tractor battery charge question

[big bubba]

as a result of an interesting recent thread, i won't be regularly starting & warming my tractor as it sits throughout the winter. only use it when i need it... however, want to keep the battery fully charged (do not have power to the storage area) & don't want to mess with a solar tender, etc. if i were to hook up jumper cables to the tractor battery (w/o detaching terminals to tractor) from my pick up & let my pick up idle for 10-15 minutes, wouldn't this fully charge the tractor battery in the same way as starting the tractor? the battery is good and probably doesn't lose much charge sitting, but thought this would be a convenient way of keeping it in good shape in the winter. your take? thx in advance

 

[SHORT KID]

Hey bubba, if your battery is in good shape I wouldn't worry about it too much. I live in NE PA and it gets cold here and I never worry about it, only start to use it. I keep the terminals clean and tight and the water level full. I don't have a block heater either, just use the glow plugs when it is cold. The tractor is sheltered but not heated. As far as hooking your Pickup to it, it should help. Good luck.

 

[mjw357]

I don't think hooking it up at idle will produce the voltage/current you will need to actually charge the battery, I think you would have to raise the rpm's of the truck to around 1200 to get any decent charging done in 10-15 minutes. You are burning fuel either way, why not juts run the tractor?

 

[oosik]

Bubba - I take the batteries out of my lawn mower & travel trailer in late September/early October. They sit out in the unheated shed all winter. I will put the charger on them when I remove them - for a day or two and then again in Jan and just before I reinstall them in the spring. This keeps them plenty charged. I sure wouldn't worry about the battery - if its in good shape.

My tractor sits in an unheated shed and is only started when I need to use it. Never have a lick of trouble starting - even down to -20F. However, when I do start it - I run it for at least three hours, clearing the mile long gravel driveway, mail box area and yard.

I think you are creating "worry" where its not deserved.

 

[Gordon Gould]

I do similar to oosik. I leave the batteries in place but I disconnect the ground cable from them to eliminate any leakage thru the equipment. Charge them up and leave until spring in the shed. I think your jumper cables idea would work fine as a charger. If I look at the volt meter on my dozer after a hard start It only takes a few minutes at idle to bring the voltage back up so it is definitely charging at idle. But you can't really tell how long it takes to get a full charge unless you have a charger with a indicator on it.

 

[bigtiller]

If you could beg, borrow, rent or buy one of the small honda generators, they have a $10 option for a jumper cable to charge batteries. It plugs into the front of the generator and clamps onto the battery. Fire it up and it sends an 8 amp charge to the battery.

 

[Billrog]

To extend the life of your battery the best would probably be to take it out of the tractor and put it where you can top it up every 30 days or so with a charger, other than that before storing your tractor for the winter charge the battery up fully on a charger before putting it away for the winter.

 

[oldpilgrim]

want to keep the battery fully charged (do not have power to the storage area) & don't want to mess with a solar tender, etc.

It sounds like what you're planning on doing several times would be more troublesome than installing a cheap solar charger...once.

 

[big bubba]

I don't think hooking it up at idle will produce the voltage/current you will need to actually charge the battery, I think you would have to raise the rpm's of the truck to around 1200 to get any decent charging done in 10-15 minutes. You are burning fuel either way, why not juts run the tractor?

geez guys, thanks for so many answers!! really, i am lazy. don't want to go the the trouble of uninstalling tractor battery in winter cause i may randomly use tractor say once monthly, but also want residual full charge of battery sitting idle in winter. have decided not to start tractor to simply charge battery for personal reasons listed in another thread. so my question is simply: 1) will a good battery reasonably hold a full charge when left idle in winter say for 6 wks? 2) can a person use a redneck method of hooking up jumpers described above just to maintain it throughout winter?. in other words, why not use another motor other than tractor to charge battery? really, it's an electrical automotive charging question. hey thanks!

 

[DuckSlayer1017]

The battery will be fine if it is not used for 6 weeks. If it were six months I would worry, but not six weeks. I just used my quad for the first time in about a month. She fired up with no problems and it was in the cold barn with no trickle charger.