# battery storage



## carollil (Nov 6, 2012)

Hello, I will not be using my 75hp farm tractor for 5 months- Dec-April. what is the best way to store and maintain a charge on the battery?


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## Argee (Sep 17, 2003)

carollil said:


> Hello, I will not be using my 75hp farm tractor for 5 months- Dec-April. what is the best way to store and maintain a charge on the battery?


If at all possible remove it from the tractor, store in a warm, dry place sitting on a slab of wood. Optionally use a battery maintainer to keep it topped off.


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## Mickey (Aug 14, 2010)

My views are a little different than Randy's. LA batteries have a very low self-discharge rate by themselves. IF your tractor doesn't have any current draws when off and if the battery top is clean and dry so no current can flow between terminals, The battery doesn't need to see a charger more than once or twice over winter.

Now if you have power close by, couldn't hurt to keep the battery on a float charger.

I'm not in to warm and wood being part of maintaining a battery over the winter. Since a battery is a chemical devise, its activity is related to temp. The lower the temp the more sluggish the battery will be. A fully charged LA battery won't freeze until something like minus 35-40 F is reached. Fully discharge is will freeze just like water. Storing a battery on wood is an old wives tell IMO and certainly not an issue with today's plastic cases.

In the 40 yrs I've had equipment with a starting battery, I've never done more than put a charger on it once or twice during the winter. Think I have 5-6 items that will sit all winter without use.


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## carollil (Nov 6, 2012)

Thank you for your suggestions and advice.


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## dangeroustoys56 (Jul 26, 2010)

Make sure you also drain the gas from the tank and carb before storing it as well ....


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## ErnieS (Jun 1, 2011)

I would guess at 75 HP, the tractor is a diesel. Rather than draining the tank, some fuel stabilizer should do.

The wood does have some merit, even with plastic battery cases. If stored in a damp spot, water can condense on the case, creating a path to ground. Wood will break that path insignificant as it is.

I, myself would go with a float charger.


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## Mickey (Aug 14, 2010)

ErnieS said:


> I would guess at 75 HP, the tractor is a diesel. Rather than draining the tank, some fuel stabilizer should do.
> 
> *The wood does have some merit, even with plastic battery cases. If stored in a damp spot, water can condense on the case, creating a path to ground.* Wood will break that path insignificant as it is.
> 
> I, myself would go with a float charger.


Have some small disagreement here. First off, I think we all misuse the term "ground" when talking about batteries, we're not talking about earth ground. The correct term is "negative". Wood is conductive when moist/wet, more so than a damp polyethylene battery case. They make moisture meters for wood and they couldn't work if there wasn't a conductive path.

The only place we need to be concerned with is a conductive path between the + and - terminals. That is actually why I mentioned a clean and dry battery top in my first post.

Went out this AM and took a couple measurements. From one terminal to top of case near the other terminal. Did this for both posts. Resistance measured >20M ohms. This was on an exposed battery on my wood chipper. It wasn't the cleanest but was fairly dry from being kept in the shop. At 20M ohm and nom 12 V, the current flow would be .0000006A. Nothing I'm concerned over.

If there is power close by, to have peace of mind, a float charger certainly can't hurt.


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