Without a good battery for your lawn tractor, you can easily find yourself struggling to get rolling for your afternoon chores. And it’s not just after winter that you’ll wish you had one of the best lawn tractor batteries in your machine — we’ve had batteries die on us at all times of the year. That familiar engine turnover noise as you twist the key time after time is frustrating, and more than once, we’ve been impatient as our charger tried to get some life back into the ol’ thing. But really, who has that kind of time?
There are a lot of great batteries on the market, and some names will be familiar to even the noobiest of noobs: DieHard, ACDelco, and Duralast are just a few of them out there. And while there are web pages like this one that have lists of the best batteries for lawn tractors (aka riding mowers), don’t expect that most companies are going to be mailing them out to you. For the most part, you can buy online, but you’ll have to go to the actual store itself to make the purchase. Tractor batteries may not be as heavy as a car or truck battery, but they’re still hefty, and carry all the dangers that shipping batteries normally do.
If you’ve ever been the post office to mail a package, you’ve heard the clerk monotonously recite the question: “Does this parcel contain anything fragile, liquid, perishable, or potentially hazardous, including lithium batteries and perfume?” Not to mention, shipping something like a 15-pound battery is expensive. Bottom line, do your research on lawn tractor batteries on pages like this one, but be ready to hoof it to the store to pick up your product (in most cases).
While places like Walmart and Target often carry some of the best tractor batteries around, you can also go to your local automotive store. Places including Advance Auto, O’Reilly Auto Parts, and AutoZone will have tractor batteries on the walls with the larger automotive batteries.
What size battery does my lawn tractor need?
The good news is that most of the batteries that fit modern riding mowers and lawn-tractor type machines are pretty standard: they’re going to be 12-volt, and will measure close to 8 inches long, be up to 6 inches wide, and measure roughly 6 or 7 inches tall. These are approximates — batteries rarely have to be super snug in their compartments, as there’s typically a rubber strap that goes over top to keep them firmly in place. So don’t sweat it if there’s a quarter-inch or half-inch gap on the sides.
How do I choose a lawn tractor battery?
One of the key things to look for is called Cold Cranking Amps, and each riding mower/lawn tractor is going to have a minimum that it needs to get started. While voltage may be the same across lawn tractor batteries, Cold Cranking Amps (CCA) will not be. You could be looking at batteries that have a lower-end 160 CCA to larger 350-CCA batteries. Make sure you match the machine’s specifications on this! It’s no good to get a battery that doesn’t have sufficient amperage to get your machine started. Or, even if a weaker CCA battery is able to start the engine on a larger machine, it will be stressed and lose much of its lifespan.
How long do lawn tractor batteries last?
The expectation here is about three years — however, we know folks who are going strong after five years, and we know homeowners who find that they replace their battery every spring season. It really comes down to whether you have a battery that’s the right specs for your machine and how often you use it. For the casual mower of 2 acres of flat or modestly hilly land, you can hit three years and more! If you have 5 acres with long 15 degree inclines and like to use your lawn tractor to plow the snow on your driveway throughout the winter, well, expect it to wear out sooner.
So, which ones do we like? We’ve got several acres that we mow, and a couple of different machines over the past 15+ years. Here are the ones we’d call the best lawn tractor batteries:
Duralast Lawn & Garden Battery
Length: 7.75 inches
Width: 5.16 inches
Height: 6.1 inches
Weight: 16 pounds
CCA: 550
The Duralast Lawn and Garden Battery is ideal for light duty, lawn and garden tractor, utility, snow blower, and snowmobile applications. Consistent, maintenance-free starting power with up to 350 Cold Cranking Amps. It has a computer-controlled formation for improved performance, enveloped separators that virtually eliminate shorts and extends battery life, a heat-sealed design for added vibration resistance, an impact resistant polypropylene container/cover, and an improved flat-top cover for easy installation.
DieHard Lawn & Garden Pro Battery
Length: 7.75 inches
Width: 5.2 inches
Height: 7.3 inches
Weight: 18.2 pounds
CCA: 340
DieHard Gold Lawn & Garden are designed for the increased power needs of your lawn mower/tractor and various utility vehicles. DieHard says its Gold Lawn & Garden batteries provide more than double the starting power of other basic lawn and garden batteries. This high power of this battery reliably starts lawn mowers, lawn and garden tractors, small tractors, loaders, backhoes, 4-wheelers, generators, and commercial walk-behind lawnmowers.
NAPA Lawn and Garden Tractor Battery
Length: 7.75 inches
Width: 5.125 inches
Height: 7.25 inches
Weight: 19 pounds
CCA: 350
This battery from auto-parts manufacturer Napa offers reliable cranking power for most garden tractor needs. It has a deep pocket envelope separators protect plates for more power, has a maintenance-free, calcium construction for longer life while eliminating the need to add water. It also features a flush cover design that is leakproof to a 45 degree tilt and replaces original equipment more closely providing easier and safer installation. Expect long off-season storage with this battery.
Super Start Lawn & Garden Size U1 Battery
Length: 7.75 inches
Width: 5.125 inches
Height: 7.25 inches
Weight: 19 pounds
CCA: 350
This one is for tough outdoor use that requires batteries to deliver plenty of cranking amps to power tractors and recreational vehicles across the roughest terrain. The flush cover Super Start Group U1 is calcium maintenance-free, eliminating the need to add water and the danger of harmful acid spills and lost vent caps. These flush cover batteries deliver more power-per-pound and longer storage life season after season. The special envelope separators protect all sides of the plates, preventing internal shorting and providing superior cranking capacity. These batteries have the power to perform in winter’s bitter cold and summer’s scorching heat and are made in the U.S.
Mighty Max SLA Starting Battery
Length: 7.75 inches
Width: 5.1 inches
Height: 6.25 inches
Weight: 15.6 pounds
CCA: 320
The ML-U1-CCA-HR sealed lead acid battery is made with the highest quality pure virgin lead (99 99%) to create a long lasting durable power source for any machinery requiring a cold cranking power source. It can be mounted in any position and resists shocks and vibration. Might Max says it has long-lasting high performance in both high and low temperatures.
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