Geo-TH,In
Well-known Member
I recently had a very large marine battery die at an early age, about 5 years old. It came with my 10k dump trailer. Two cells next to either shorted out with sulfide crystals or overheated and the plates touched. No way to know. Hydrometer shows dead, battery tester shows bad cells. Battery smells of sulfur when charged. BATTERY IS DEAD.
So I'm thinking, a marine battery is designed to produce a small current for a long period of time. A good marine battery will power my BIL's bass boat for all the time we go fishing in a day.
My dump trailer needs a very large current for a short period of time, about a minute, when dumping. That makes me think a car battery may be more suited for a dump trailer vs a marine battery.
Instead of buying a new marine battery, I used an older marine battery, 500cca off my shelf, along with 2 used excide cutting edge mower batteries that produce 400 cca each. I also wired the truck and tractor battery to charge the 3 other batteries when I'm using the dump trailer. The wire on the truck and tractor are fused with 30 amp fuse, the dump trailer has a 20 amp breaker.
I've been pulling the dump trailer with my farmall C. While dumping I slow the engine charge at 15 amps. I leave tractor running between loads, 20 minutes. That's enough time to recharge the batteries.
I don't know how many amps the battery powered hyd pump draws, but I'm thinking the current is closer to starter current than it is to trolling motor current. So wouldn't it make scene to use a car battery instead of a marine battery?
So I'm thinking, a marine battery is designed to produce a small current for a long period of time. A good marine battery will power my BIL's bass boat for all the time we go fishing in a day.
My dump trailer needs a very large current for a short period of time, about a minute, when dumping. That makes me think a car battery may be more suited for a dump trailer vs a marine battery.
Instead of buying a new marine battery, I used an older marine battery, 500cca off my shelf, along with 2 used excide cutting edge mower batteries that produce 400 cca each. I also wired the truck and tractor battery to charge the 3 other batteries when I'm using the dump trailer. The wire on the truck and tractor are fused with 30 amp fuse, the dump trailer has a 20 amp breaker.
I've been pulling the dump trailer with my farmall C. While dumping I slow the engine charge at 15 amps. I leave tractor running between loads, 20 minutes. That's enough time to recharge the batteries.
I don't know how many amps the battery powered hyd pump draws, but I'm thinking the current is closer to starter current than it is to trolling motor current. So wouldn't it make scene to use a car battery instead of a marine battery?