anyone switch to LED lights?

[PILOON]

The LED's on my CUT were so much brighter that I also upgraded my 2011 Kia to LED's, both Hi and Low beams.
Now I can see!
---and should oncoming vehicle not dim his highs I can get back at him.

One slight problem is that the LED's do cause interference on my car AM band but oddly, not always. Must be a bad ground somewhere, but where?
In my CUT there is no interference from the LED's, both AM and FM.

 

[CH4Ohio]

The LED's on my CUT were so much brighter that I also upgraded my 2011 Kia to LED's, both Hi and Low beams.
Now I can see!
---and should oncoming vehicle not dim his highs I can get back at him.

One slight problem is that the LED's do cause interference on my car AM band but oddly, not always. Must be a bad ground somewhere, but where?
In my CUT there is no interference from the LED's, both AM and FM.

The only complaint I have with the upgraded LED lights is that if you get off the tractor and accidentally look directly into the LEDs, you're blind for the next hour or so. . . That's kinda inconvenient.

 

[ning]

I haven't swapped for my tractor yet (I do have a light bar on the front and on the back of my ROPS), but I did go to LEDs for my '97 F350, and the difference is just astounding. When I drive my with's 2018 Toyota Highlander (not fancy lights, but still pretty decent) at night, I'm like "these lights really suck"; I used to get tired driving at night but I don't when I drive the truck because I can see so well. How well? Picks up reflectors easily a mile away. Best yet, despite the truck being on the high end of unlifted trucks (big-ish tires, "offroad" package which I think at the time was basically a factory lift as it's always ridden higher than other similar trucks), I never get flashed by cars coming in the other direction. Driving on the freeway, when I pass anything without LED or HID lights, you can't tell that they have headlights when you get near because the LED light output just paints over their feeble incandescent glow.

My motorcycle got an HID swap years ago to a similar effect (I can ID a lurking cop a mile up the highway, 5kK lights really show off reflectors). I think both the bike and the truck got wider beams, but they both have very sharp cut-offs which helps keep other motorists happy; this probably has more to do with the housing design than anything (bike: stock. truck: new housings that came with LEDs; my old ones were 23 years old and were heavily eroded and leaking).

I've put off getting new bulbs for my 3520 despite one original headlight being dead just because with my light bars I can see plenty well (plus the bucket blocking the lights in many useful positions), but one of these days I'm going to swap something in just because it looks miserable with one eye out.

It seems that light pattern with a tractor almost doesn't matter as long as it's same or more spread; an LED is unlikely to have a tighter beam (because most LED lights have more area that's emitting light than a filament bulb), and a tractor getting more flood is probably pretty useful assuming you're not roading at night in high range with the pedal to the floor.

 

[ning]

One concern I've had when considering a headlight swap to LEDs for the tractor is that LEDs typically have some sort of heat transfer that's behind the bulb - on my truck they've got a heat sink with a fan; some bulbs just have a large finned sink, and I've seen copper ribbons to do the same.

My concern is with how dusty & dirty things get under the hood of a tractor (and over the hood and behind the hood and you know what I mean) that the LEDs will burn out quickly because of insufficient cooling. HIDs may actually be a better choice because of this.

 

[CH4Ohio]

One concern I've had when considering a headlight swap to LEDs for the tractor is that LEDs typically have some sort of heat transfer that's behind the bulb - on my truck they've got a heat sink with a fan; some bulbs just have a large finned sink, and I've seen copper ribbons to do the same.

My concern is with how dusty & dirty things get under the hood of a tractor (and over the hood and behind the hood and you know what I mean) that the LEDs will burn out quickly because of insufficient cooling. HIDs may actually be a better choice because of this.

FYI.

The LED headlight bulbs that I bought were 1650 lumens each and configured just like the original bulbs. No heat sink or fan. They are much brighter than the OEM bulbs. Nothing extends out the back of the headlight assembly except the terminals for the electrical connection. These are supposed to run cooler than OEM.

I also saw bulbs for the same headlight that were more like 3800 lumens. They had fans and heat sink fins on the back and would require the extra room behind the lights. Didn't really want to modify the rubber boots or deal with the extra heat so I went with the lower power direct drop-in bulbs.

 

[ning]

FYI.

The LED headlight bulbs that I bought were 1650 lumens each and configured just like the original bulbs. No heat sink or fan. They are much brighter than the OEM bulbs. Nothing extends out the back of the headlight assembly except the terminals for the electrical connection. These are supposed to run cooler than OEM.

I also saw bulbs for the same headlight that were more like 3800 lumens. They had fans and heat sink fins on the back and would require the extra room behind the lights. Didn't really want to modify the rubber boots or deal with the extra heat so I went with the lower power direct drop-in bulbs.

This sounds pretty good - do you have a link or source of where you got those? I've only seen high-lumen automotive style bulbs.

 

[CH4Ohio]

This sounds pretty good - do you have a link or source of where you got those? I've only seen high-lumen automotive style bulbs.

Pair of LED bulbs for Kubota L5240 L5740 MX4800 MX5200 MX5400 MX5800 TD170-99010 | eBay

1 pair (2 bulbs) of new SUPER bright high-quality LED bulbs for a Kubota L-Series tractor (see list below), MX-Series, and many others. They fit right into your OEM Deere's headlight wiring harness sockets.

www.ebay.com

Those are the ones that I bought for the headlights. Not sure if they have them for every brand and bulb. Bright and dim work just like it should and the base is notched out just like the original bulb so they are oriented properly when installed.

As has been mentioned above, I wouldn't have bought them if they were really expensive since the bucket or snowplow does interfere with the headlights quite a bit. But they were relatively cheap and my factory bulbs were pretty weak. Quick and easy and they're MUCH brighter.

 

[5030]

Just did my dusk to dawn area lights on the shop and barn with LED lights from Mercury vapor. The LED's have the same lumen output using 1/4th the juice

 

[5030]

Where is everyone buying these LED's I have a branson 5520 and a mahindra 5010 that are screaming for LEDs
Any suggestions ?

www.superbrightleds.com

 

[Cougsfan]

Where is everyone buying these LED's I have a branson 5520 and a mahindra 5010 that are screaming for LEDs
Any suggestions ?

Go to either Amazon or ebay and you will find an extremely wide selection

 

[Cougsfan]

One of my newest pet peeves is the fad for people (mostly in Pickups) to install LED light bars on their grill. Some of them can absolutely blind you, even in the daytime.

 

[Cougsfan]

I just installed a new rear facing LED on my 1957 Ferguson TO35 because my broken incandescent bulb in the old rear facing fixture was one that I couldn't find a replacement bulb. Got two lights on ebay for $13. Only used one of 'em, and it is twice as bright as the old one. Don't know why I did it cause I never use that tractor at night. But for 1/2 of $13.... What the heck.

 

[herm0016]

great discussion. I am going to do it, because i want to, and for science. i'll report back as well. take some dark pics before and after.

 

[5030]

Keep in mind that there are quality SMD's (surface mount devices) aka: LED lights and a ton of sub par ones. I always buy CREE SMD's because CREE is the world leader in quality S

Most all of theMD's. They only produce the SMD, not the array they are used in but 99% of the time, what you buy will state CREE if they use them.

A major portion of the ones on Amazon of Flea Bay for cheap are sub standard. Like the old adage goes, 'you get what you pay for'. Thast applies to LED's just like everything else.

 

[herm0016]

yea, cree is my fav. i'm a little miffed the home depot here got rid of the cree lightbulbs.

also, I have used the warranty for a 3 way bulb and they responded quickly and sent an upgraded replacement asap with no fuss or argument.

 

[herm0016]

ordered everything but the headlights from superbright leds. ill do a side by side. interesting that the flasher module on these is not anything universal. kinda weird. picked up some resistors for that. the part number is NTC5510000A3 and I cant figure out why it needs so many wires for that job... or any equivalent part.

the way the ring mounts the headlights, it looks like the heatsinks will not allow it to work for the H4 headlights. ill stick to the stock ones for now. there are some cheapo leds that may work, but the cheap ones are usually crap, and if everyone else needs a heat sink, these probably should have one as well.

 

[kantuckid]

This thread greatly resembles a huge number of motorcycle threads from what's now been quite a few years of discussions since LED's came out. The entire thing of night pictures of this light vs. that one, heat sinks vs. fans and on & on. I stand by my previous comments that they are of less value for tractors which tend to have more robust charging systems and far less need for extremely bright lights to begin with?
I do see snow work as maybe a useful LED thought but I wait until daylight to do snow or anything else on a tractor.

I just had both my eyes done-a common surgery to do lens implants which really enhances those overly bright lights on the road more than once was!
The LEO's mostly leave the illegally bright people alone and they are a serious menace to night driving! I met a Jeep a few days ago with illegal LED blue HL's that were badly blinding all vehicles they met. Trucks are worse of course as many mount lights too high for hwy use.

The LED link above is OK but I'll share that I've thrown away some of theirs too that quit after the wrrty ran out. I've bought them on Amazon, ebay, superbright and certain motorcycle specialty places too. My Vespa 300GT scooters rear end lights up in LED's like a Christmas tree in red when I brake

 

[YanmarFever]

Im looking for replacement bulbs for the front lights for a 5520 and a 4520.
I did not see any on amazon or flea bay
Complete light kits those are easy to find anywhere, I need bulbs....

 

[RoyJackson]

I'm looking for replacement bulbs for the front lights for a 5520 and a 4520.
I did not see any on amazon or flea bay
Complete light kits those are easy to find anywhere, I need bulbs....

Are you looking just to replace the bulbs, or the whole lamp assembly?
I'm asking since my understanding is LED's require a different reflector then an OEM light...

 

[herm0016]

Are you looking just to replace the bulbs, or the whole lamp assembly?
I'm asking since my understanding is LED's require a different reflector then an OEM light...

a properly made LED bulb should work fine, HID lamps require a totally different reflector.

I also hate when people use non-dot compliant headlights, I don't think it will be a problem on the tractor though.

about half the bulbs in my tractor were out anyway, so if doing all of them, why not get led's?

@YanmarFever headlights on mine are just H4's pull the rubber boot thing off and you should see the bulb. H4's available anywhere.