Lawn tractor battery question

Started & ran my Yard Machines (MTD) lawn tractor about 6 weeks ago & it started fine. Took the 12V battery out & put it back on my trickle charger because I knew I wouldn't be using the tractor again for awhile. Took it off the trickle today & installed it on the tractor again (sanded & cleaned all terminals and contact points 1st) ... nothing. Went back to be sure the cables were very tight. Still nothing. Tested it with my multimeter at the -20 DCV setting. It showed only 1.45. Put the battery on my Schumacher car battery charger and the needle went immediately to "fully charged." Hmmm, I'm thinking that the battery is bad even tho the charger says its charged. Anyone run into this?

PS - I tested the multimeter on my car to see if it was faulty but it did fine there at 12.85.

take battery to any auto parts store & have them load test battery at no cost to you.

mechanic mark said:

take battery to any auto parts store & have them load test battery at no cost to you.

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Yes, thought of that after posting. Tester at AP store said "low battery." So, something must be wrong with my car battery charger for it to indicate "Full Charge." I have the battery back on the trickle charger now and the voltage is moving up. I think I failed to get a good connection with the trickle's clamps when I fastened them back when. Thanks for the reply.

By "Trickle charger" does it have the ability to go to float mode when full charge is reached. If not, that could actually hurt a battery.