FrancSevin]

EPA closed the mines if I remember correctly.
Battery manufactures may have had little choice If you cannot source lead here.
Lead is a metal used in ammunition, and we are making a lot of that right now.
Another reason lead is high priced.

Actually, the EPA shut down the smelters. The last one in 2013.
Many of the mines are still in production.

The Doe Run Company Provides Update on Closure of Last Primary Lead Smelter in US - The Doe Run Company

ST. LOUIS (Dec. 14, 2013) – The Doe Run Company (Doe Run) is entering its final days of smelter operations in Herculaneum, Mo., where primary lead metal has been produced for 120 years. Doe Run’s smelter, the last primary lead metal smelter in the U.S., will cease smelting operations at the end...

doerun.com

 

[300 H and H]

I wonder who makes OEM Caterpillar batteries. They last by far longer than any others we have around the farm.
OEM John Deer are pretty good to

 

[tommu56]

I wonder who makes OEM Caterpillar batteries. They last by far longer than any others we have around the farm.
OEM John Deer are pretty good to

I don't know now but one of my friends worked at DEKA they private labeled for a lot of companies but each company had specs for their batteries and most were manufactured to their specs not stock batteries.