Battery question

[opus]

I cant believe we forfeited compression releases and direct fuel shut off cables for electronic gizmos.

[Dave5Cs]

2, 31's if they get down because of cold the Ginny will start and pull them back up in about 5 minutes.
Dave

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[MB LeMirage]

Ya I used to operate a 1953 Caterpillar D4 trackloader and you would start the pup engine first (gas) with the diesels decompression lever open. Let the little guy warm up then engage to the big diesel. Let that spin over for a few minutes lubing every thing up and circulating the shared coolant. Then hit the decomression lever and she would roar to life no matter what the temp was or how far from civilization you where. Definately not a get in and go scenario, but a good excuse to go for breakfast while you "started" your machine. The pup even had a back up pull start cord for those bad starter/battery days in the bush.
Ryan.

[opus]

We had those on D8's and graders.  You always made sure the pony motor was in tip top shape.  Fire it up [after you put on ear protection    ]  Engage the big engine with fuel off, go have breakfast, come back and kick it to life.

Those pony motors sure are expensive to repair these days!

[MB LeMirage]

Ear muffs were definatly a requirement. We actually tossed a rod on the last pony we had and replaced it with a 15 hp snowblower motor from Princess Auto ($175 as opposed to $3000 for a rebuild). Lost the coolant circulation but was easier to start and cheaper to maintain than the old boxer pup. Finally sold it in 2008 after a very long service life with the last 3 years spent clearing snow on country driveways.
We went a little off topic there but hey, memories are fun.
Ryan.

[luvrbus]

We just always replaced those on the D6 9U with the 2 horizontal cylinders starting engine with a 24v starter, spin it with the compression released and they fired right up.The old D7 and D8 with vertical piston starting engine was a different story. I hated those things with the crank going through the hood standing on the tracks the crank would smack you good sometimes when they would kick back  

[MB LeMirage]

I have seen more than a few guys come off an old d8 cursing up and down. The d4 7u I was running was to old to have the starter conversion. The normal spot on the tranny where you could take off the cover plate and bolt in the starter was not even machined and had a casting rib running through it. You could convert the 54 and ups, but not a 53 or earlier. Would have if we could have.
Ryan.

[lostagain]

I have a '47 D4 Cat that I use on the property to clear snow and push dirt in the summer. The pup motor will start it at any temperature, but it is me that doesn't want to go out there when it is too cold...

JC

[Lin]

I replaced my 2 8d's with 2 31's not because they are better but just more manageable.  It works fine for me on an 8v71 since we really are never in very cold weather.  If it is cold, we use a block heater anyway.  If you have the space, go for the three batteries.  There will never come a time when you feel that you have too much power there.

[c-coop]

I use 4 31's with studs with my 60 series. trouble free just replaced them last week because I was getting scared they would leave me somewhere.  they were 10 years and 3 months old and were still working great. try to get that out of an 8d

[kyle4501]

I use 4 31's with studs with my 60 series. trouble free just replaced them last week because I was getting scared they would leave me somewhere.  they were 10 years and 3 months old and were still working great. try to get that out of an 8d

That sounds like your charging voltages are perfect, along with friendly charge/discharge rates.

The wrong charging voltage will send any battery to a premature death.

Abusive use doesn't do them any favors either.

Mechanically speaking, The construction of the 8D is the most durable.

However, at half the weight of an 8D,  group 31's sure are lots easier to move around.

[Flight102C3]

C-Coop, 4 sounds like a good deal! What brand do you use? I need 4' of cable what size would you recommend? Battery's are 3' from starter.  Thanks for now.

[daddyoften]

What I'm planning on doing is setting mine up with 2 31's and have a connecting switch to help start off of my house batteries if the 2 31's aren't enough when it's cold. Just a thought,
Eric

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[Iceni John]

C-Coop, 4 sounds like a good deal! What brand do you use? I need 4' of cable what size would you recommend? Battery's are 3' from starter.  Thanks for now.

Just use 4/0 welding cable throughout, and tinned lugs if possible (they corrode less than plain lugs when near batteries' acid fumes).   Someone on the NAWS forum suggests turning the batteries' vent caps so they point away from the lugs, but maybe that's taking things too far!   And crimp them properly, i.e smashing it in a vice or using those cheap hammer crimpers won't work too well for high-current loads.   4/0 is only about $4 a foot on eBay, and NAWS has the lowest prices on tinned lugs.

John

[easystreet]

When I was a teenager we had an Austin Western 99H grader on the farm. Had an International Harvester UD14 diesel that you started on gas then switched to diesel. They had a 3rd valve in the head that opened to another chamber / lowered compression and had the spark plug in it. Engine had a Wico magneto on it along with the injection pump. The carburetor throttle was set at a fixed RPM for warm up - it only had a choke. It had electrics on it but we never kept batteries in it. It had a hand crank about 2ft long. I used to start it with the crank, let it warm up a few minutes then slam the changeover lever in and open diesel throttle. Worked great. Course I was a lot younger then and thought it was neat. Think I would buy the batteries now.