Batteries

[boatingbill]

My brother-in-law restores antique tractors. He buys his 6 volt batteries from rural farm supply type stores. He paid $40 less for the
same capacity battery with a better warranty at a farm store versus a auto parts store. Wish I knew that years ago. There must be
a lot of old tractors still in use.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

There is a lot of older farm and industrial equipment still running 6 volt systems.  Tractor Supply Company (TSC) stores are across most of rural America and keep the type 1 case 6 volt on the shelf as a rule.  The last time I bought one (which, I need to state was a few years ago) it came with the threaded caps.  This is worth knowing as Sav-A-Battery filler caps of certain sizes/thread types will fit & were a (I know from experience) good thing to have as they warned of potential problems before the battery died the death.

[Dragon]

Tractor Supply (TSC) and Rural King are different stores.  The last time I checked on 6 volt batteries, Rural King had the better price.

[Fid]

I know my local NAPA and O'Reilly stores want about $90 for a six volt battery. Fleetfarm has them for $45.  There are only 3 companies that make batteries so they are likely the same inside.

[Hollenway]

Sam's Club has six volts for $79......   Don't know who makes them but they seem to hold up pretty well.
I use battery tenders from BatteryMart.com and I have had some of these batteries for over eight years with
no failures.   

[Orphanauto]

This got my curiosity, What brand did KF originally use when new? Willard, or?

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

The original primary vendor for K-F batteries was Auto-Lite.  Willard was secondary supplier and was used in a lot of 1947-49 automobiles.  I have never seen any factory issued materials noting Exide was also a supplier to the production line.  Again, we once had a Chief Judge who also sold parts and ran a restoration shop.  He couldn't get Willard or A-L so Exide became the standard even though the batteries he sold were in orange cases and were sealed like the old GM Freedom Battery.