Battery Tender Jr--Good/Gimmick/Bad?

[Matt Meiser]

Now that I'm not using my tractor to mow my lawn I'm finding that the battery can run down to where it doesn't want to start after several weeks. I'd previously noted this in the winter but had figured it was the cold weather. Apparently there's something on there that puts a little draw on the relatively small battery (what I don't know--I'll have to ask my dealer about that one.) Previously the local battery shop had recommended that I get a Battery Tender Jr. for our Kawasaki mule which usually sits unused much of the winter but I never got around to it. I'm thinking one for each could be a good idea as well as for my zero turn which obviously won't see any winter use at all. Are these things as advertised? A gimmick? Actually bad for batteries?

I looked and they sell multi-output systems. I can buy 3 Jr's and a power strip for less!

[David Weaver]

How hard is it to disconnect from the terminal on the battery?

Low use is a constant problem with farmers on machines that get used once a year or only a couple of times a year, batteries last less long than they do with heavy use. But I've never seen anyone mention a battery tender.

In theory, it should be a pretty simple problem and should work well, though, right? Just a trickle charger that will stop the trickle when the battery is fully charged, and it sure doesn't cost much.

[Matt Meiser]

On the tractor, very. The battery is down low in front of the radiator, under the headlights. The grill normally tilts away for easier access--unless you have the guard for the loader installed, then you can't tilt the grill. If the battery is dead, you can't start the tractor to remove the loader so you can remove the guard so you can get to the battery! Its about all I can do to get the large clamps from a normal charger on there. Small clamps might be OK, but the Battery Tender comes with a short harness you can leave attached to the battery and just plug/unplug as needed.

I could probably mount a disconnect switch somewhere and route cables but it'd cost more in parts and time than a Battery Tender Jr. ($25)

The Mule we do use once in a while in the winter. Sometimes I pull my daughter around on a sled, and if we get a sudden thaw our dirt road can become nearly impassible to cars so sometimes my wife will park at the church at the corner and I'll run down to get her. I don't want to have to mess with the battery for that. For the ZTR, I could probably just disconnect it.

[David Weaver]

If I had a machine the terminals were hard to get to, I'd give it a shot. Worst it can do is ruin a battery that's already going to have a short life from not being cycled. I doubt it would do that.

The amazon reviews on it are great, and there's 790 of them, so they're not great from lack of exposure.

On all of these machines that draw current, it'd be nice to have a "cold off" switch that completely stopped the draw.

[Myk Rian]

Install a battery cutoff switch. HF has one for 9 bucks.
http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-d...tch-66789.html

[Steve Meliza]

Lead acid batteries self-discharge about 5% per month so a disconnect won't save you from that. A battery tender however will keep it topped off which is what you need to prevent premature battery failure with lead-acid batteries.

[Matt Meiser]

Yeah, but by the time I add some long cables because there's no where decent to mount something up front where it won't get killed brush hogging I'd be way over the price of the Battery Tender Jr. There is a style battery cutoff that goes right on the terminal but these are smaller than automotive terminals--probably some Japanese standard since that's where John Deere builds compact tractors.

[Scott T Smith]

Matt, I don't use the Battery Tender brand, but I do use Battery Minders on all of my farm equipment. I probably have 10 or more of them across the farm, and I've been using them for around 12 years.

The ones with the desulphanation mode work best. Once the batter is charged they go into a "pulse" mode that helps to prevent sulfites from developing on the battery plates, w/o overcharging the battery.

They have a small, two conductor pigtail that you can attach to the battery for ease of use. That way you don't have to slave the charger to the equipment, especially if it is stored outside.

Northern Tool sells them.

[Mike Henderson]

What I did one time was get some welding connectors and mount them on the vehicle. They were connected to the battery. Then I had a cable that would plug into the jacks. I could hook up a charger to the cable or jumper cables. Get one red and one black.

If you want to save money and time, and if you have a negative ground, you only need one jack connected to the positive line. Just use a clamp to hook to the chassis for the negative.

Mike

[Jim Koepke]

Disconnecting the batter will not always stop the discharge.

If there is even a little dirt (or other contamination) on the battery, it will discharge itself over time.

If something is drawing current while the machine is inoperative, it should be corrected if possible. Without a good meter and knowledge of your electrical system, this is difficult to find or even describe the method of troubleshooting to find the culprit.

jtk

[Matt Meiser]

That's a good point. Being in front of the radiator the fan pulls all sort of who-knows-what across it. I pressure wash the whole tractor in the spring and fall, but keeping it clean isn't happening.

There is an electronic module at the firewall which may well draw enough to discharge the smallish battery after a while. I know when we had our camper, just the gas detector installed in it was enough to run down a 2-cycle battery after about 2 months.

[Paul Murphy]

I use a similar clone unit (from Yuasa) on my motorcycles, there are several to chose from, and the good ones absolutely do the job. If you don't mind rotating a single tender among many batteries, you can buy many quick-connect leads. I did this with my motorcycles, it was great to only have to access the battery once to permanantly wire the quick-connect. I more than doubled the life of my batteries by keeping them properly charged.
http://batterytender.com/products/ac...l-harness.html

One of many clones:
http://www.lectriclimited.com/batter...r_mainpage.htm (cheapest)

http://www.yuasabatteries.com/chargers.php (the one that I use)

[Brian Elfert]

I have a 24 volt Battery Tender Plus connected to the batteries in my motorhome and it works great. Batteries are only charged when they need charging.

[Bruce Page]

I don’t remember which model I used on my motorcycle but it did a good job. I was buying a new battery about once a year prior to using it.

[Tom Giles]

I have a Battery Tender Plus hooked to my two boat batteries. Been using it for 2 years and it works great.