New Battery Time!

[LiqTenEXp]

Hey,

I did some searching around here and tried my luck at the local interstate battery distributor. They had "econo" batteries for 35 bucks each. I picked up 2 Group 31 batteries. To make them fit the box I had to remove 2 of the nut/bolts that hold the shield on the back of the battery box (I have the plastic battery box).

Once that was complete I cut some wood to wedge them in there firmly.

Thing starts like a champ now. For 70 bucks plus tax it was definitely worth it.

I would like to thank George for giving me a set of batteries that lasted me from apirl till now. They weren't supposed to be as permanent as I made them but they finally gave up in the cold.

Before:

After:

Next I have to figure out if my manifold heater is working. Sure doesn't seem to help starting in the cold. I know the pump "runs" aka makes noise, draws power. I was reading up on how to check it and decided I will pull the spark plug and see if I can see a mist of fuel and spark form the plug.

 

[Scarecrow1]

Interstate batteries are great I know you will get good service from them .....good deal on them too

 

[wreckerman893]

Since you are up in the cold belt I hope you got the highest Cold Cranking Amp batteries they had.
The cold can sap the batteries, thicken the oil and generally make a deuce hard to start.

 

[dittle]

Since you are up in the cold belt I hope you got the highest Cold Cranking Amp batteries they had.
The cold can sap the batteries, thicken the oil and generally make a deuce hard to start.

Good point WM, I'm sure a lot of guys overlook the CCA rating when trying to find the battery that will fit in the box. I know at the museum we make sure everything we have has atleast 650CCA (standard 6TL rating). I put some Batteries Plus Werker 675's in my Deuce and it spins it over in single digits with ease. I used a very similar setup that LTE did to make it fit, just shimmed a little differently.

 

[Happyland1410]

Just in case you were looking for another simple and inexpensive way to space and hold down those batteries here is a post on what I came up with. Nothing fancy but it works.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/43467-deuce-battery-box-mods.html#post484186

 

[LiqTenEXp]

BTW, I had to cut the 4 bumps at the bottom edges of the battery box to get them to sit flat. Only took like 5 -10 min with a dremel.

 

[Mark2X2]

Hey,

I did some searching around here and tried my luck at the local interstate battery distributor. They had "econo" batteries for 35 bucks each. I picked up 2 Group 31 batteries. To make them fit the box I had to remove 2 of the nut/bolts that hold the shield on the back of the battery box (I have the plastic battery box).

Once that was complete I cut some wood to wedge them in there firmly.

Thing starts like a champ now. For 70 bucks plus tax it was definitely worth it.

I would like to thank George for giving me a set of batteries that lasted me from apirl till now. They weren't supposed to be as permanent as I made them but they finally gave up in the cold.

Before:

After:

Next I have to figure out if my manifold heater is working. Sure doesn't seem to help starting in the cold. I know the pump "runs" aka makes noise, draws power. I was reading up on how to check it and decided I will pull the spark plug and see if I can see a mist of fuel and spark form the plug.

The best batteries I've used are John Deere Strong Box, they have epoxy anchored plates. That means for off road equipment or Deuces, the plates won't come loose & short out the cell. We run them 3 years in our woods equipment, then just change them out & put them in something else we don't use in the winter, we had one set 9 years in an old JD 450C.
If I was going to run my Deuce in the winter and had a place to plug it in, I would put a block heater like in another post & run cheap batteries and leave the SAE 15-40 oil in it. If for some reason I needed it where I couldn't plug it in, it would have Strong Box batteries & change to SAE 10 oil. Talked to a old Caterpillar mechanic about oil. His thoughts where, more engines are wrecked in running to heavy of oil than to thin.

 

[1stDeuce]

I am really jealous of those plastic battery boxes... My rusty metal box is killing me, and of course, nobody has a line on any cheap plastic boxes...

Mine will spend some time getting to know the sandblaster this summer...

C