My Kubota lighting project

[Woodland]

I thought I'd start a thread to document my lighting project on my Kubota L3400 and ask a few questions along the way. I'll post pictures as they come in as well.

The project it so mount 2 utility lights facing forward, two facing back, a single strobe beacon and possibly one work light facing either side of the tractor. There will be 5 switches to run all of the lights, one for the back lights, one for the forward, one for the strobe and one each for the two side facing lights. I have a canopy to arrive in a few days to which the lights & switches will be mounted.

So lets start off with the questions. First, I will need to use and mount 5 relays to run all of the lights. Where do I put them??? For those of you who have the L3400 Kubota, you know there isn't a whole lot of room under the hood. I am thinking my best bet may be to mount them to a piece of flat metal and then mount that right next to the battery? Seem like a good idea.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

I thought I'd start a thread to document my lighting project on my Kubota L3400 and ask a few questions along the way. I'll post pictures as they come in as well.

The project it so mount 2 utility lights facing forward, two facing back, a single strobe beacon and possibly one work light facing either side of the tractor. There will be 5 switches to run all of the lights, one for the back lights, one for the forward, one for the strobe and one each for the two side facing lights. I have a canopy to arrive in a few days to which the lights & switches will be mounted.

So lets start off with the questions. First, I will need to use and mount 5 relays to run all of the lights. Where do I put them??? For those of you who have the L3400 Kubota, you know there isn't a whole lot of room under the hood. I am thinking my best bet may be to mount them to a piece of flat metal and then mount that right next to the battery? Seem like a good idea.

If you want to make the wiring job a little easier I would use illuminated switches that are capable of the current that the lights will draw. I like inline fuses with those to give you some protection. Have the switches in some sort of weather proof enclosure. Bundle the wires away from high heat sources. That way you have less wiring and if you leave a switch on then you can see it right away. The small cost of using larger wire for some of the higher amperage lights won't be that big of a deal. Also use a wire ground to the lights instead of just grounding to the frame. Oxidation and vibration can give you problems later on.

 

[Woodland]

I gave that a thought. The only waterproof switches I've come up with are either 16 or 20amp. I was thinking that running the lights directly through the switches would be a tight fit.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Unless you plan on working in the rain a lot I don't think that you really need water proof switches. I would think the illuminated ones come in 10 amps or so. Normally that stuff can be found at Radio Shack or local auto parts store. The voltage is low enough you don't have to worry about getting shocked. Sounds like a fun project though. I just took out the plastic dashboard on my Kubota L3750 and bored holes in that for some light switches

 

[gemini5362]

Unless you plan on working in the rain a lot I don't think that you really need water proof switches. I would think the illuminated ones come in 10 amps or so. Normally that stuff can be found at Radio Shack or local auto parts store. The voltage is low enough you don't have to worry about getting shocked. Sounds like a fun project though. I just took out the plastic dashboard on my Kubota L3750 and bored holes in that for some light switches

It depends on how big a light and where you are going to mount the switches. If you are only going to have one or two lights per switch then just run straight to the switches. Lighted switches are nice but if you are going to have the power for the lights run off of the ignition key switch power when you turn off the key the lights will be off. if the switches are going to be inside of the dash then you might want to get switches that you can get a rubber cover for. A lot of industry that have wet environments use them. It is just a piece of rubber that is mounted to a nut and the nut screws down instead of the hold down nut on the switch. It will keep water from getting down the inside of the switch. Water proof swtices tend to get expensive if you get real waterproof ones. I worked at a chicken processing plant once about 20 years ago. When I got there we were buying waterproof momentary contact switches for the zeroing out function of our scales. We were paying about 12.00 a switch back then. I had them go to just a simple switch that was 86 cents a piece then bought the rubber covers for another dollar. We saved about ten dollars a switch. The rubber covered switches did not last quite as long but the problem with both switches was the clean up crews were hitting them with the cleaning stream from high pressure hoses. On something like a tractor light switch they would last a long long time.

 

[Woodland]

The most any switch will be running will be two 55w work lights (I'm thinking that I may use a relay for the strobe and tie it into the factory hazard switch) so I may just wire the switches in line and probably a fuse block somewhere near the battery. The switches willbe mounted under the canopy so they will be exposed to moisture but not a steady rain or snow, so I'm not terribly worried about how "waterproof" the switches are. I have a few on order that ran about $6 a piece.

 

[kennyd]

I did my setup (except for the side lights) with one 30 amp relay. A good quality switch will easily handle two 55w worklights.

The relay is connected to the battery and only active when the key is on, so I basically created a new 30a circuit.

 

[emmy71]

Here is where I mounted my relays, switches, and inline fuses.

I have three relays mounted under instrument panel. Five would probably fit. Switches are marine grade.

Terry

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Hey nice work Emmy71 and Kenny!

 

[emmy71]

Hey nice work Emmy71 and Kenny!

Thanks, I'll post some pictures of my canopy modification and lighting install later.

Terry

 

[Woodland]

Ok, so here is what I'm thinking as far as wiring all the lights. Let me know what you think. I will mount a 6 circuit fuse block somewhere near the factory block. It will have a 10ga wire feeding it and then 14ga wire from the circuits to a "trailer connector" just below the fold in the ROPS (this is so I can remove the canopy & lights if need be). Wires then go to a switch box mounted to the canopy and directly to one 16amp switch per circuit. This setup would not use any relays for the individual circuit.

I would like to put in a relay that is tied into the ignition somewhere so all of the lights turn off when the tractor turns off. This would need to be prior to the fuse block and thus would be on the 10ga wire. How big of a relay would this need to be?

 

[kennyd]

Ok, so here is what I'm thinking as far as wiring all the lights. Let me know what you think. I will mount a 6 circuit fuse block somewhere near the factory block. It will have a 10ga wire feeding it and then 14ga wire from the circuits to a "trailer connector" just below the fold in the ROPS (this is so I can remove the canopy & lights if need be). Wires then go to a switch box mounted to the canopy and directly to one 16amp switch per circuit. This setup would not use any relays for the individual circuit.

I would like to put in a relay that is tied into the ignition somewhere so all of the lights turn off when the tractor turns off. This would need to be prior to the fuse block and thus would be on the 10ga wire. How big of a relay would this need to be?

Get a 30 amp relay. They are only about $4 to $6 at any auto part stores. THIS is what they look like. I protected my new circuit with a 30 amp circuit breaker at the battery.

 

[Woodland]

Get a 30 amp relay. They are only about $4 to $6 at any auto part stores. THIS is what they look like. I protected my new circuit with a 30 amp circuit breaker at the battery.

I know what a relay is, my concern is whether a standard 30amp would be big enough. The wire running from the battery to the fuse block will be 10 gauge, thus I would think it will carry more than 30amps? Am I missing something?

 

[kennyd]

#10 gauge wire is only rated for 30 amps, so if you think you are going to draw more than that you need to go to #8 which is good for 40 amps.

You are talking about 6 55 watt lights that will draw 25.38 amps at 13 volts, plus a strobe which has very low draw.

I think you need to worry about your alternator also!

 

[Woodland]

Actually, I was just going to ask about the alternator. How do I know what it is rated for? I don't think it will be an issue, however, since I don't intend to run all of the lights at the same time. The most likely scenario would be front OR back plus the strobe and most likely I would have the factory headlights off.

 

[kennyd]

I can't help with the rating of your alternator, but can assure your that #10 wire and a 30 amp relay will fit the bill with what your talking about adding.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

American Wire Gauge table and AWG Electrical Current Load Limits
Here is a link to wire gauge and current capacity. Scroll down the page a little ways. A good relay is a great idea. Most any of them that you get at the auto parts store will work. You might even mount it with rubber to help isolate it from some of the vibration if you can..Your alternator should have it's capacity on the plate on the alternator. Or in your owners manual. Not drawing more current than the alternator can produce is wise.

 

[emmy71]

Actually, I was just going to ask about the alternator. How do I know what it is rated for? I don't think it will be an issue, however, since I don't intend to run all of the lights at the same time. The most likely scenario would be front OR back plus the strobe and most likely I would have the factory headlights off.

The L3400 alternator is rated at 40 amps. I have 6 55 watt lights. I have ran all of those and the headlights with no problem. That was just to do a test of the system. Normally I don't run more than two sets. Three at the most.

Terry

 

[emmy71]

Here is the circuit I used except the actual circuit has another set of flood lights coming off a fourth terminal on the fuse block. All my grounds actually go back to one common point. It was just easier to draw it this way. I t-tapped onto the existing worklight circuit at the existing fuse block to go through my switches and power the coils of the relay. That circuit runs to the fenders and would be easy to tap there is you are going to mount the switches on the ROPS. Also is a picture of how I made my my splices at the fold of the ROPS. There are bullet connectors in the conduit body.

Terry

 

[GinNB]

Emmy71, I recognize those switches. They mount extremely nicely and easily in perfectly rectangular holes. How did you cut your dash? Xacto knife? They're also amazingly cheap for the quality of the switch. Non-waterproof Grote toggle switches cost more than those do (at least where I've looked). Where did you source yours? How much, if you don't mind me asking...