IH 1066 battery question

Richard · Feb 28, 2019

Have a (new to me) 1066, got it last fall.

Fixed a couple things over winter, am preparing to change all fluids (new Hytrans, new engine oil, all filters...)

Needs a battery.

I've never dealt with 6v batteries before. It has the two long skinny trays (for the long skinny batteries). Prior owner fabricated a squarish bracket and has a more traditional "car/truck" battery on the fabricated tray.

I like the looks of them being tucked in.

Should I get two 12V or two 6V batteries? I keep going round & round.... (both are available, I've never used dual batteries so am suffering paralysis by analysis)

LouNY · Feb 28, 2019

Red Power has a thread on this subject, actually it has had a few;
https://www.redpowermagazine.com/forums/topic/73201-1066-battery-questions-6v-3eh-series-or-12v-3et-parallel/
There are plus and minus to both ways.

RickB · Mar 1, 2019

I’ve never heard of someone going back to 2 six volt batteries in series after converting to 2 twelve volt batteries in parallel. Never.

LouNY · Mar 1, 2019

The problem is that he can get the long narrow batteries that fit his tractor in either 6 or 12 volt.
The series wiring is easy to change to parallel wiring for 12's, from what I've seen they do start a bit better with 2 12 volters.
Which should be the 4D size battery. He could get one see how it does and get a second if wanted.

RickB · Mar 1, 2019

The OEM battery is BCI Group 3EH. The similarly sized 12v battery is a 3EE. If ha wants to retain the original boxes. A single 950cca Group 31 will give you the most bang for the buck. There’s millions of them in trucks and tractors.

LouNY · Mar 1, 2019

RickB said:
The OEM battery is BCI Group 3EH. The similarly sized 12v battery is a 3EE. If ha wants to retain the original boxes. A single 950cca Group 31 will give you the most bang for the buck. There’s millions of them in trucks and tractors.

Your correct I was over at the farm this afternoon and looked at the 1066, she has a pair of the3EE's in the boxes, I don't believe a group 31 would fit in the boxes they are quite narrow maybe 4-5 inches wide.

Richard · Mar 1, 2019

Never having had something like this before... a "battery was always a battery".

It was 12 volt...and it was the size that fit in your auto (though there were different sizes for a Toyota verses maybe a truck)

I've never known the shorthand for these styles (3EH for example) so I'm having to learn something about what these mean.

I was at the store the other day, saw the long skinny version (in 12 volt). I was going to buy it. Had it in my cart when I noticed the CCA rating on it.

That's what got me thinking (or asking I should say)

"even in 12 volt, is this the correct unit? Can I get a higher CCA rating? Are there different versions of essentially the same thing?

I'm beginning to think the answer to that is yes.....

Sure would be nice if I could find a store that has 3-5 of the skinny batteries in 12 volt....so I could look at them, pick & choose the strongest unit.

(My logic is maybe buying one battery, if it works, fine. I might be done. I am guessing I'll probably end up with two batteries. The single battery that came with it (auto-style) would start it....but barely.

Then again, the battery that came with it was maybe 9-10 years old. It WOULD start the tractor if the battery was freshly charged. When fall came, we'd have a cold snap and that did in... engine barely turned over and required a jump start from my car battery.

So I know I need to do something.

RickB · Mar 1, 2019

LouNY said:
Your correct I was over at the farm this afternoon and looked at the 1066, she has a pair of the3EE's in the boxes, I don't believe a group 31 would fit in the boxes they are quite narrow maybe 4-5 inches wide.

No, a group 31 will not fit in those battery boxes.

Richard · Mar 2, 2019

Question about the battery tops.

I don't have those.

The BASES are "right/left" so one could have the wrong base if they had say.....two "rights" (is that a case where two "rights" in fact, make a wrong??!!)

None the less....regarding the battery covers, are those also "right & left" or does one size/style fit both?

I'm going to maybe need to get a pair of those and so far, have only seen one style. If there is a right/left, I've not seen the other side. They all look the same to me so far.

Richard · Mar 23, 2019

I got two 3ET batteries (if I have the correct terminology). They are 12volt. Got them hooked in parallel. I had to move the wires around as my initial setup of the wires brought them up short!

Got the tops for them. I can't believe how close the metal tops come to the battery posts. I tried to look as close I could and it does appear that the tops are at a height of (for example) 2 inches and the posts are (for example) 1 1/2 inches so there is just barely room for everything to fit without shorting.

BUT....

These darn battery cables I have, three new and one came with tractor... have a bit of a bulge around the post end and this bulge sticks up higher than the plane of the cable end which means the hot point isn't 1 1/2 inches (or whatever the height of the battery post is) but is now say, 1 3/4 inches... put differently, it LOOKS perilously close enough to the metal lid that I've not yet put the lids on... I'm just too nervous that something is going to touch and short while I'm tinkering with it.

Perhaps I'm being too nervous... none the less....I'm taking that part very slow. Haven't had time to do much to tractor so will deal with those "in time" but then, I might just put a bungee strap on them and forget about it. (one of them already has bungee strap on it).