Put in a new Battery, got nothin' - I am not dumb, but maybe I'm not bright?

[FreddyFlynn]

I bought a LS tractor knowing diddle squat about tractors, but man do I love it now. I put in a new battery for the winter, I got nothing. I checked the terminals, clean. I checked to make sure I didn't put it in backwards. I tightened it down with a torque wrench. I swore at it a lot. I am not getting lights, dashboard activity, not a sign of life. I know nothing of tractors but I am ok with cars. Does this have a starter solenoid? Is there some sort of reset button when you change the battery that I cannot find? Anyone have any ideas apart from taking it to a shop 200 miles away?

 

[4570Man]

Did you put a volt meter on the battery? Occasionally new ones are dead. Also did you remove the plastic shipping covers from the terminals?

 

[FreddyFlynn]

I don't have one but it could be that. No plastic terminals that I remember, but a great thought because I had the guy put in the plugs and of course it is already darker than a black goat at night. Thank you for the ideas!

 

[4570Man]

Do you have a jump pack that you could hook up to see if anything happens? You probably need to pickup a multi meter and a test light to proceed much further. Are the battery cables the factory ends and reasonably good condition or are they rigged up?

 

[FreddyFlynn]

Well I do but I am going to need a tractor to pull it to a location with a plug. I just wouldn't think you would need to jump a new battery but maybe they sold me a lemon. Do you know if there is any safe switch that flips when you take out a battery? I could be just making that up in my head, but I am just frustrated. I will swing by ACE tomorrow and pick up that multi meter - It would be nice to have on hand.

 

[4570Man]

Do you know if there is any safe switch that flips when you take out a battery? .

Typically no but I have seen fuses blow when the battery was messed with. There’s usually multiple batteries cables. Did you get them all hooked up?

 

[FreddyFlynn]

Well I thought I would ask, like I said, new to tractors and I am just worried that it something so simple I am overlooking. It was just the grounding cable that connected to the metal plate the battery sits on and the positive wire bundle that goes back into the engine.

 

[4570Man]

Can you post a picture of the battery in the tractor?

 

[anomad]

A test light is cheaper than a volt meter if you don't want to jump into that. It won't tell you the voltage, but it will tell you if it is dead as a door nail or not. Do you have a battery charger? A free test would be to swap in your car (or any known good) battery temporarily and see if the tractor lights up.

 

[FreddyFlynn]

Can you post a picture of the battery in the tractor?

Give me 10 mins - I am in the middle of putting up the chickens