2 & 1/2 years, battery won’t hold a charge.

fmgsr

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Dec 19, 2018
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So I bought my BX 2380 two and a half years ago, and the battery is dead. Will take a charge,
but drops. So, I figure let me try Kubota. $288.00. Bye. Checking on batteries, great deal from
walmart. $58.00 one full year 100% replacement, where most others is 90 days. Put it in,
back in business. Walmart, haha.
 
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85Hokie

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Do you use a battery maintainer in the off season? Or is there no off season?:)

You sure your charging circuit is working correctly?
 

fmgsr

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Do you use a battery maintainer in the off season? Or is there no off season?:)

You sure your charging circuit is working correctly?
Right, no off season, always running.
charging seems alright. Probably just a bad cell.
 

Nicfin36

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$288....yikes!

Yeah, my next batteries for my vehicles, tractors, etc., will be Walmart most likely. It seems the high dollar batteries don't last any longer for me than a cheaper one.
 

DustyRusty

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Batteries are like women, expensive to replace, and sometimes you get one that lasts for years with low maintenance and other times, they bail on you least expect it after just a few short years. In the 15 or 16 years that I owned my BX22, I only replaced the battery once, and that was after 11 years. No battery maintainer, or anything else, just regular use. Once a diesel starts, it doesn't need electrical current for the most part, and the few items that require current only use a miniscule amount of current. When I bought the tractor, I had the dynamo replaced with a real alternator, and the cost was about $75 upgrade.
 

Chanceywd

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Last year I replaced the 14 year old walmart battery, bought new which I had put in my 8N when I changed it to 12 volt and added the electronic points replacement. As it got so it wouldn't hold a charge, I checked the pick and pull near me called Garys-U-pullit in Binghamton , found a year old Napa that they pull and test having in a rack for sale. Cost was about $25. works great. I just installed a 20kw generac for my house and again got a good battery for that, same price. Just another source when you have a bunch of things using batteries like I do. Need to go find a type 35 or 26 for my wood splitter as it is getting tired at about 10 years old.
 

GeoHorn

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Brand loyalty is what mfr’s wish to create in the consumer. But there are only a few storage battery mfr’s that make the majority of differently-branded/badged batteries.
One of the largest mfr’s is Johnson Controls who make the WalMart (and many other) branded batteries.
I’ve had excellent experiences buying batteries at WalMart.….and a horrible experience at the local NAPA (mainly due to an employee’s denigrating attitude). I’ve got eleven (11) vehicles/equipt that use storage batteries. I’ve bought one battery at AutoZone (the exact same brand/size as NAPA “offered”) purely because I refuse to reward rotten behavior at the local NAPA. (It’s a large industrial Continental-branded which WalMart does not sell.).
 
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Donystoy

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I have had batteries last anywhere from a few months in a vehicle to up to 16 years in a John Deere garden tractor. Average though is in the 5-7 years. I remember having a conversation with a battery salesman years ago who said that he had a summer job as a student at a major battery manufacturer and that all the batteries of the same size had the same inside components. All you were paying for with the more expensive lines was for the longer warranty.
 

RCW

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Don’t doubt the different label/different price issue.

Like you, I’ve gotten as little as 9 months in a garden tractor, 3-4 years from an OEM truck battery, to 11 years out of a motorcycle battery. I literally sold the Harley with the OEM battery in it.

I will likely change the Kubota battery before snow flies. It’s working on 9 years old.

Some have had Tenders on them, others not. I believe a tender/maintainer greatly extends battery life.
 

rogbn

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bx2380
Feb 2, 2021
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After years of having to deal with batteries-gone-bad I started using solar chargers on all my outdoor equipment. In my opinion, the results have been great. Everything still starting and running fine on batteries that normally would have needed replacing a year or more ago. I've been told that the standard lead/acid batteries need to be maintained at near full charge in order to hopefully avoid cell corruption; and that when one is allowed to drop to the 50% range (as when sitting over the winter), that it can be expected to fail soon. I'm no expert at all, but it made sense to me, and so far has worked like a champ. I make sure they're hooked up to chargers year round when not in use.
 

Nicfin36

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L2501 HST, BH77 Backhoe, SSQA Loader ZD1011 Mower
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All you were paying for with the more expensive lines was for the longer warranty.
And as I discovered when my expensive Duralast Gold battery crapped out much sooner than it should have, Autozone said they would be gracious enough to give me $20 off one of their $150-$200 batteries. Woohoo, good thing I had a warranty. After you figure out how many Walmart batteries you can buy for the cost of one elsewhere, it doesn't make much sense.
 

Botamon

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Mar 26, 2018
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I bought a Walmart battery for my old John Deere 2020 diesel that's notoriously difficult to start if the temperature is below 50 degrees. That battery lasted 13 years (I write date of installation on all my batteries with a white paint marker) so I replaced it with another Walmart one. That one's been in there for 6 years and is doing fine.
 

fmgsr

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I forgot to mention about the $288.00 Kubota battery, it has zero label on it. No brand, no date, no marks. So I assume, the Kubota replacement is the same.
 
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whitetiger

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Dustyx2

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My M7060 which was ordered and received 10/2018 has already needed a battery. This one was a no name too. Always stored in the heated shop and has had the battery maintainer rotated around to it every 3 months or so. Got in it to unload hay and it was completely dead. Would not take a charge with any of my various chargers. On the other extreme, I got 12 years out of the Deka battery that came in the BX22.
 

lynnmor

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My M7060 which was ordered and received 10/2018 has already needed a battery. This one was a no name too. Always stored in the heated shop and has had the battery maintainer rotated around to it every 3 months or so. Got in it to unload hay and it was completely dead. Would not take a charge with any of my various chargers. On the other extreme, I got 12 years out of the Deka battery that came in the BX22.
One thing you don't know is the history of the battery before it came into your possession. I always completely charge any battery the minute I get it home. Currently my defective tractor is being held hostage by the dealer while they do nothing, and of course it is outdoors and the battery will be ignored.

Cooler temperatures is better for battery life, a heated garage is not necessarily the best, but wide temperature swings may not be good either. My truck has the original pair of batteries and they are at 10.6 years. It is kept in an unheated pole barn.
 

DustyRusty

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BX23S
Nov 8, 2015
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My M7060 which was ordered and received 10/2018 has already needed a battery. This one was a no name too. Always stored in the heated shop and has had the battery maintainer rotated around to it every 3 months or so. Got in it to unload hay and it was completely dead. Would not take a charge with any of my various chargers. On the other extreme, I got 12 years out of the Deka battery that came in the BX22.
I had the same experience with the Deka battery that came with my BX22.
 

Dustyx2

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One thing you don't know is the history of the battery before it came into your possession. I always completely charge any battery the minute I get it home. Currently my defective tractor is being held hostage by the dealer while they do nothing, and of course it is outdoors and the battery will be ignored.

Cooler temperatures is better for battery life, a heated garage is not necessarily the best, but wide temperature swings may not be good either. My truck has the original pair of batteries and they are at 10.6 years. It is kept in an unheated pole barn.
I figure a heated shop at say 45 degrees should be easier on the battery than outside at the -25 we saw this past winter. It probably sees a maximum of 85 in the summer. True, I don't know how long that battery set on a shelf before it went into the new tractor and was shipped to me. It was put on the battery minder very soon after I got it. The new battery got put in so I could unload hay and then had the minder on it for the next week or so. Hopefully it lasts longer. I have a factory Mopar battery out of a 2004 Dodge pickup currently doing duty in my 2012 F 150. Its battery gave up 2 years ago and I still had that battery in the shop so charged it up and its still going. Have a red top optima in the BX that is about that same vintage. Over all I have pretty good luck with batteries. Battery minders are a big help.