For the most part, you really only need to be concerned about the cold cranking amps if you use your riding lawn mower in the winter. Cold cranking amps directly affect how a battery will perform as the temperature drops. How many is enough?
If you plow or use a snowblower attachment for your riding lawn mower, then you’ll want to pay a bit more attention to the amount of cold cranking amps.
However, if you only use your machine in the summer to mow the lawn, then the amount of cranking amps really shouldn’t matter.
Of course, there is a minimum amount that’s required to turn the starter motor over and crank the engine.
That’s generally 12-15 amps. Theoretically, you’d also need a few amps to run peripheral electronics like the lights, but that’s usually run off the charging system.
So that would be a bare minimum. That being said, riding lawn mower batteries are usually in the 135-150 cold cranking amp range.
This is to provide a bit of flexibility; even small changes in temperature can require more cranking amps from the battery.
If the amount of cranking amps is insufficient, then you’ll drain the battery before you get the machine running.
A general rule of thumb is to have the cold cranking amps equal to or greater than the engine displacement.
For example, if you have a 135 cubic inch engine, then you’d want at least 135 cold cranking amps.
Again, err on the side of caution if you use the machine in the winter and size it up a notch.
That being said, an automotive battery with several hundred cold cranking amps is probably overkill.
That, and you’d be hard pressed to physically fit the battery in the machine.
So, how many cranking amps to start a riding lawn mower? It depends on what seasons you use it in. For general purpose, 135-150 cranking amps should be sufficient.
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