Battery blanket on dump trailer

[fordtruckin]

Work just got me a hydraulic dump trailer to help move dead bison etc... Now it’s supposed to come with a battery tender to maintain the charge....(in theory...) since the trailer will be sitting during the winter months and and need to be ready to go randomly, I want to make sure the battery doesn’t freeze up. Does anyone have experience with battery blankets? I was thinking of getting one to keep the battery warm while being charged etc... do they actually work and are they worth it? Price wise they don’t look to expensive and if they help I’ll orobabky pick one up. I don’t know if anyone has hauled a dead bison off the highway at 1am but it aucks! I can only imagine how much more it would suck if the battery crapped out with a half way loaded Buffy....

[jhl]

I just use a small solar panel to keep the battery charged up and have for six years same battery never failed me yet. I haul snow, dirt, skid steer, whatever in the winter and never had an issue. Also don't need to have it plugged in.

[JB_AOL]

Throw a battery tender on it and be done. A charged battery will not freeze

[Big Grey Wolf]

Advantage of battery blanket is it will have near 100% charge if warm and only about 60% if -20oC. However a battery charger will also warm battery while charging. It will obviously cool down while driving unless protected from direct wind and blanket might slow cooling process until you are ready to load bison.

[vinny]

Originally Posted by jhl

I just use a small solar panel to keep the battery charged up and have for six years same battery never failed me yet. I haul snow, dirt, skid steer, whatever in the winter and never had an issue. Also don't need to have it plugged in.

Yup. We run solar on our whole fleet of dump trailers. Works every time.

[204ruger]

Battery blankets are a big money grab. The best place for a full life full charge battery to be stored is in the cold if it is kept at full charge even when -40 the battery will last, and work for you when you need it. when batteries fail it is when it’s cold and they aren’t at full charge because there’s been a draw from something like computer systems or radio memory in a vehicle or the battery has been drained and just boosted without actually charging it back up to full life (because everyone believes a alternator is a battery charger but it’s not). A battery tender or a solar panel is the best way to keep your battery at its fullest for extended periods of sitting.

[urban rednek]

A battery tender or solar charging system is OK, I guess. But, if they were serious about you being able to use the dump trailer in any weather conditions, they would build you a heated shop for storing it.
Just tell them it's a safety thing.

[Greatwest]

If the trailer was only gonna be used once in a while and you were worried about it you could always remove the battery in cold weather and keep it in heated shop. Only a matter of hooking up a couple cables and you are back in business with a piece of mind that the battery is fully charged and not frozen. The better question is what exactly is your job title Roadkill Clean Up Guy. Lol are you like a tow truck driver or do you work for the highways or what’s the deal. Just curious is all.

[fordtruckin]

Originally Posted by Greatwest

If the trailer was only gonna be used once in a while and you were worried about it you could always remove the battery in cold weather and keep it in heated shop. Only a matter of hooking up a couple cables and you are back in business with a piece of mind that the battery is fully charged and not frozen. The better question is what exactly is your job title Roadkill Clean Up Guy. Lol are you like a tow truck driver or do you work for the highways or what’s the deal. Just curious is all.

Ha yes often I am the road lol clean up guy.... I’m a State Game Warden and often when someone smokes a Buffy it’s around midnight etc... I’ll get a phone call to come dispatch them, track the injured ones through the woods or clean the road up. Most of our highway crews aren’t out that late and with the hours they work they won’t come out to pick up a critter unless they are already out plowing etc. with that I won’t take the battery inside and outside. Sounds like I’ll have a solar charger on the trailer so I’ll probably avoid the battery blanket then. Best I’ve had so far is a semi take out 5 buffs at 0030. Took a couple hours to clean up. The year before I got here a semi took out 17 buffs. That took slightly longer as they had bits n pieces jammed up under the king pin and needed a crane to disconnect the tractor. Bloody mess!!!

[fordtruckin]

Originally Posted by fordtruckin

Ha yes often I am the road lol clean up guy.... I’m a State Game Warden and often when someone smokes a Buffy it’s around midnight etc... I’ll get a phone call to come dispatch them, track the injured ones through the woods or clean the road up. Most of our highway crews aren’t out that late and with the hours they work they won’t come out to pick up a critter unless they are already out plowing etc. with that I won’t take the battery inside and outside. Sounds like I’ll have a solar charger on the trailer so I’ll probably avoid the battery blanket then. Best I’ve had so far is a semi take out 5 buffs at 0030. Took a couple hours to clean up. The year before I got here a semi took out 17 buffs. That took slightly longer as they had bits n pieces jammed up under the king pin and needed a crane to disconnect the tractor. Bloody mess!!!

On a side note, some lucky Albertans has drawn one of our coveted bison tags this year... anyone on AO??

[Greatwest]

Originally Posted by fordtruckin

Ha yes often I am the road lol clean up guy.... I’m a State Game Warden and often when someone smokes a Buffy it’s around midnight etc... I’ll get a phone call to come dispatch them, track the injured ones through the woods or clean the road up. Most of our highway crews aren’t out that late and with the hours they work they won’t come out to pick up a critter unless they are already out plowing etc. with that I won’t take the battery inside and outside. Sounds like I’ll have a solar charger on the trailer so I’ll probably avoid the battery blanket then. Best I’ve had so far is a semi take out 5 buffs at 0030. Took a couple hours to clean up. The year before I got here a semi took out 17 buffs. That took slightly longer as they had bits n pieces jammed up under the king pin and needed a crane to disconnect the tractor. Bloody mess!!!

Where I grew up in Saskatchewan a young kid (newer driver) come over a hill on a gravel road in his pick up truck after midnight and a herd of cattle had gotten out & the moo cows were laying on the road sleeping. All said 6 cows died right away and they had to put a few more down due to the injuries. Driver ended up being ok, truck was a write off. They figure the young driver would have been done for if the cows would have been standing vs. lying down. They also figure he was doing about 130km/hr at the point of impact.

[OL_JR]

Originally Posted by JB_AOL

Throw a battery tender on it and be done. A charged battery will not freeze

This^^^

[petew]

A battery tender / charger is fine, but doesn't the truck charge the trailer battery when it is running ? If not, why ? Wire your trailer so it charges it's battery when the truck is running just like a holiday trailer.

[204ruger]

Originally Posted by petew

A battery tender / charger is fine, but doesn't the truck charge the trailer battery when it is running ? If not, why ? Wire your trailer so it charges it's battery when the truck is running just like a holiday trailer.

The truck should charge battery yes! But for the time that battery is sitting hooked up to trailer there will be a small draw on it so If it doesn’t get used for a month battery drains enough and freezes then no amount of charging from truck will recover it. It’ll be easier on the alternator of the truck to maintain the full charge of the trailer battery rather than trying to put life into a sub par battery on a cold day.