New wiring for Lights on an old Tractor

[BayouMan]

I have a 1978 John Deere 2640 that I have owned for about 16 years now. I have been trying to update the tractor over the last several years to try and get it closer to current standards for newer tractors. I have added drag link stabilizers, canopy, limb protectors and additional lights. After I put a front end loader on 2 years ago, I added a bucket level indicator and built a set of forks.

This project was inspired by reading about other lighting projects on this forum and from 2 separate incidents where I had a light switch burn out. The las one occurred about 2 years ago and I thought I was going to lose my tractor, before I got the small fire put out. The problem was due to my ignorance and I had 6 ea, 55w lights, all controlled with 1 fused light switch. After the fire, I put in a second switch to break up the load. Have not really had any issues since, but all of my reading and research shows that there is a tremendous amount of knowledge and expertise on this forum about installing lights.

With all that said, I have purchased the following list of items:
1. 1 ea new switch ( reusing existing 2 switches )
2. 3 ea new 30 amp SPDT relays with sockets
3. 1 ea 6 position fuse panel
4. 1 ea 100 amp circuit breaker
5. 30' of 6 gauge, red and 30' of 6 gauge marine wire
6. 100' each of 16 gauge red and black marine wire
7. Assorted lugs for connectors
8. terminal strips for ground and hot connections.
9. Flex conduit to run wiring in

I already had an aluminum diamond plate step from an old firetruck, that was 6' long by 2' wide with 2" rolled edges. each end had a 2" x 2" aluminum angle welded in each end. I cut a 12' piece off of one end. This will give me 3 sides and will allow me to make a hinged glove bos in the upper right side of my canopy. This picture shows that side of my canopy and the box will be just in front of the light.

 

[BayouMan]

The diamond plate enclosure is shown next with the fuse panel, relay hoders and terminal strips laid out randomly.

 

[BayouMan]

The next major task is deciding where and how to run my wiring and try to have the majority of it protected from the elements and the inevitable limb or debris. The next series of pictures shows the area where the batteries are housed and how I plan to install the circuit breaker and where my wiring will enter and exit this area. I decided to replace both ground cables, due to their sloppy fit on the batteries. I also found a connector to use on the positive cable connector to give me a place to hook up the circuit breaker.

 

[BayouMan]

I have decided to use PVC flex conduit to route from the battery area to the under side of the ROPS. There is a hole under the ROPS base plate, that I can weld a 3/4" pipe nipple to and make a water tight connection on the bottom.


The welded on nipple idea hit me after I started pulling wire and realized that the bracket I had made to support the flex conduit male fitting was going to be impossible to get to after it was welded on the bottom of the ROPS base. The coupling will allow me to pull wire straight down through the ROPS post and the feed into the flex conduit and make the pull to the battery area. I can then install the male fitting and then make up the flex to the fitting.

 

[BayouMan]

The aluminum enclosure will be hinged on the open side, on the 2" x 2" box angle that supports my canopy and I will come up with a latching mechanism to hold it closed. As stated earlier, I will mount the fuse panel, terminal strips for hot and ground, 3 relays and 3 light switches. I still have to figure out how I can run my wiring to the enclosure from the where the wires come out of the top of the ROPS. I also want to protect the wiring to the canopy lights from the enclosure as well. I am thinking of mounting a junction box where the wires exit the top of the ROPS and then use flex conduit to protect the wires. I'm hoping that the flex conduit can be installed in a way that I will be able to hinge the enclosure down for access to the internal components.

 

[BayouMan]

The following pictures shows where I had done a preliminary wire pull down through the ROPS, the terminal strip in the battery area that will allow for the wires going to the front light to be unhooked, to facilitate splitting the tractor for clutch work and a view of what I am facing to get the wires for the front lights routed. I want the wiring protected and I have to be careful of the placement to not have the wiring in a vulnerable place when I chain my tractor to my trailer.

 

[BayouMan]

I feel pretty confident on getting the wiring routed and protected. The first question I have involves the protection of the light switches. Each set of lights will be operated by a switch. I had planned to put each relay on a 15 amp fuse. That takes up 3 spots. Can I put all three switches on one fuse, say a 10 amp? The only reason I ask, is that would leave me with 2 spare fuse slots and I was thinking I could put a power source on one fuse and maybe a strobe light on the other one.

Any other input is appreciated and expected. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[hr3]

Very nice looking job,,

 

[mjw357]

Can I put all three switches on one fuse, say a 10 amp?

Yes that will work fine, you probably could go even smaller like 5A or 7.5A, depending on the current draw of the relay coils.

Looks good!

 

[BayouMan]

hr3,
Thanks for the comments!

mjw357,
Thanks for the response on my fuse question. I may go ahead and put a 7.5 amp and see how that goes.

 

[BayouMan]

Had a good day in the shop today working on the lighting project. I was able to remove all of the old wiring. I even got the flex conduit from the battery area to the front lights run this evening.

Next step is to start figuring out how to mount my console. I want to be able to let it hinge down and the issue I am struggling with is how to get the wiring to the enclosure and still be able to let it hinge down. I had thought about drilling some 1" holes in the 2" x 2" box angle and try to feed the wire around from the rear most light and come out about 2' further toward the front. This would make for a clean installation, but I will look at it harder tomorrow. Getting a 1/2" drill with a 1" hole saw positioned reasonably perpendicular to the box angle is my biggest concern. If I think I can go this route, I have some rubber grommets to put in the holes. Will let you know how that went.

 

[BayouMan]

Well, I was able to drill the 1" holes in the box angle supporting my canopy tonite. I only broke 3 pilot bits in the process I now have to figure out the best routing for the wiring to my lights in the canopy and how to mount the console, I have some heavy duty hinges that I think will work. I thought the canopy support was made out of 2" box angle, but now I realize that it is 1 1/2". I will probably weld a 1/4" x 2' strip under the box angle to make the console fit flush against the roof. I will take pictures of this to make it more clear. I just have to mount a junction box on either side on the top side of the ROPS, to be able to route the wiring for the lights under the canopy.

Getting close to seeing this project becoming a reality!

Tomorrow, I will focus on mounting the relays, fuse panel and terminal strips in the console. Then I will work on how to mount the panel and how to keep it secured in the closed position.

As usual, I welcome any comments.

Mike

 

[Roonabeck]

How many amps does the alternator on your 2640 put out? Reason I ask is, you can drain your battery while the tractor's running if the number of lights you turn on exceeds the amperage your alternator puts out.

 

[BayouMan]

Hey Roonabeck,
I'm not sure what amperage my alternator puts out. I had to replace it about 7-8 years ago and the guy modified one that came out of a truck.

I have used these lights for several years and have never had a problem pulling the batteries down.

Thanks for asking,

Mike

 

[BayouMan]

I think I am now ready to start pulling wire. Got the routing worked out in the canopy area this evening. The next several pictures show where I have run flex conduit, welded on some junction boxes and other misc items.

 

[BayouMan]

A couple more pictures.




Once I get to the junction boxes, I will use split loaming to go to the canopy lights. My next big project involves figuring out a suitable layout of the components going in the overhead box. I intend for this box to hinge down to allow for inspecting wiring or changing a fuse or a future project. I also plan to install 3 switches here.

 

[Roonabeck]

If the alternator came out of a truck it's probably stronger than your average old-tractor-alternator. When I added more lights to my old tractor, I used LEDs (as some others have done) to reduce the amp draw.

Your mods look great. You appear to be trying to follow the principle that the fuse should be the weakest conductor in each of your circuits, so that should fix the (scary!) problem you had before.

 

[BayouMan]

My intention is that the fuses will be the weakest link. Thanks for the comments.

I did get to start pulling wire last night. Hope to pull some more today. Laying out the components in the console is my next challenge, along with getting it mounted and coming up with a suitable method to keep the console closed.

I was thinking of using a thin piece of aluminum sheet metal to mount the components on and then use some spacers to mount this inside the console. This would eliminate so many penetrations and bolt heads from showing. Not sure if that is really an issue or not.

I hope to eventually start replacing these older style lights with LED's some day, but they will have to get a little cheaper for me to justify springing for them.

Mike

 

[Scrambler82]

I didn’t read all of the posts so own me if you want but here is my 2 cents.

Relays and fuses for main power should be under the hood and as close to the battery as possible; at least the fused part of the main power.

Each relay should run no more than two lights, yes a 30 amp relay can control more amperage than two lights will draw but it is more common practice. You plan on three relays so that is good.
One Switch per Relay per two lights allows for more control of the lighting and if one set goes out the other set(s) will be on so you can finish what you started or just get back to the shop.

6-55w lights draw just under 30 amps @ 12V, not a really big load but for the control box to handle this lighting safely, in the existing configuration, you will need to run an 8-ga wire to the box or one 12-ga wire for each set of lights. OverKill, yes but I always say safety first.
Each pair of lights will need a 12-ga wire running to the lights from pin 87 on the relay.
ALSO… GROUNDING, very important to get the lighting to work but also to improve the overall install and not worry about the lighting down the field a ways, you should run the grounds back to the battery AND the ground HAS to be the same size as the power wire for each set or the equivalent.

I can go on about this but that is that because I am running on…

Good Luck on the project, I like the box idea, keeps it all together but please consider rerouting the relays.

 

[BayouMan]

Scrambler,
I have a 100 amp circuit breaker next to the batteries. From there I am running 6 gauge marine wire to the fuse panel for both the hot and the ground. From each relay, I am running 16 gauge marine wire. Per the charts that I am looking at, this is more than adequate.

Non the less, what I am running now has got to be better than what I had done before. At the time that I first put the 6 lights on the tractor, I had them all on one switch with a 20 amp fuse. Did catch the switch on fire. Went to two switches and still had issues. Hoping this will improve things. As far as putting the relays under the hood, a 1978 tractor didn't even have that in the equation. It is going to be challenging enough to get all of the wiring bundled up good in the battery box.

I appreciate your comments and hope that I am following your suggestions more or less.

Mike