Are you grinding your teeth at the subject?
One of the most frustrating things about ATV, M/C, small tractor batteries is longevity. I'm no newbie to batteries as I've lived off grid for many years with an Outback system and a 48vdc bank of RE16s. I give those batteries a lot of love and they have served me well, x2. But so also do I give a lot of love to the starting batteries in small equipment.
It doesn't follow that detailed maintenance to a small equipment battery increases its life compared to the big 'uns. I've done charts, I've done SGs (except for M/C batteries as it cells are too shallow with electrolyte) and I've done the battery monitor/chargers. Nothing seems to extend the life to a respectable degree.
This subject likens to the best oil or best fuel arguments. But if you can't start the damn thing none of that banter matters not.
For my solar, the batteries are exercised each day - high to NOT low but monitored with an autostart genset if needed.
For the small batteries, I could go weeks before restarting the unit. Whether or not the battery maintainer was plugged in it makes very little difference to the overall life. Our most used vehicle is the 6x4 diesel but that damn battery has about the same life as the little used eqmt while being "maintained."
So where is the silver bullet? Screw not being able to get fuel/oii; - if you cant start the machine, what do you do?
So what do you do, again? How long has it been since you could tow a machine and it would start and run. Dang, those days are done. And how do you extend the life of a small starting battery?
Best,
JRH
BTW, I've pondered a mod to put a deep cell into the gator. Dang they are expensive in that size battery. And I don't think the charging system and it would get along. Has anyone else tried this?
One of the most frustrating things about ATV, M/C, small tractor batteries is longevity. I'm no newbie to batteries as I've lived off grid for many years with an Outback system and a 48vdc bank of RE16s. I give those batteries a lot of love and they have served me well, x2. But so also do I give a lot of love to the starting batteries in small equipment.
It doesn't follow that detailed maintenance to a small equipment battery increases its life compared to the big 'uns. I've done charts, I've done SGs (except for M/C batteries as it cells are too shallow with electrolyte) and I've done the battery monitor/chargers. Nothing seems to extend the life to a respectable degree.
This subject likens to the best oil or best fuel arguments. But if you can't start the damn thing none of that banter matters not.
For my solar, the batteries are exercised each day - high to NOT low but monitored with an autostart genset if needed.
For the small batteries, I could go weeks before restarting the unit. Whether or not the battery maintainer was plugged in it makes very little difference to the overall life. Our most used vehicle is the 6x4 diesel but that damn battery has about the same life as the little used eqmt while being "maintained."
So where is the silver bullet? Screw not being able to get fuel/oii; - if you cant start the machine, what do you do?
So what do you do, again? How long has it been since you could tow a machine and it would start and run. Dang, those days are done. And how do you extend the life of a small starting battery?
Best,
JRH
BTW, I've pondered a mod to put a deep cell into the gator. Dang they are expensive in that size battery. And I don't think the charging system and it would get along. Has anyone else tried this?