will a 1025r run with a dead battery?

2624 Views 21 Replies 12 Participants Last post by AJgrn78, Jul 9, 2021

KeyboardJungle

Discussion Starter · Jul 8, 2021

my battery is about 5 years old, so I wonder about this every time that i shut the machine off in an inconvenient location, like blocking the truck or zero turn in a garage bay or in the far end of the field.

if the battery were to suddenly die, could I jump start the tractor and move it, or would I have to replace the battery before it could move under its own power?

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ClydeLogan

· #2 · Jul 8, 2021

May not start with the dead battery in the loop, even with jumping. I have been thinking about this and if it happens to me in an inconvenient location, here's what I plan to do.

Disconnect the tractor battery cables from the dead Deere battery. Using jumper cables, temporarily directly clamp the jumper cables to the disconnected tractor battery cables on one end, and to a good battery on the other, leaving the dead battery out of the loop entirely. Prop the good battery somewhere halfway secure for the drive back to a convenient place to work on the tractor. I have a good battery or two stored in my shop on battery tenders. They may or may not have the CCA ratings of the original Deere battery, but as the tractor is already warm, even a lower rated battery should work to get me started and get me back to shelter and my tools and good lighting.

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KeyboardJungle

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 8, 2021

ClydeLogan said:
May not start with the dead battery in the loop, even with jumping. I have been thinking about this and if it happens to me in an inconvenient location, here's what I plan to do.

Disconnect the tractor battery cables from the dead Deere battery. Using jumper cables, temporarily directly clamp the jumper cables to the disconnected tractor battery cables on one end, and to a good battery on the other, leaving the dead battery out of the loop entirely. Prop the good battery somewhere halfway secure for the drive back to a convenient place to work on the tractor. I have a good battery or two stored in my shop on battery tenders. They may or may not have the CCA ratings of the original Deere battery, but as the tractor is already warm, even a lower rated battery should work to get me started and get me back to shelter and my tools and good lighting.

great plan B idea-thanks!

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Scoutx

· #4 · Jul 8, 2021

I've never had a battery be good one minute and bad the next. I know it's a thing, I've just never seen it personally. Most go slowly bad and I limp them along for a year supplementing with a jump pack. I start to feel bad about what I'm asking if the alternator and then get around to replacing it. I just wouldn't be all that concerned, personally.

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Herminator

· #5 · Jul 8, 2021

Most times yes because after you jump it the alternator will keep it going. Modern electronics sometimes have an issue with that and sudden death of a battery can cause an issue but it is rare.

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Drifterbike

· #6 · Jul 8, 2021

I have used a jump box that i unhooked the battery and used the jump box clamped to the battery cables.

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dj2520

· #7 · Jul 8, 2021

For some reason Deere batteries are good one start and dead the next. Not sure y. But I have had it happen 3 times. Once was on a big tractor on grain cart duty

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BOBL

· #8 · Jul 8, 2021

I own one of these. Best thing since sliced bread, and a perfect solution for all of your needs.
NOCO - 2000A Lithium Jump Starter - GB70

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ClydeLogan

· #9 · Jul 8, 2021

Scoutx said:
I've never had a battery be good one minute and bad the next. I know it's a thing, I've just never seen it personally. Most go slowly bad and I limp them along for a year supplementing with a jump pack. I start to feel bad about what I'm asking if the alternator and then get around to replacing it. I just wouldn't be all that concerned, personally.

Sudden battery death sydrome is an often reported thing here on GTT, typically involving the factory installed Deere Strongbox wet cell battery. The tractors usually are said to have started and ran fine with no signs of a slowly dying battery. Then the next start try there is an audible "pop" and the battery is dead and often cannot be jumped in the usual way. The reports often include a statement such as "tried jumping it and the tractor still won't start, but the battery tests good."

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KeyboardJungle

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jul 8, 2021

dj2520 said:
For some reason Deere batteries are good one start and dead the next. Not sure y. But I have had it happen 3 times. Once was on a big tractor on grain cart duty

I have found the exact same thing with Toyota branded batteries. they last a long time, but death is sudden and complete.

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KeyboardJungle

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jul 8, 2021

ClydeLogan said:
Sudden battery death sydrome is an often reported thing here on GTT, typically involving the factory installed Deere Strongbox wet cell battery. The tractors usually are said to have started and ran fine with no signs of a slowly dying battery. Then the next start try there is an audible "pop" and the battery is dead and often cannot be jumped in the usual way. The reports often include a statement such as "tried jumping it and the tractor still won't start, but the battery tests good."

in the “old days”, batteries seemed to slowly die, rather than sudden death. perhaps battery technology has changed, but i have had several car batteries that worked fine right up until the moment that they couldn’t even make the starter click.

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KeyboardJungle

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jul 8, 2021

BOBL said:
I own one of these. Best thing since sliced bread, and a perfect solution for all of your needs.
NOCO - 2000A Lithium Jump Starter - GB70

another great plan B, but a pricey one!

tibadoe

· #13 · Jul 8, 2021

I have experienced the "sudden battery death syndrome" a few times. All have happened on small engine equipment when batteries were around 5 years or older. Once on a motorcycle battery that was only 3 months old. Heard a solid "click" as the battery shorted out.

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arnoha

· #14 · Jul 8, 2021

ClydeLogan said:
May not start with the dead battery in the loop, even with jumping. I have been thinking about this and if it happens to me in an inconvenient location, here's what I plan to do.

Disconnect the tractor battery cables from the dead Deere battery. Using jumper cables, temporarily directly clamp the jumper cables to the disconnected tractor battery cables on one end, and to a good battery on the other, leaving the dead battery out of the loop entirely. Prop the good battery somewhere halfway secure for the drive back to a convenient place to work on the tractor. I have a good battery or two stored in my shop on battery tenders. They may or may not have the CCA ratings of the original Deere battery, but as the tractor is already warm, even a lower rated battery should work to get me started and get me back to shelter and my tools and good lighting.

I do not recommend this course of action. The design of the charging system in nearly all vehicles depends on the presence of the battery to protect the rest of the regulation system. Even a dead battery (as long as it doesn't have an internal short or something else catastrophic) can serve this purpose. The regulator is just not sized large enough to absorb the variations in the system for long without the battery to smooth the voltage. Those variations can also feed back into charger and damage it.

If you really can't start with the dead battery in place, you really need either a new battery or a tow. It's not guaranteed, but you can blow expensive parts of your tractor's charging system if you don't have a battery in the circuit.

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KeyboardJungle

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jul 8, 2021

arnoha said:
I do not recommend this course of action. The design of the charging system in nearly all vehicles depends on the presence of the battery to protect the rest of the regulation system. Even a dead battery (as long as it doesn't have an internal short or something else catastrophic) can serve this purpose. The regulator is just not sized large enough to absorb the variations in the system for long without the battery to smooth the voltage. Those variations can also feed back into charger and damage it.

If you really can't start with the dead battery in place, you really need either a new battery or a tow. It's not guaranteed, but you can blow expensive parts of your tractor's charging system if you don't have a battery in the circuit.

You might have read something into the response that wasn’t there.

@ClydeLogan was suggesting taking the dead battery out of the loop and temporarily swapping in a backup battery via jumper cables to move the tractor to a more convenient location. He wasn't proposing to run the tractor without a battery in the circuit.

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ClydeLogan

· #16 · Jul 8, 2021

arnoha said:
I do not recommend this course of action. The design of the charging system in nearly all vehicles depends on the presence of the battery to protect the rest of the regulation system. Even a dead battery (as long as it doesn't have an internal short or something else catastrophic) can serve this purpose. The regulator is just not sized large enough to absorb the variations in the system for long without the battery to smooth the voltage. Those variations can also feed back into charger and damage it.

If you really can't start with the dead battery in place, you really need either a new battery or a tow. It's not guaranteed, but you can blow expensive parts of your tractor's charging system if you don't have a battery in the circuit.

I don't believe you understand my post. I am saying to disconnect the dead battery, and then hook up a good battery via jumper cables to the tractor's battery cables. The tractor then has a good battery so it will start and run. The temporary substitute battery is not disconnected from the tractor's electrical system; the battery is just not installed under the hood. It may be sitting on the tractor floorboard (connected) while you start and drive. I don't think the tractors electrical system cares where its battery is located, as long as it has one in the circuit. This allows you to start and run the tractor to get it to a place where you can take out the bad battery and install a new one.

To summarize, there is NEVER a time when the tractor does not have a battery connected while it is being started and being driven to a safe place to work on it. The battery is JUST NOT INSTALLED IN ITS USUAL SPOT.

And in the Deere "sudden battery death syndrome" the bad battery has an internal short (which is likely the source of the "pop" that most folks report when the battery fails) and in most reported cases a jumper box or jumper cables will not start the tractor with the dead battery still in the electrical loop.

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AJgrn78

· #17 · Jul 8, 2021

Yes. It's just not good to drive something with NO battery in it, even if the alternator could keep it going in the absence of a battery. Bad for the charging system.

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arnoha

· #18 · Jul 8, 2021

KeyboardJungle said:
You might have read something into the response that wasn’t there.

@ClydeLogan was suggesting taking the dead battery out of the loop and temporarily swapping in a backup battery via jumper cables to move the tractor to a more convenient location. He wasn't proposing to run the tractor without a battery in the circuit.

ClydeLogan said:
I don't believe you understand my post. I am saying to disconnect the dead battery, and then hook up a good battery via jumper cables to the tractor's battery cables. The tractor then has a good battery so it will start and run. The temporary substitute battery is not disconnected from the tractor's electrical system; the battery is just not installed under the hood. It may be sitting on the tractor floorboard (connected) while you start and drive. I don't think the tractors electrical system cares where its battery is located, as long as it has one in the circuit. This allows you to start and run the tractor to get it to a place where you can take out the bad battery and install a new one.

To summarize, there is NEVER a time when the tractor does not have a battery connected while it is being started and being driven to a safe place to work on it. The battery is JUST NOT INSTALLED IN ITS USUAL SPOT.

And in the Deere "sudden battery death syndrome" the bad battery has an internal short (which is likely the source of the "pop" that most folks report when the battery fails) and in most reported cases a jumper box or jumper cables will not start the tractor with the dead battery still in the electrical loop.

I did misread that! Sorry about that...we're in agreement, then. For some reason, I read that you'd be connecting to charger directly, but I see that's not what you wrote. As long as the new battery is 12V and sufficiently sized, should work great, as you said.

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ejb69

· #19 · Jul 9, 2021

I didn’t take the time to read all the post.

Im going to say your 1025 probably won’t run with a dead battery.

I say this because when the battery died on my 1026 it would stop when I unhooked the battery charger. My battery When bad with no warning. One day I went to start it , and found it completely dead. I put a battery charger on with on start mode. My tractor fired right up. Took the charger off and the tractor died. It did the same thing a second time. i replaced the battery and the tractor has run just fine since then. This surprised me as I have ran other tractors and vehicles with bad batteries that would start without a jump .

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Firemark

· #20 · Jul 9, 2021

I didn’t want to be in a position where my battery died and I couldn’t get the rig home and back to the garage. I am also from the days when it seemed like car batteries lasted forever and I thought these tractor batteries were similar. After reading all the posts about the sudden battery death syndrome, I went right to the dealer and got a new one and put a date label on it. Also cleaned terminals and posts and put penetrox (conductive electrical no ox) on them. It probably would have lasted longer but for the price of a battery it was easier to just get a new one. I’m glad I did too because I called and the parts countermand said they had a couple but when I drove there two days later they were sold out of the model that goes in the 1025. A break down and a multi day wait would have been some PITA for me. Also glad I read Sulley post about removing the threaded posts that hold the head lights in place in order for the battery to be removed and the new one placed in. It’s a very tight fit. My battery acid vent hose was also missing so I went to advanced auto and picked up a length of replacement hose. Another source of great GTT info helped again.

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