Best Battery Mount?

[Kevin Woods]

It seems all the battery "boxes" I have seen are sturdy plastic. I can't imagine just anchoring the box to the frame then dropping the battery loosely in it. Also, these boxes have large openings to accomodate heavy cables. I will only use this battery for onboard lights, etc so will just use heavy guage wire. Am I missing something here?
Any input is welcome.

[Chester Taje]

My battery boxes are also just heavy plastic and mounted to the trailer front end.Mine are screw in to the battery box frame.Keep in mind that battery boxes come in different sizes.
EG--A group 24 battery needs a group 24 Battery box or bigger.

[Gina D.]

Batteries weigh a ton and are not REAL subject to bouncing, especially when they are trapped on all sides.

Mine is mounted as Ches' is, and as most I have seen. In my experience, the least bouncy point on a rig is going to be the tongue.
I have accidentally left tools on my tongue (Of the TRAILER, Ches...), and found them still sitting there after tugging on an interstate. I also stow stuff loosely on the front bench and always find it still there when I pull in to a spot.

I'd tell you about the time I left a camera on my roof of a Honda Station wagon once, and drove 40 miles up the Columbia River Gorge.. and embarrassingly found it still sitting there when I stopped. But.. I don't want you to know how really stupid I am.....

[Ian-Vicki]

I'd tell you about the time I left a camera on my roof of a Honda Station wagon once, and drove 40 miles up the Columbia River Gorge.. and embarrassingly found it still sitting there when I stopped. But.. I don't want you to know how really stupid I am.....

Got any Gorge pics . . . . .

[Brian B-P]

Yes, trailer batteries are routinely dropped in the box and restrained by nothing but their cables and the box lid, while the box is held to the tongue by a couple of little self-tapping screws.. Mine has a plastic webbing strap over the top of the box, as is common for these all-purpose battery boxes. Strangely, the same trailers with this setup usually have decently solid propane tank retaining hardware.

Those of use more accustomed to cars are routinely surprised when we see this. If you did this in the tow vehicle, and took it to a mechanic for safety inspection, I bet it would fail... and that battery is under a steel hood. When you crash with your trailer, the battery will be a deadly flying object, but then so will lots of other stuff.

I had planned to add a proper hold-down, but the way the box mounts is a little awkward, and I'll admit that I still have not yet properly mounted it.

By the way, "sturdy" is not really a term I would use for these boxes, but they do survive for many years. The openings to allow cables to come out from under the lid are sized for starter cables for boat motors or power cables for boat trolling motors, so they do look a little more roomy than needed for the 10 gauge wires we use in our trailers.

[Herb P]

It seems all the battery "boxes" I have seen are sturdy plastic. I can't imagine just anchoring the box to the frame then dropping the battery loosely in it. Also, these boxes have large openings to accomodate heavy cables. I will only use this battery for onboard lights, etc so will just use heavy guage wire. Am I missing something here?
Any input is welcome.

Yeah... You basically got it. That's what I did on the 1300 and it wasn't a problem but I never had a head-on collision... I've also done that with the 1700... I prefer the battery boxes that don't have the silly strap. I get the ones that have 4 clips but that's not going to improve the hold-down situation.

This is my second trailer and I really liked the battery/propane/cooler/bbq rack I built on the first trailer so I built another one for this trailer:

http://www.beer.org/gallery/Boler17-refresh/IMG_5472

I can fit 2 coolers or one cooler and one bbq. The bbq shelf comes up by itself and supports the bbq just dandy. You want to make sure the front window is closed while bbq'ing though....

[Gerry]

I once had my battery inside the camper and when I moved it to the tongue, I used the same box.
Odd but the sealed box had a vent on both sides so I glued an old spray paint bottle cap on the top and left the lower vent open though screened.
Some nice guy I met at a tear jerkers rally gave me a mounting frame that I had welded onto the tongue infront of the gas bottle.
It was just made from 1 inch angle stock and the bottom of the box fit it fine.
I then bent a 1/4 rod to go over the top of box and into 2 holes I had in the frame to hold down the top along with the 2 plastic pins that came with the box.
Then I threaded the 1/4 rod ends and nutted and lock washered them onto the frame.
Now you may say ,"What about theifs"
unless I see the box smashed and the battery gone I do not worry because I have a cussed hard time getting the nuts off to get the top of box off myself they are in such a hard place to get too.
Gerry the canoebuilder

[Larry C Hanson]

Hello,

Here is an easy to fabricate battery mount/box.
Just some aluminum angle bolted to frame with
box and battery strapped in... works great and is
easily fabricated with a hack saw and electric drill.
It holds a 30 series Trojan weighing 66 lbs. securely.

Uncle Larry