They work--except when it gets cold.
I have run agm motorcycle batteries for years in 4cyl applications without issue, even in the winter, in colorado. Not sure how mower batteries stack up, but they sure look cheaper. Used a UPS battery (gel cell or leadacid, idr) once in a pinch, and lasted about a month or 2.
In reply to EastCoastMojo :
Zombie Thread that's awesome. I'm Autoxing a Crown Vic in Street class and wondering how much lighter a Miata Battery is compare to a 850 cca Battery.
If you are looking to shed weight, look at This video. This guy replaced his battery with capacitors it is very lightweight.
Walmart has lawnmower batteries for $22. Problem is, they charge the same core as a car battery and I usually don't have anything to turn in BUT car batteries. And the problem with that is that they now sell car batteries for $49 (valuepower line). Suffice to say, I actually have car batteries in both my riding mowers due to this $49 deal. I also have these $49 batteries in about half my cars at this point. They haven't been out long enough to compare lifespan to the full price models, but i have one from 2016 so they're at least capable of living a normal lifespan.
But yeah, if this is about weight savings and not just getting a cheap battery that works, then go buy one from walmart for ~$22.
i buy AGM cores from Harley owners and put them on a trickle charger in tandem with a good battery, then remove the known good battery after 10 minutes and continue to leave the AGM on for another 48 hours. There are lighter options, but for $12 it's tough to beat. All the BP powered things are currently using them.
A Napa Miata battery is 20+ lighter than a 850 cc battery I'm running. Would the smaller battery have enough energy to run my Crown Vic at an Autocross? Ill o ly use it for that.
Forgive the stupid question, but how do you connect the car’s leads to the tractor battery when the terminals are thin blades rather than fat, round posts? Is there some sort of adapter?
In reply to LanEvo :
I picked up a couple pairs of flag-to-post adapters the last time I was near a Farm And Fleet.
I've been running a Autozone variety lawn and garden battery (along with the above terminal adapters) in my 190E for about a year now and it has had zero problems starting it, including all winter in MD.
Mind you, my 190 has an issue w/ the cold start injector which makes getting it to actually start and stay running for the first 60 seconds quite the ordeal in the winter. But that really just means I have to crank it way longer and way more often than if I didn't have that issue, and the battery has not even blinked that whole time.
I'm about 3 weeks away from finally diving in on my Microsquirt conversion (why I haven't fixed the cold start issue), so I'm curious to see how it will handle the repeated starts required with the initial phase of that process.
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