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Battery for power tongue jack

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Old 09-04-2018 | 09:24 PM
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Default Battery for power tongue jack

Well, after wanting a power tongue jack for several years, I finally broke down and bought one. I was just wondering what I need for a battery to power it? Can I get by with a garden tractor battery, or do I have to step up to a deep cycle? I’m planning on mounting it in my tool box, so I would rather not go larger than need be. It will probably go for long periods of time without being used, or charged behind a tow vehicle. I guess I probably answered my own question!🙄
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Old 09-05-2018 | 10:00 AM
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Originally Posted by 509 SC
Well, after wanting a power tongue jack for several years, I finally broke down and bought one. I was just wondering what I need for a battery to power it? Can I get by with a garden tractor battery, or do I have to step up to a deep cycle? I’m planning on mounting it in my tool box, so I would rather not go larger than need be. It will probably go for long periods of time without being used, or charged behind a tow vehicle. I guess I probably answered my own question!🙄
I put a group 31 AGM in one of my tool boxes. I put a solar charger mounted on top of the tool box for when the trailer is outside traveling and a Noco Genius charger with a plug in for when the boat/ trailer is stored inside. On another one of our Myco's, Myco used a group 24 which is adequate. I just wanted to go with a nice 31 AGM since I was adding this myself.
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Old 09-05-2018 | 12:38 PM
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I don't have a charger on mine but I use a deep cycle group 24 batteries from Walmart About $60. I use this same battery for the tongue jack and for the electric trailer winch.
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Old 09-05-2018 | 02:48 PM
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Yeah, I should probably just run a group 24 deep cycle battery. Trailer’s stored indoors, so a solar charger won’t work. If it ever got too low to operate, I could also use a jump pack.
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Old 09-06-2018 | 08:00 AM
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Originally Posted by 509 SC
Yeah, I should probably just run a group 24 deep cycle battery. Trailer’s stored indoors, so a solar charger won’t work. If it ever got too low to operate, I could also use a jump pack.
Are you close enough to a window, or is their power where you store it?
You could put a solar charger in the window, and run a cord to it. Or if there is power, you can buy a small trickle charger for it. There are some products out there that the high end car folks use to hide a little quick disconnect above the license plate of the car or whatever to keep the battery topped off.

I've also seen some folks put a separate 7-way plug on the trailer, wired with just hot and ground, and plug that into the vehicle when you want to run the tongue jack. You could also make a quick pigtail with a female 7-way to connect to a jump box when needed. Solid thing about such is you do not ever have to worry about a switch malfunction when towing, extending the tongue jack when you are towing. (Rare, but I've heard of it happening.)

IIRC, you have surge brakes, not EoH brakes. This might be a good opportunity to upgrade to EoH if not, as the proper way to run such is with a battery that will engage the brakes if the trailer breaks away from the tow vehicle.
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Old 09-06-2018 | 11:55 AM
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My Excursion has a battery cable going back to the hitch area. With a flip of a switch inside, I have 12v power. The best part about this is that I do not have to worry about maintaining a battery on the trailer. Bad part is that is would be a pain for anybody else to tow the boat. Thinking about it, I guess that could aid in security when storing as there would be no power.
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Old 09-06-2018 | 10:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Sydwayz
Are you close enough to a window, or is their power where you store it?
You could put a solar charger in the window, and run a cord to it. Or if there is power, you can buy a small trickle charger for it. There are some products out there that the high end car folks use to hide a little quick disconnect above the license plate of the car or whatever to keep the battery topped off.

I've also seen some folks put a separate 7-way plug on the trailer, wired with just hot and ground, and plug that into the vehicle when you want to run the tongue jack. You could also make a quick pigtail with a female 7-way to connect to a jump box when needed. Solid thing about such is you do not ever have to worry about a switch malfunction when towing, extending the tongue jack when you are towing. (Rare, but I've heard of it happening.)

IIRC, you have surge brakes, not EoH brakes. This might be a good opportunity to upgrade to EoH if not, as the proper way to run such is with a battery that will engage the brakes if the trailer breaks away from the tow vehicle.
Brian, I knew you would respond to this, not much action in the trailer section these days!😀 Lot’s of good options discussed here. I’m just going to go with the group 24 deep cycle plan. I do have EOH on this trailer, you might be thinking of my Sonic, which I converted from surge to EOH!
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Old 09-30-2018 | 01:42 PM
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any pics of your setups
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