another ROPS light question

[jasonpotopa]

After looking and searching the forum, and having my FEL block my lights I decided to put on some ROPS lights on my BX 2200. I got a heck of a deal on a pair of tractor lights at Northern Tools (10 bucks for 2) and mounted them. I was looking for a place to mount the switch, and was also thinking about making a switch box to bolt to the slow vehicle tab, but when I was doing that, I found out that the tail lights were just plugged in with some butt connectors. I made a piggyback harness and plugged in there so when the head lights are on, the ROPS lights are on. This is fine with me, as I'll be unmounting them in the spring. I have low trees that brush the ROPS and I'm afraid it will damage the light.

Everything works, and the light distribution is pretty awesome. The question is am I overloading the harness with an extra 55 watts going through it? I did some work last night for about 1/2 hour and no popped fuses, or heated wires (to the touch) but want to make sure i'm not gonna fry anything.

I can post pics when I get a chance if anyone's interested also, lemme know.

 

[IslandTractor]

I have low trees that brush the ROPS and I'm afraid it will damage the light.

Why not mount them hanging under the ROPS tube instead of on top?

 

[jasonpotopa]

Short answer is my big head would get in the way of the lights. They'd be illuminating my melon instead of the way ahead.

 

[IslandTractor]

Short answer is my big head would get in the way of the lights. They'd be illuminating my melon instead of the way ahead.

And just how wide is your melon?

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I hung a set under my ROPS to protect them from the trees I work in. They are mounted near the curves of the ROPS fairly wide apart and I don't have any problems with my head casting any shadows. . . and many people here would suggest that I am fat headed

 

[jasonpotopa]

I'm thinking of making a lighbar to hang ontop of the ROPS and protect the lights in the spring. Right now I needed something to help with snow removal in the middle of the night (assuming we get snow this year) The plan would be to make a metal box, and run the wires to the under the seat taps, then have a few switches in the bar, one for the front lights, and get another light for rear facing. It's totally possible I'm thinking overkill, but it's an excuse to get better at welding.

My wife also suggested putting my head in a vice to try and make it smaller, but I'm not keen on that suggestion.

Any concerns with how I have it wired now though? Would I be pulling to many amps from the wires?

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I'm not sure I understand your design, but in my case I took a piece of angle iron and used marine epoxy to stick it to the back of my ROPS. I then drilled into the angle iron and mounted the lights. I have 4 lights mounted, 2 facing forward and 2 rearward. My switches are mounted in my fender and I used waterproof marine switches that are exact matches to the switches on my NH dash. The switches came from Go2Marine.com.

The reason I used marine epoxy to mount the angle iron is because I did not want to risk voiding the warranty on my ROPS by either drilling or welding. Some folks say it is a no-no to do that and to me it was not worth the risk given that there are no-risk alternatives.

 

[IslandTractor]

I took a piece of angle iron and used marine epoxy to stick it to the back of my ROPS. I then drilled into the angle iron and mounted the lights.

Nice solution and work. Did you epoxy directly to the ROPS paint/powder coat or did you do bare metal to bare metal? (I hope sanding your ROPS doesn't start another TBN food fight on warranty/liability issues )

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Ed, I lightly sanded the finish off the ROPS and left the surface a little bit rough. I did the same to the matching surface of the angle iron. There are a lot of different epoxies on the market, the one I used had a shear strength of something like 5000# and was both waterproof for under water repairs and UV stabilized for exposure to sunlight. I can not remember the brand but I bought it a one of the large box stores. I held it on overnight while it cured with C-clamps. After it was completely cured I painted over the entire thing to match the ROPS paint. Because of the way the angle iron is mounted, the lights not only hang below the ROPS but they are also behind the leading edge of the ROPS so it affords them pretty good protection from branches.

I will say that I did destroy one of the lights and I have since replaced the front facing lights with a different set. While working around small trees a branch got stuck under the ROPS and tore one of the lights off. But even with that, light mounted on top of my ROPS would have been torn off a few dozen times. I have about 1000 Hawthorn trees on my property and they have gnarled tough branches that are just about the perfect height to knock off anything that is not well protected. I'm very pleased with the way my light rig has performed, the epoxy has held firm, and the light placement has worked very well.

 

[Sully2]

1) What all is on the same circuit!
2) Take total bulb wattage..convert to AMPS at 12V dc
3) Find the fuse that is in that circuit

Then you have the answer!