Farmall Cub

Can the charger plug be added, and used while everything (terminals) is hooked up? Normally, I'd simply plug it in when needed, but not disconnect the battery from the tractor/car/boat. Is there anyway this could damage anything?

Jim –Mr E---Thanks for the note on the chargers . Ordered two from Amazon

vttrailboss wrote:Can the charger plug be added, and used while everything (terminals) is hooked up? Normally, I'd simply plug it in when needed, but not disconnect the battery from the tractor/car/boat. Is there anyway this could damage anything?

I use mine that way all the time. i cannot see any possible way for them to damage anything. Most of them come with interchangeable large alligator clips and a set of terminals. On the cubs and anything else that is easy to get to I just use the alligator clips, but on my Farmall H I used the terminals since it is kind of unhandy to get too. simply disconnect the plug going to the terminals when I want to drive the tractor.

Thanks John,

That's what I've always done, but someone mentioned it could hurt a cub.

I do not see how, ignition switch has coil and points disconnected, light switch has headlights disconnected, and regulator/cutout has generator disconnected. There is nothing left. The only possibility I can see is if the maintainer goes bad it may boil over the battery and get acid inside the box, but that is a rare happening with a maintainer.

vttrailboss wrote: it could hurt a cub.

It's hard to hurt a Cub. That's why we love them.

I have a 12V Cigarette lighter plug wired on my 184 that I use to power my sprayer.
I put a connector on my battery maintainer and connect my maintainer through this. Works fine on a 184.

I don't worry about disconnecting the battery when it is on a maintainer. Be aware that if your electrical system has some sort of leakage, the added load could cause a maintainer to fault off while it might not if the battery is disconnected. I consider that problem to be a long shot.

On the 6-volt Cubs, it is pretty to easy to connect with the alligator clips. The hot clip can go at the starter switch and the ground anywhere handy. A hot connection on a 12-volt Cub has to be behind the dash or under the platform at the starting relay. So on the my 12-volt Cubs I permanently attached the ring connector to an ammeter lug and a rear gas tank bolt. The connector tucks in under the gas tank when the tractor is in use. This assumes you have the complete battery box in place.

I am using a cigarette lighter plug in a car that I keep on a maintainer.

Jim's comments are referring to a cub that was 12 volts from the factory, not one that was converted. One that was converted from 6 volts to 12 volts can still be connected the same as the original 6 volt connection, except you need to pay attention to polarity. Normal polarity is 6 volt = + ground = red lead to ground and black clip on starter stud. Normal polarity for 12 volts is the opposite. 12 volts = neg. (-) ground, = red clip on battery lead, and black on ground.

Whilst Em and I were stateside, I took the liberty of picking up a few items (battery maintainers) and some consumables however the Walmart in Augusta didn't have that exact model on sale. The model they did have was not for $17.99 but for $19.49 or something like that. Either way it was still cheaper than anything available here that I am aware of. Will look at the model number tomorrow.

The $17 one was an online price (I ordered ship-to-store for $0 freight charge). The most similar one on the shelf here was $21+.

I knew that after talking with the salesclerk .. shoulda mentioned it

I have to keep my cub in a three sided shed and it doesn't have electrical power. About a year ago I picked up on line one of those 6 volt solar maintainers commonly used for batteries in outdoor animal feeders. Seems to do a good job. Although it doesn't look durable enough to me to last very long out in the rain and snow.