Cold Start

[bmoore]

Thanks for the info @Curt Doles I have a trickle charger and I use it frequently. I'm curious about what you consider a high quality trickle charger. Perhaps my harbor freight job isn't cutting it? It does make a difference and that is why I keep using it. It has rescued my not so good batteries many a time. It's just that when the cold sets in, its not enough. I'm still thinking that I just have bad luck with tractor batteries. For now, the jump pack I just got is working out good.

I saw a guy who had a light duty charger/maintainer plugged into an outlet controlled by the light timer on the garage door opener. The light (and outlet) would go live every time the opener operated, and I believe he could adjust the time it stayed on. If you opened the door in the morning to back out and let the car warm up, the charger would run for five or ten minutes. Same when you came home and put the car back in the garage. It was enough to maintain the charge in the battery, not intended to bring one to full charge.

 

[Greg Riutzel]

I use a similar Tractor Supply brand battery in my LTX-1050KW, but I can't seem to get much more than a year out of them. So I put a Die Hard 320 cca in my 782 about a year ago and now that the temperature dropped, it is having trouble cranking my 782 starter.

That's interesting that it seems to be down to a year's life on batteries. I'd check all the electrical connections for clean and tight. Check the alternator's output for charging current to make sure it's keeping the battery up to snuff. Check the starter relay for voltage drop. Have the starter motor checked at a shop. There may even be a system drain on the battery with every thing off but something's not totally off and "leaking". These tractors don't come broke from the factory, but wear and tear take a toll that a good fix rather than bandaids will put it back to spec. Cold brings out all the weaknesses. Even a dry/dirty starter motor or dirty/loose connections might masquerade as a weak battery. One way to rule out leakage is check the battery voltage when you're done using the tractor. Then check it before starting the next time. If it's a big difference, confirm it by checking after the next use and then disconnect the battery. When you return for the next job, check the voltage before you hook it back up.

 

[tkhoffman]

I was wondering who else might think of that..

I thought of this but never implemented it. With many snowy mornings being -10F, separating the thick hydro oil from cranking of the Starter seems like a great idea. I wondered if I could hook up the same solenoid setup as the front Mule or maybe a simple clutch setup that is on many Walk Behind Brush Hogs.
I never looked into the Cub Clutch that is used on some Cadets. Maybe it's easier then my ideas

 

[jdrong]

I thought of this but never implemented it. With many snowy mornings being -10F, separating the thick hydro oil from cranking of the Starter seems like a great idea. I wondered if I could hook up the same solenoid setup as the front Mule or maybe a simple clutch setup that is on many Walk Behind Brush Hogs.
I never looked into the Cub Clutch that is used on some Cadets. Maybe it's easier then my ideas

If you get all the right parts needed, it will bolt right in. As I stated earlier, at the time all I could find at a fair price was a clutch from a narrow frame. I have a 149, so the clutch arm and linkage rod had to be modified. I highly recommend this modification for cold winter starting. I don't believe there is a better modification for easier Winter or Summer starting.