O.C.G.D. Thread, part two

[SeanKroll]

Nice find! Seems people love 066s.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Nice torque with that size bar!!!

 

[Mellow]

Big Time O.C.G.D.

I went a little cuckoo last year with buying new equipment. My 17-year old bucket and 10-year old bobcat were causing lots of headaches so I decided to upgrade the whole kit-n-kaboodle. I bought a NiftyLift SD-64 with a 20 foot tilt trailer, a Ford F-550 with Southco forestry bed package, an Avant 420 mini loader with BMG grapple and a bucket attachment, and a Dodge Ram 2500 diesel pickup... all brand new. It's so nice to have good looking reliable equipment. I guess I need to take some pics now. Here's one of the Nifty when it was delivered.

 

[MasterBlaster]

From Carl???

 

[Mellow]

From Carl???

Of course! Carl's da man!

 

[MasterBlaster]

Excellent!

 

[Raj]

 

[pantheraba]

Cool! Picts for sure.

 

[flushcut]

Hella shopping spree!

 

[Dave Shepard]

The war on post type batteries has begun! I've hated post batteries with a passion ever since I discovered stud type batteries on heavy trucks. The stupid clamps on post batteries are always getting corroded, the bolts break and strip, and finally, you have to cut the clamp off and put a repair end on. This, of course, only lasts a short while before succumbing to the same ailments. My Kubota backhoe battery gave up this weekend, so I decided to finally make the switch. I had already replaced the factory clamps once, which were junk again, so I cut them off and soldered copper lugs on, at a cost of about four bucks. I didn't price a correct Kubota battery, but I bet it's close to $200. The group 31 stud type battery was $110.00 out the door with tax and SS nuts. I went from 525 cca, to 925.

I found a great website for wire and connectors called Del City. They have dozens of crimp, solder, and other types of battery repair parts to make factory cable ends. If you have crappy cable ends, it's worth fixing them now before they leave you stranded.

I had to cut and grind a bit to get it in there, so its a bit like a Fat Man in a Little Coat, but I'm really happy its finally done.

 

[MasterBlaster]

???

This is new to me... you have to add the posts???

 

[PCTREE]

Where did you get the battery?

 

[Marc-Antoine]

First time I see that.

But what's different which avoids the acid seeping through and corroding the connectors?

 

[Dave Shepard]

The group 31 batteries are usually stud type, but you can get them in post style. Most batteries have the posts which require the clamp connectors, which cause all kinds of problems. I got the battery at my local Navistar truck dealer. I remarked at the cost, and the guy said they sometimes even had them on sale. They buy them by the pallet. Most big trucks use three or four of them.

I had to change my cables over to a copper lug with 3/8" eyes to go over the studs. The studs are 3/8" coarse thread, and you can see the SS battery nuts I bought, also.

You can still get some corrosion issues, but if you maintain the batteries, they usually stay clean. The other advantages of this style is that you always know it's a 9/16" wrench to remove the nuts, the nuts aren't all buggered up and the head stripped out of the lead, you don't have to fight to get the clamp off the post, and everything can be cleaned quickly with a wire brush if they do get corroded. Also, if you are running multiple batteries in either series or parallel, you can easily attach multiple cables to the same stud.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I never knew such a critter existed.

 

[Tree09]

Yeah... Umm now I have to redo the whole fleet lol. Thanks Dave, I've been fighting this my whole life and just figured it was how things go. The studs really work that much better?

 

[Dave Shepard]

They are much less hassle. The problem is, I think they only come on the group 31 battery. I'll be converting anything that I can in the future.

 

[Tree09]

Yeah thank you. I was about to cut back again on the 250, and add cables for a winch, so this is exactly what I needed man. Thanks

 

[squisher]

On the topic of batteries. If you have anything that sees severe use, neglect, or massive electrical load at times. I can't recommend the new AGM batteries enough. I switched out my 99f550 7.3 plow truck a couple of years ago and the electrical performance is night and day compared to old flooded batteries.

 

[SkwerI]

Most medium and heavy duty diesel trucks will have this style. I have them on both of my bucket trucks.

 

[SeanKroll]

I was just reading a little bit about AGM batteries.



I read that regular cleaning (commentor mentioned twice annually) any battery terminals increases longevity. Any thoughts?

 

[stig]

The common practice around here is to cover the terminals and attached leads in something non corrosive like silicone jelly.
When I've actually managed to overcome my natural laziness and done that, it has worked well.

 

[Mellow]

My dad showed me that trick back in the early 1970's; he used something called Naval Jelly. (I often wondered where that came from since I equated it with toe jam)

 

[lumberjack]

Naval Jelly is rust remover, gelled phosphoric acid... wouldn't be well suited for protecting battery terminals, I think.

 

[Mellow]

It's possible my memory is flawed. That's been known to happen now and then.