I have a 2010 257B3 with just over 1200 hours on it. I recently had it in to the dealer who replaced 3 hoses under the cab (one drive hose for each side so they had to slide out the undercarriage). Fired it up and used it briefly, maybe 1/2 hr top, about a week after I got it back. Next day used it for a few hours, starting and stopping a few times. Then mid day it would not start. Battery was dead. Tried jump starting it with my truck, I could get a slow turn out of the engine but that is it. Pulled the battery and left it on a 2 amp trickle overnight. Battery read 13.5 v with my multimeter (not hooked up to anything including the charger). That seemed high to me. Put battery back in skid steer and it acts like it is dead. Tried jumping it again and barely get a turn or 2 before it stops. Thinking maybe a loose ground wire. I cant even get it started to drive it back to the shop from across my lot.
Just pulled the battery and brought it back to my shop. Checked with voltmeter and got 13.3, yet it would barely turn over the engine with jumpers hooked to my truck. Has to be either a loose ground or bad starter I'm thinking.
Sounds like a wiring issue. Take jumper cables from battery and connect to starter directly, to rule out a weak starter.
Not sure how difficult it is to get at the starter. Would I need to tip the cab to get at it?
First thing to do is have a good load test on your battery. If it has a weak cell it can act fine but die under load, jumpers can't carry enough to take the entire load, they're just for helping.
if it were me, i’d try a completely different battery just to rule it out before getting into the more complex stuff. pull the battery from your car if you don’t have a spare available.
Took the battery in and had it tested. Yup, it was shot. New battery and away she went!