Dying Battery
 

Hi! So this is my first post. And I have a problem. The battery keeps dying on my cub cadet. I'm on my 3rd battery. I've only used it once on the 3rd battery. I have an XT1 lawn tractor. What could be causing the battery to die? Thank you for any advice!

I would recommend getting a volt meter and checking the voltage of your battery with the motor running and on full. It should be > 13 volts. If not, something is wrong with the charging circuit in your mower.

Note a regular fully charged battery should be about 12.6 - 12.7 volts.

How long have you had your Cub and what brand battery are you buying?

Does the battery die while it sits not being used for a long time?
If so, you may have a bad battery that is sulfated inside, or you may have a short circuit in the tractor.

To check for a short, disconnect the negative wire from the battery post while the motor is off, then tap the wire against the battery post. If you see a spark, you have a short. Next, put an amp meter from the empty battery post to the disconnected wire. If you see current flowing, you have a short.

Alternately, disconnect the battery negative wire from the battery post before you store the tractor. If it was charged when it got put away with the wire disconnected and it still goes dead while sitting then the battery is bad.

It's also possible that the charging system isn't working. As was said, if the voltage to the battery is above 13vdc while it's running, then the charging system is working.

Some people just charge the battery after using the tractor if they don't want to fool with a broken charging system.

Lead acid batteries get damaged if they are left sitting at a low state of charge for too long. That's the most common cause of sulfation on a battery that isn't old.