Why is it always Rural King!?

[nickdalzell1]

Some stories for y'all...

I am unsure if they're a Tractor Supply Co. clone or not, but in Owensboro, KY, we have a Rural King store that's been here about as long as Ames and KMart (although the latter two are extinct) and caters to similar types of folks, cheap products at low prices, mostly made in China, but in a rural farm-style atmosphere. Not sure if they're Owensboro only store or a chain. I've never seen one outside of Owensboro...They also sell batteries. Yes, mostly meant to be in parallel on a tractor or school bus. NEVER a golf car.

1. DCS EZGO TXT from 1996. I see Rural Kings, all dead of course, and correctly assume it also took the controller out. Baked, melted mass of plastic that smelled very nice. Replace with Alltrax and GOOD batteries, everthing good. Recommend to NEVER buy Rural King batteries since they are NOT meant for golf cars.

2. RXV. from 2007. comes in smelling of bad brake. Common issue, am I right? But lift seat, there they are. Four 12V NON-DEEP CYCLE Rural King CAR batteries just laying there not even able to be held down. Ends up the batteries (obviously not correct), brake and controller and motor encoder all got took out en masse. Repair cost might as well buy a new golf car. Customer NOT happy, blames ME!!!! We are yelled at by him that the batteries are FINE since his neighbor has the same ones in their golf car and they work perfectly! What he does NOT tell us is that his neighbor (whom we know hehe) has a 1977 EZGO Resistor car. NOT an RXV. He takes his car back as is, still broken refusing to admit it's going to take that much. We later find out he set fire to it and tried to get the insurance money--and failed.


3. Club Car DS lifted. Melted v-glide, 36V car. Has Rural Kings. It's a resistor car so aside limited run time I can't just blame the batteries here. I replaced the v-glide and it melted on test drive. Ate that cost, and had to rig a second solenoid to take the 4th speed load since being lifted, good batteries or not, it's not making a 6% grade wide open with a lift kit on stock parts.

4. Yamaha gas car, a G29 Drive from 2007. Rural King 12V battery, but the thing ain't charging. It just drives until the battery dies. We assume either regulator or starter generator. We find out it's the darned Rural King battery since we put the correct battery in and the charging system works fine!

5. Club Car Precedent with four LAWN AND GARDEN Rural Kings sliding around in there. Thankfully that was the extent of it. Apparently, a Club Car controller is more robust than an RXV Curtis controller is.

Everytime I see Rural Kings I cringe. I don't know what it is about everyone always buying them, and I know they're cheap but you get what you pay for.

Don't skimp on batteries! Same thing goes for those Duracells and Energizer (in name only, made by Exide, same garbage as Rural King), as well as Duralast, Everstart, Super Start, Astro-lite, and no-names.

[cgtech]

Sounds like Rural king is just like Tractor Supply, cheap china goods. I wonder if the spring time ducklings & chicks are "made in china" too.. At least they are competitive on propane prices.
Agreed on cheapo batteries, they just dont last around here (the people who would get 4-5 years out of good batteries, get 2-2.5 from the cheapos). I dont know if TSC sells "golf cart like" batteries, I think around here, you have to drive into town to get your "black box batteries" from Costco, Sam's club, and Batteries+.

[Mooncarter]

We don't have Rural King around here. Are these 6 volt batteries like the ones used for STARTING an old 6 volt tractor?

[Swan]

Rural King Supply is a farm supply store based in Mattoon, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1960, it now has 116 stores in the U.S. states of Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Alabama

[Sideways]

Duracell's are manufactured by East Penn, (aka-Deka)
My Duracell's are over 3yrs old and still going strong as I use my cart for golfing almost every day, including thru out the winter. In addition the course is about a half mile to and from my house.
DPI charger is always connected when the cart is at home.
Water level gets checked religiously every 2- 3 weeks.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by nickdalzell1

Some stories for y'all...

I am unsure if they're a Tractor Supply Co. clone or not, but in Owensboro, KY, we have a Rural King store that's been here about as long as Ames and KMart (although the latter two are extinct) and caters to similar types of folks, cheap products at low prices, mostly made in China, but in a rural farm-style atmosphere. Not sure if they're Owensboro only store or a chain. I've never seen one outside of Owensboro...They also sell batteries. Yes, mostly meant to be in parallel on a tractor or school bus. NEVER a golf car.

1. DCS EZGO TXT from 1996. I see Rural Kings, all dead of course, and correctly assume it also took the controller out. Baked, melted mass of plastic that smelled very nice. Replace with Alltrax and GOOD batteries, everthing good. Recommend to NEVER buy Rural King batteries since they are NOT meant for golf cars.

2. RXV. from 2007. comes in smelling of bad brake. Common issue, am I right? But lift seat, there they are. Four 12V NON-DEEP CYCLE Rural King CAR batteries just laying there not even able to be held down. Ends up the batteries (obviously not correct), brake and controller and motor encoder all got took out en masse. Repair cost might as well buy a new golf car. Customer NOT happy, blames ME!!!! We are yelled at by him that the batteries are FINE since his neighbor has the same ones in their golf car and they work perfectly! What he does NOT tell us is that his neighbor (whom we know hehe) has a 1977 EZGO Resistor car. NOT an RXV. He takes his car back as is, still broken refusing to admit it's going to take that much. We later find out he set fire to it and tried to get the insurance money--and failed.


3. Club Car DS lifted. Melted v-glide, 36V car. Has Rural Kings. It's a resistor car so aside limited run time I can't just blame the batteries here. I replaced the v-glide and it melted on test drive. Ate that cost, and had to rig a second solenoid to take the 4th speed load since being lifted, good batteries or not, it's not making a 6% grade wide open with a lift kit on stock parts.

4. Yamaha gas car, a G29 Drive from 2007. Rural King 12V battery, but the thing ain't charging. It just drives until the battery dies. We assume either regulator or starter generator. We find out it's the darned Rural King battery since we put the correct battery in and the charging system works fine!

5. Club Car Precedent with four LAWN AND GARDEN Rural Kings sliding around in there. Thankfully that was the extent of it. Apparently, a Club Car controller is more robust than an RXV Curtis controller is.

Everytime I see Rural Kings I cringe. I don't know what it is about everyone always buying them, and I know they're cheap but you get what you pay for.

Don't skimp on batteries! Same thing goes for those Duracells and Energizer (in name only, made by Exide, same garbage as Rural King), as well as Duralast, Everstart, Super Start, Astro-lite, and no-names.

I'm not sure if Rural King is a chain store or a franchise, but the local Rural King in my area, a few mile east of your location, carries Tartar farm products, which are made in USA and are top of the line and the Exide batteries I bought there in November 2012 are still running strong.

If the batteries are the correct type and size for the application and are properly maintained, they will last reasonably well no matter what name is on the label. The best bang for the buck depends on the initial cost vs the cradle to grave lifespan and a less expensive battery that doesn't last quite as long might have a lower overall cost than a name brand that does last all that much longer.

[Getter-Done]

I have 4 new battery's in the cart I just bought.
They are from Rural King. Link below.
Link:https://www.ruralking.com/exide-golf...y-6volt-gc115g
Starting another Thread to ask opinions
About my situation with my battery's.




.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by Getter-Done

I have 4 new battery's in the cart I just bought.
They are from Rural King. Link below.
Link:https://www.ruralking.com/exide-golf...y-6volt-gc115g
Starting another Thread to ask opinions
About my situation with my battery's.




.

An Exide GC-115 is a 6V-186AH battery. The standard 6V battery typically used in a 36V battery pack has a 20hr rating of 225AH, so the run time and lifespan will probably be lousy.

[Getter-Done]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

An Exide GC-115 is a 6V-186AH battery. The standard 6V battery typically used in a 36V battery pack has a 20hr rating of 225AH, so the run time and lifespan will probably be lousy.

Thanks,
I will buy the good stuff when these need replaced.



.

[nickdalzell1]

There are a few folks who got lucky to not fry their motor or controller using Rural Kings, but they are EOL about 3 years after purchase. A few dollars more and a good set of Trojans would net you 6-8 years if took care of.

Rural King batteries come in both 6, 12V, 12V deep cycle, and 6V Deep cycle. Neither of those I'd trust in anything myself. Nothing I cared to keep anyway. "Duracell/Energizer" branded batteries are that in name-only. I've seen them using that name but sold by Exide, East-Penn, and Deka. All garbage if you ask me. About the same luck as Rural Kings but far less common to come across. I've also found counterfeit Trojans too. Companies such as Blem and any battery 'recaser' (taking a case and putting used/refurbished plates in them and selling them as Trojans) are known for horrible counterfeit batteries. You will only discover them by peeling the case label off and seeing 'BLEM' scrawled/engraved under the fake Trojan label.

Rural King years ago (as in the 80s) used to be more into the 'made in USA' mindset, but recently they closed their old location and opened a new one which is essentially a clone of Harbor Freight. All made in China garbage. Even similar products identical to Harbor Freight. Their 'Voltek' digital multimeters are the same thing as Harbor's 'Cen-tech' digital multimeters as well as their 'Voltek' battery load testers. Only Rural King here has them marked up 5$ more than Harbor Freight.

I am unsure if TSC has batteries, as we have two of those stores here and I've never seen one branded after them, or any of their namesakes. I only went into a TSC once in Watertown, NY, and it was identical to our old Rural King location before it closed. Because of that, I figured TSC owned Rural King.