TCRanch,
I'm guessing you're not mechanically inclined. I'm not either. In fact my life would be much happier if I could get by without tractors, but I inherited 3 of them, and it would be pretty much impossible to have cattle without them, so I've pretty much been forced to learn a little of the simple stuff. So please keep in mind that the following is meant to be helpful and not critical.
Please learn to put jumper cables on the tractor yourself before calling a dealer. If you've had them on for a while and the starter still won't turn over, then maybe call for help. Learn to check the terminals for corrosion and clean them, and to replace the battery cables if needed. If you aren't comfortable doing that, get a neighbor to show you how.
And you shouldn't need to go to the dealership to get a battery for your tractor. Any auto parts store should have one. It won't have the tractor brand label on it, but it's likely to be the same battery made at the same place. I just looked back at my records. I replaced the one in my cab tractor this past May (one of the big ones that's about twice the size of a car battery), and it was less than $150.00, and I changed it out myself.
Thanks for the advice. I think my husband could have eventually figured out to check the battery but we were in panic mode with a dead cow suspended in the bucket after the trauma of shooting her; the loader was working fine & just quit. Live & learn.
