Six Volt MH battery in a tractor...

Nothing wrong with that. Good fortune to you

The batteries being replaced are only 18 months old. Interstate is going to honor its warranty and replace all of them. So I now don't have a battery for the tractor...but saved close to $500.

Thanks for all the responses here.

GM

Some day remove the cover on a 12-volt generator regulator and then compare it to a six-volt generator regulator. See how much thicker the armature wires are on the 6-volt? The CUTOUT is inappropriate to switch voltages. Hooboy.

Back in the day we would replace the voltage regulator, so the gen would charge the 12 V battery. Before hook up ground we would hook all loads except the starter to a screw driven into the strap between cell 3 and 4. Most vehicles switched the full load of the starter, but if used a solenoid we replaced that..

the BCI group 2 of today is 70% empty. A steer, not a bull.

I converted my uncle's Deere Johns to 60 amp Delco alternators. And I had brought a few cartons of rectangular 12-volt work lights. The next thing I knew in 1972 my butt was sitting on a Hay Conditioner at midnight. He had enough power to burn lots of lighting. Where the hell did my thousand-mile trip to fish the Madison River go?

Chris Bryant wrote:
Sure, no problem.

Ditto. In Ford, Ferguson (of the proper age) and those tractors never die... International Harvester (Farmall) Modern rigs may need a 12 volt but all the tractors I grew up driving used the standard GC-2 save the garden tractor (A Craftsman)

It seems not all deep cycle batteries are the same for use as a starting battery. This quote is from an article about 12v AGMs, but perhaps the same sort of thing would apply to 6v Wets?--be interesting to know. And with that we should also know more about the actual specs of the OP's 6v batts?

"Both Mighty Max ML4D and VMAXTANKS MR197-200 are deep cycle batteries, with the VMAXTANKS MR197-200 having also 'some' starting abilities - we say 'some' since 1400 MCA Amps is not especially good value for 200 Ah battery.

But, this also means that VMAXTANKS MR197-200 can be used in dual applications, while Mighty Max ML4D is intended only for deep discharge applications."

Another quote from the same article suggests the high amp starting discharge from the deep cycle battery might have a time limit, with the time being shorter for some DCs than for others? What effect would that have if the starter had to be cranked for a longer period as on a cold winter morning?

"Despite having 20h capacity of 200Ah, maximum allowed current of Mighty Max ML4D is 'only' 1000 Amps for 5 seconds. But, this battery is not even intended for such applications."

Yes and the GC220 battery just kicks the snot out of today's so-called 3-cell commercial battery. Both for CCA and cycling duty. Meaning the GC will last longer.

If the tractor idles a lot a simple voltage regulator change inside a normally 12-volt Delco alternator will make a system into 6-volt 60 amp alternator. The is 2x the amperage.

Or you can convert the tractor to 12-volts. The starter will survive 12 volts if the beast is not a difficult starter on 6-volts BUT BUT BUT do NOT try this using a 6-volt solenoid for the starter.

https://www.amscovf.com/REGULATOR-CONVERSION-12V-TO-6V--DR-10DN_p_305499.html

https://alternatorparts.com/alternator-brackets.html

The above link has everything but keep in mind it is for an alternator conversion the VOLTAGE conversion is a horse of another color.

The VOLTAGE conversion requires a dirt cheap early DELCO alternator

Will it fit into the tractor battery box?

Nothing to lose. It's for a Ford 8N.

Thanks.