By the way, cranks and turns over are the same thing. As in 'the engine cranks but won't start'. Drives me nuts when somebody confuses cranking function and starting.
Second that, and also, "fire" produces smoke, as in "the engine fired once, but wouldn't run". Of course if you're in a truckstop and wearing the appropriate footwear, then the distinctions cease.
One good battery should be plenty to start this engine up. Since you know the starter had problems maybe that is still weak? How cold is it there? even down to 40 it should fire up if it will turn over fast enough that the starter doesn't slow down significantly on each compression stroke.
With a slew of power sources like you have, is your starter warming up after 2 crankings of 15 seconds each? And do the batteries drain down faster than they should with those 2 15 second crankings? How about any battery cable terminals heating up? Others here have suggested a Nippon Denso gear reduction starter as an improvement, that looks like a conventional starter from here, but I could be wrong.
