I have a TroyBilt (MTD made) riding mower and the battery is dead
after only 4 summers. I figured I used it no more than once a week for
no more than 25 weeks a year. If I start engine twice each time I cut
the lawn, that's 50 times a year and 200 times in 4 years. Compared to
a car, it's about 3 and a half months of worth of starter usage. My
question: which is the main cause of very short battery life?

1. Lawn mower batteries are not nearly as well made (1yr warranty vs
6-8 yrs for auto batt.), or
2. The mowers don't charge batteries properly, or
3. Lack of use in winter drains and damages the battery, or
4. Something else?

On Apr 3, 6:15*pm, panabiker wrote:
I have a TroyBilt (MTD made) riding mower and the battery is dead
after only 4 summers. I figured I used it no more than once a week for
no more than 25 weeks a year. If I start engine twice each time I cut
the lawn, that's 50 times a year and 200 times in 4 years. Compared to
a car, it's about 3 and a half months of worth of starter usage. My
question: which is the main cause of very short battery life?

1. Lawn mower batteries are not nearly as well made (1yr warranty vs
6-8 yrs for auto batt.), or
2. The mowers don't charge batteries properly, or
3. Lack of use in winter drains and damages the battery, or
4. Something else?

I'm going with #1. We have orchards and use lawn tractors like farm
tractors due to being able to maneuver them between the trees. I start
mine more per day than most home owners would in a year. the only
thing we have found to work is gel cell wheel chair batteries. they
are the right size and seem to last many times longer than the lawn
tractor batteries.

On 04/03/2010 08:30 PM, James wrote:
Your battery is warranted for one year, and has lasted four years, and you
are complaining ??

Am I missing something here ? Four years even for a car battery is pretty
decent, although some are warranted for 6 years, they don't usually last
that long.

Huh? Mine usually last 10 or so. Do you live in a very hot area?

nate

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replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
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On 04/03/2010 07:15 PM, panabiker wrote:
I have a TroyBilt (MTD made) riding mower and the battery is dead
after only 4 summers. I figured I used it no more than once a week for
no more than 25 weeks a year. If I start engine twice each time I cut
the lawn, that's 50 times a year and 200 times in 4 years. Compared to
a car, it's about 3 and a half months of worth of starter usage. My
question: which is the main cause of very short battery life?

1. Lawn mower batteries are not nearly as well made (1yr warranty vs
6-8 yrs for auto batt.), or
2. The mowers don't charge batteries properly, or
3. Lack of use in winter drains and damages the battery, or
4. Something else?

3) is definitely a possibility. Does the battery tend to need a charge
in the spring? If so, you may want to consider putting the battery on a
"battery tender" over the winter, and if it is stored in an area that
could freeze, bring it inside your basement and set it on a board (not
so much because "setting a battery on concrete makes a battery go dead
faster" which may or may not be an old wives' tale, but to protect
whatever you set it on from any possible acid leakage)

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Your battery is warranted for one year, and has lasted four years, and you
are complaining ??

Am I missing something here ? Four years even for a car battery is pretty
decent, although some are warranted for 6 years, they don't usually last
that long.

On Sat, 03 Apr 2010 16:15:22 -0700, panabiker wrote:

I have a TroyBilt (MTD made) riding mower and the battery is dead after
only 4 summers. I figured I used it no more than once a week for no more
than 25 weeks a year. If I start engine twice each time I cut the lawn,
that's 50 times a year and 200 times in 4 years. Compared to a car, it's
about 3 and a half months of worth of starter usage.

Yeah, they do seem prone to failure. I gave up putting a battery in my
lawn tractor at all - I just jump it from a junk car battery whenever I
need to start it; the only things it needs the battery for are starting
and the lights, and I never cut grass in the dark anyway :-)

On Sat, 3 Apr 2010 16:15:22 -0700 (PDT), panabiker
wrote:

I have a TroyBilt (MTD made) riding mower and the battery is dead
after only 4 summers. I figured I used it no more than once a week for
no more than 25 weeks a year. If I start engine twice each time I cut
the lawn, that's 50 times a year and 200 times in 4 years. Compared to
a car, it's about 3 and a half months of worth of starter usage. My
question: which is the main cause of very short battery life?

1. Lawn mower batteries are not nearly as well made (1yr warranty vs
6-8 yrs for auto batt.), or

True. The original in a former lawn tractor failed within a year.

2. The mowers don't charge batteries properly, or

Bad cable connections/ground, maybe.

3. Lack of use in winter drains and damages the battery, or

Moved from NE to SW -- replaced the battery, put in a new battery and
all was well.

4. Something else?

Battery quality!

My eventual solution was to remove lawn turf and replace it will
rocks.

On Apr 3, 4:53*pm, Nate Nagel wrote:
On 04/03/2010 07:15 PM, panabiker wrote:

I have a TroyBilt (MTD made) riding mower and the battery is dead
after only 4 summers.
[...]
My question: which is the main cause of very short battery life?

1. Lawn mower batteries are not nearly as well made (1yr warranty vs
6-8 yrs for auto batt.), or
2. The mowers don't charge batteries properly, or
3. Lack of use in winter drains and damages the battery, or
4. Something else?

3) is definitely a possibility. *Does the battery tend to need a charge
in the spring? *If so, you may want to consider putting the battery on a
"battery tender" over the winter, and if it is stored in an area that
could freeze, bring it inside your basement and set it on a board (not
so much because "setting a battery on concrete makes a battery go dead
faster" which may or may not be an old wives' tale, but to protect
whatever you set it on from any possible acid leakage)

nate

I agree with Nate and add that this likely is the cause. Lead-acid
batteries develop sulfates on the plates that adversely affect the
performance and longevity after a couple of months without a charge.
If the battery is stored without a charge for a few winters, expect it
to die sooner than it should compared to if it was properly maintained
while not frequently used. Lead-acid batteries "hate" to be neglected.
Use a trickle charger or battery tender during those months when it is
not in use.

"panabiker" wrote in message
...
I have a TroyBilt (MTD made) riding mower and the battery is dead
after only 4 summers. I figured I used it no more than once a week for
no more than 25 weeks a year. If I start engine twice each time I cut
the lawn, that's 50 times a year and 200 times in 4 years. Compared to
a car, it's about 3 and a half months of worth of starter usage. My
question: which is the main cause of very short battery life?

1. Lawn mower batteries are not nearly as well made (1yr warranty vs
6-8 yrs for auto batt.), or
2. The mowers don't charge batteries properly, or
3. Lack of use in winter drains and damages the battery, or
4. Something else?

1 & 3. Remove the battery and keep it in a moderate temperature dry place.
Keep it charged with a trickle charger.

Remember that batteries work from a chemical reaction. Use is a factor, but
time counts too as the reaction is on going even in periods of non use. For
the type of battery, four years is pretty good. The short battery life is
your opinion but in reality, you've done OK with it.

On Apr 3, 10:30*pm, "James" no wrote:
Your battery is warranted for one year, and has lasted four years, and you
are complaining ??

Am I missing something here ? * Four years even for a car battery is pretty
decent, *although some are warranted for 6 years, they don't usually last
that long.

Auto batteries. Probably highly dependent on local temperature.
Also leaving a lead acid battery without some sort of topping up or
refresher charge for long periods (say two to three months over
winter) at any temperature is deleterious.
Here, in this cool climate am still using the original 12 volt battery
in my 2002 Nissan V6 pickup. No problems yet, even down to minus 10
Celsius = about 10 to 12 deg F.
Recently diagnosed a starting problem with a 14 year old Toyota car.
All that was wrong was the original battery.
But here we never get 90 degree F temps. An occasional temp of 80
degrees, some summer would get mention in the local press as something
of a record etc. Also for example, most homes here don't have or need
air conditioning although many vehicle are, somewhat unnecessarily, so
equipped..
However when living in the Gulf area of the middle east batteries
would often only last a couple to three years. Over there temps. often
went, mid summer, above 40 degrees C (i.e. 110 to 120 F). Manual work
was supposed to stop if temp. reached 50 C (about 130 F!). So,
'officially' it never did, never more than 49 deg. Celsius! {:-)

On Apr 3, 6:15*pm, panabiker wrote:
I have a TroyBilt (MTD made) riding mower and the battery is dead
after only 4 summers. I figured I used it no more than once a week for
no more than 25 weeks a year. If I start engine twice each time I cut
the lawn, that's 50 times a year and 200 times in 4 years. Compared to
a car, it's about 3 and a half months of worth of starter usage. My
question: which is the main cause of very short battery life?

1. Lawn mower batteries are not nearly as well made (1yr warranty vs
6-8 yrs for auto batt.), or
2. The mowers don't charge batteries properly, or
3. Lack of use in winter drains and damages the battery, or
4. Something else?

What did you do to maintain the battery in winter, a battery starts to
sulfate the plates as voltage drops just a bit, and permanent damage
occurs with just a small drop below full charge. Ive ruined expensive
boat, car, and tool batteries in one winter by not maintaining them.
This is where a float charger or topping it off regularly can add
years to a battery. Your car is started regularly and the voltage
stays up and in a normal range that keeps them from sulfating, store a
car and its the same thing, the battery will sulfate itself to an
early death fast. www.batteryuniversity.com has fairly complete
info on all batteries. On your next battery maintain the voltage when
its not used. But 4 years isnt that bad, ive bought new car batteries
that were duds and lasted 6 months

On Apr 4, 6:26*am, ransley wrote:
On Apr 3, 6:15*pm, panabiker wrote:

I have a TroyBilt (MTD made) riding mower and the battery is dead
after only 4 summers. I figured I used it no more than once a week for
no more than 25 weeks a year. If I start engine twice each time I cut
the lawn, that's 50 times a year and 200 times in 4 years. Compared to
a car, it's about 3 and a half months of worth of starter usage. My
question: which is the main cause of very short battery life?

1. Lawn mower batteries are not nearly as well made (1yr warranty vs
6-8 yrs for auto batt.), or
2. The mowers don't charge batteries properly, or
3. Lack of use in winter drains and damages the battery, or
4. Something else?

What did you do to maintain the battery in winter, a battery starts to
sulfate the plates as voltage drops just a bit, and permanent damage
occurs with just a small drop below full charge. Ive ruined expensive
boat, car, and tool batteries in one winter by not maintaining them.
This is where a float charger or topping it off regularly can add
years to a battery. Your car is started regularly and the voltage
stays up and in a normal range that keeps them from sulfating, store a
car and its the same thing, the battery will sulfate itself to an
early death fast. *www.batteryuniversity.com* has fairly complete
info on all batteries. On your next battery maintain the voltage when
its not used. But 4 years isnt that bad, ive bought new car batteries
that were duds and lasted 6 months

It all boils down to MATENINCE

On Apr 4, 7:26*am, ransley wrote:
On Apr 3, 6:15*pm, panabiker wrote:

I have a TroyBilt (MTD made) riding mower and the battery is dead
after only 4 summers. I figured I used it no more than once a week for
no more than 25 weeks a year. If I start engine twice each time I cut
the lawn, that's 50 times a year and 200 times in 4 years. Compared to
a car, it's about 3 and a half months of worth of starter usage. My
question: which is the main cause of very short battery life?

1. Lawn mower batteries are not nearly as well made (1yr warranty vs
6-8 yrs for auto batt.), or
2. The mowers don't charge batteries properly, or
3. Lack of use in winter drains and damages the battery, or
4. Something else?

What did you do to maintain the battery in winter, a battery starts to
sulfate the plates as voltage drops just a bit, and permanent damage
occurs with just a small drop below full charge. Ive ruined expensive
boat, car, and tool batteries in one winter by not maintaining them.
This is where a float charger or topping it off regularly can add
years to a battery. Your car is started regularly and the voltage
stays up and in a normal range that keeps them from sulfating, store a
car and its the same thing, the battery will sulfate itself to an
early death fast. *www.batteryuniversity.com* has fairly complete
info on all batteries. On your next battery maintain the voltage when
its not used. But 4 years isnt that bad, ive bought new car batteries
that were duds and lasted 6 months

Yes, I agree with the above and others here who said not keeping the
battery fully charged is a sure way to shorten the life. Batteries
will slowly discharge by themselves and if you don't use it or
recharge it, the life will be shortened. Solution is to buy a battery
tender for the winter months.

Also agree that 4 years for a mower battery doesn't sound all that bad.

Perhaps maintenance would work better?
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/maintenance

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"jim"
wrote in message news:4c55cd8f-cb61-4914-9631
years to a battery. Your car is started regularly and the
voltage
stays up and in a normal range that keeps them from
sulfating, store a
car and its the same thing, the battery will sulfate
itself to an
early death fast. www.batteryuniversity.com has fairly
complete
info on all batteries. On your next battery maintain the
voltage when
its not used. But 4 years isnt that bad, ive bought new
car batteries
that were duds and lasted 6 months

It all boils down to MATENINCE

On Apr 3, 6:15*pm, panabiker wrote:
I have a TroyBilt (MTD made) riding mower and the battery is dead
after only 4 summers. I figured I used it no more than once a week for
no more than 25 weeks a year. If I start engine twice each time I cut
the lawn, that's 50 times a year and 200 times in 4 years. Compared to
a car, it's about 3 and a half months of worth of starter usage. My
question: which is the main cause of very short battery life?

1. Lawn mower batteries are not nearly as well made (1yr warranty vs
6-8 yrs for auto batt.), or
2. The mowers don't charge batteries properly, or
3. Lack of use in winter drains and damages the battery, or
4. Something else?

no it's 3 sated it has been a long time sens the battery has been
started just like a car if it has not been started for a long time it
will need a jump start