Good fer ya. Ya know, it's hard to 'sit here' and visuallize what some of you guys do to wiring harnesses!!! Yep, not having the charging lead hooked to the battery makes a difference.

I 'spose' there are fuses that would handle an alternator output, but they would be very big and expensive, compared to a fuse link.

For, say, a 60A alternator, you'd probably need at least an 80 or 100A fuse, otherwise you'd have 'nuisance' blowouts. Also, the heat coming from the engine de-rates fuses, so keep them out of the way of the hot engine. After all, a fuse is essentially a 'melting' device