Author Topic: 6v Battery for a Fergie TEA20  (Read 8738 times)

Bugly

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6v Battery for a Fergie TEA20
« on: 10 January, 2019, 12:30:24 pm »
What batteries are you Fergie owners running in your tractors? My TEA20 is still 6v and the present 6v 110AH deep cycle battery needs replacement. Like many others, the tractor will be parked up for long periods but I will have a 6v battery charger/maintainer sitting across it when not being used. Any advice would be muchly appreciated  ;)
A 1948 Fordson E83W and a 1950 Ferguson TEA20 ... what a combo!!

cobbadog

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Re: 6v Battery for a Fergie TEA20
« Reply #1 on: 10 January, 2019, 03:34:48 pm »
A deep cycle battery is the wrong type of battery for that use. they are designed to be fully charged and then drained as in a power supply situation. Just buy a quality brand 6v battery and as you have mentioned keep it hooked up to a trickle solar powered charger as a maintenance program. Start the tracor each month and run the engine for a good while and bring it up to normal running temps. Also engage and disengage the clutch to ensure it does not stick and if you are using the park brake do the same there to ensure nothing sticks.
Cheers, John & Dee. Coopernook. NSW.

Bugly

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Re: 6v Battery for a Fergie TEA20
« Reply #2 on: 10 January, 2019, 08:19:01 pm »
Thanks John. I am yet to pick up the tractor, which will be in mid-February. At present I am about 4500 km from it :D The existing battery is a deep cycle battery, and is totally kaput. I want to replace it with a 6V starter battery, but am limited to 230mm x 170mm dimension and I was wondering what other owners have fitted. Looks like the 'Century 03' battery might suit, and is 6V, 270CCA, 65AH and 184 x 167 x 186 to top of posts. I'll need the battery to make it easier to load the tractor on to the trailer when I pick it up. Cheers.
A 1948 Fordson E83W and a 1950 Ferguson TEA20 ... what a combo!!

cobbadog

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Re: 6v Battery for a Fergie TEA20
« Reply #3 on: 11 January, 2019, 04:26:26 pm »
HRH Sarah Ferguson has been changed over to running a 12v alternator which is a shame but a standard car battery fitsbetween the tank and dash. At some stage a newer battery trayhad been fitted so that might be why it fits.
Not sure of the actual dimensions but if I get near Sarah I will make some measurements for you and take a pic. At one stage it only had a small battery in her but if it didn't drop dead it would still be there as thes engines start easily even on a crank handle.
Cheers, John & Dee. Coopernook. NSW.

Bugly

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Re: 6v Battery for a Fergie TEA20
« Reply #4 on: 11 January, 2019, 05:47:43 pm »
Thanks John, appreciated. I'm waiting for information back from Century Batteries, to see what they have. I'd prefer to keep the Fergie with a 6 volt system until such times as I have to change. I might have to invest in a crank handle as a fall-back position as well  ;)
A 1948 Fordson E83W and a 1950 Ferguson TEA20 ... what a combo!!

cobbadog

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Re: 6v Battery for a Fergie TEA20
« Reply #5 on: 12 January, 2019, 09:12:27 am »
Yeah, Sarah was a 6v system but was changed over by the previous owner. I have never had any reason to throw out a generator either, I find them very reliable and the only extra positive about an alternator is that they can charge at a higher and faster rate. That is why David the Cropmaster is still running his generator.
The battery in Sarah is 200mm wide x 160mm deep x 200 to the top of the terminals
. If you have a choice as to where the terminals are placed you would want them to be the opposite side to what we have here so that they are close to the fuel tank. Also you should ask for the Negative terminal to be on the RHS ( drivers side) and the Positive terminal on the LHS (passengers side) which is where that positive cable goes to the starter switch.
Hope this helps.



Cheers, John & Dee. Coopernook. NSW.

franco

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Re: 6v Battery for a Fergie TEA20
« Reply #6 on: 12 January, 2019, 11:13:44 am »
FWIW I recently spent some time looking for a new 6V battery for my 1927 Chev after the deep cycle battery  supplied by a local firm died. The manager assured me it would be suitable for the job, but it failed after only two starts. Of course he had shut up shop before the battery failed.

After searching the internet and all the local manufacturers I could not find a suitable conventional lead acid battery in Australia - plenty in the USA though. I finally settled for a 6V Optima gel cell battery. It was horribly expensive, partly compensated for by the three year replacement warranty. So far so good.

Frank.
Cairns, Queensland

cranky crank

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Re: 6v Battery for a Fergie TEA20
« Reply #7 on: 12 January, 2019, 01:52:46 pm »
Hi,
I have a 6 volt optima in my 27 chev. It was expensive but has paid for itself  as I was replacing the normal 6 volt ones every 2 years.The optima has been there for ages. The only problem is because it is smaller than a standard 6 volt you may have to adjust the size of the carrier as it was floating about in the chev.

Bugly

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Re: 6v Battery for a Fergie TEA20
« Reply #8 on: 12 January, 2019, 09:40:38 pm »
Thanks all for your feedback, which is appreciated. I guess the battery makers found there wasn't enough demand for the 6V batteries to make it economical to keep on manufacturing them.
A 1948 Fordson E83W and a 1950 Ferguson TEA20 ... what a combo!!

wee-allis

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Re: 6v Battery for a Fergie TEA20
« Reply #9 on: 13 January, 2019, 08:44:42 am »

Bugly, Cobba is nearly right in what he says about the battery, but as His has an alternator, it has been changed to negative earth.  If yours is still original, it will be positive earth and you need the NEGATIVE post nearest to the left hand side of the tractor. Cheers, Steve.
If it's old, treat it like gold.
 38 Allis B,50 Morris Six,  Moruya, Sth coast NSW.

Triumphline

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Re: 6v Battery for a Fergie TEA20
« Reply #10 on: 13 January, 2019, 09:44:23 am »
20 odd years ago we started to find it was hard to get good 6v (and 8v) batteries for our vehicles so we converted them all to 12v. The Optima 12v battery in my 1928 Ford lasted 12 years. They are expensive but give much better life, especially in vehicles that are not used a lot.
Patrick
Patrick M Livingstone
The Austral Register
Sydney, NSW

Gerilgambeth

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Re: 6v Battery for a Fergie TEA20
« Reply #11 on: 13 January, 2019, 11:46:23 am »
Hi,
I have a 6 volt optima in my 27 chev. It was expensive but has paid for itself  as I was replacing the normal 6 volt ones every 2 years.The optima has been there for ages. The only problem is because it is smaller than a standard 6 volt you may have to adjust the size of the carrier as it was floating about in the chev.

After putting up with 15 years of frustratingly short lives of the standard wet cell 6 volt batteries, I'll vote for the 6V Optima too. I have 2 Red Tops, one for each Model T. They are both kept charged by Ctek trickle chargers and as Cranky says, you will need to either build a different battery carrier or pad the existing one. They are expensive, but I've found that shopping around on eBay usually produces one or two at a good price.
The link below is to the USofA website, but will tell you everything you need to know about them.
Cheers,
Rob
https://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us/redtop-starting-battery/6v
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Gerilgambeth

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Re: 6v Battery for a Fergie TEA20
« Reply #12 on: 13 January, 2019, 12:04:32 pm »
Early VeeDub puddle jumpers were all 6 volt too. If memory serves me correctly, (but probably doesn't) they were a shorter battery (from base to top of terminals) in order for them to fit under the back seat of the things.
Considering that the Optima is a tall battery, maybe searching around for one of those might be productive, especially considering there were/still are bucket loads of them about.
Cheers,
Rob
"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life". WINSTON CHURCHILL

asw120

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Re: 6v Battery for a Fergie TEA20
« Reply #13 on: 13 January, 2019, 02:09:05 pm »
My Studebaker is still 6 volt. I had no trouble getting a battery. The battery place said some heavy trucks still use 4 of them.
The last one went 6 - 7 years and a couple of years into this one with no problems.  Having said that, it gets driven at least every weekend.

Jarrod.

cobbadog

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Re: 6v Battery for a Fergie TEA20
« Reply #14 on: 13 January, 2019, 02:19:23 pm »
Yep early vw did hVE  shorter battery for that very reason. A standard height battery will short out on the springs of the rear seat.
Those optima batteries sure have a high CCA of 800. That is big for a small 6v battery.
Cheers, John & Dee. Coopernook. NSW.