LED bar light experience?

[daveinnh]

I have a Kubota L4310 HST with a Curtis Cab. I added 2 halogen lights atop the cab back in 2005, then replaced one with an LED fixture ~ 2015. Now the other halogen lamp died.

We have an 800 ft. crushed gravel divre that includes about 300' of 6% slope from the road, then transitions to 10% for 150' so I need to clearly see where I'm plowing.

Amazon has a curved LED bar:

Nilight - 71013C-A 32" 180W Spot Flood Combo High Power LED Driving Lamp LED Light Bar Off Road Fog Driving Work Lights for SUV Boat Jeep Lamp,2 Years Warranty

1. Has anyone mounted a similar LED bar light?
2. The truck mounted units I've seen in Town are blinding to oncoming traffic; do any units offer a "low/bright" switch?

Thanks,
dave

 

[Thunder chicken]

I bought a similar ‘no name’ brand light bar a few years back that has served me well (on my car) I see a few quality issues pop up on various forums about some of these bars, so you could get what you pay for. I’d think it’s worth the gamble for use on your tractor. Beats spending $4-500.
As for dimming, I’ve never seen that option. On or off! Operating it less than the recommended 9v may, but if you’re not making your own gadget to do this....

 

[George2615]

I installed the combo spot/flood LED lights on mine about 5 years ago. Not the curved bar. mine are straight (either 22 or 24" I think). I made brackets to mount them front and rear. They are much brighter than stock lights. They are blinding if you are in front of them. And No, mine don't offer a low/high position.

 

[JJT]

I have 50watts of LED on my zero turn, plenty of light. I'll switch to the same led light on the L3710 when my halogens bite the dust. I also snow blow 800' driveway in the snow belt of NY state. 180watts of LED sounds like overkill. LED's use about 10% of the power of halogens. 180watts of LED would be about 1500 watts of halogen.

 

[i7win7]

We have an 800 ft. crushed gravel drive that includes about 300' of 6% slope from the road, then transitions to 10% for 150' so I need to clearly see where I'm plowing.

Private drive? Why not use multiple lights, different lights can be independently aimed.

 

[Roadworthy]

I bought a supposed 240 watt light bar off eBay. I worried about wiring enough power. I checked with an ammeter and found it took five amps. That's like sixty real watts. I can feed it from my existing worklight connector which is fused at ten amps. It's plenty bright and it doesn't dim. I'm not sure a lower voltage would dim it. Some are powered by an electronic power supply which can overwork itself at low voltages. I've not dug into it. I don't worry about blinding oncoming traffic. Nobody should be in my driveway or field at night anyhow. Besides, I can always kill the light bar and run on just the tractor's wimpy headlights.

 

[mikester]

I bought one of these 5 years ago.
https://www.princessauto.com/en/13-1-4-in-led-dual-row-light-bar/product/PA0008799389

Liked it so much I bought 2 more. One on the bush guard, and two on the cab, one on the front and one on the back similar to George2615. Halogens are sitting in a box on the shelf.

 

[seville009]

I bought these magnetic mount led spotlights for my skidsteer for snowblowing. Excellent lighting. I aim them towards the sides because the lights on the skidsteer are just front and back facing, so the sides were always pitch black. Got a few more this year for my plow truck for added lighting.

Amazon.com: LEMIL - 48W 5D Lens LED Work Light 12V Spot Light Driving Fog Light Off Road Spot Beam Lamp Boat Light with Magnetic Base Waterproof Emergency Light for Truck SUV 12V 24V Searchlight: Home Improvement

 

[Fallon]

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/customization/376458-let-there-light-l4060-light.html

If i did it over again I may just go with 4 12" mini LED bars on stock wiring. Maybe, dunno. Lots of light off those bars some focused, some flood. Lots of radio interference too though, from the cheap power supplies on the cheap bars I got.

 

[WranglerX]

I bought a supposed 240 watt light bar off eBay. I worried about wiring enough power. I checked with an ammeter and found it took five amps. That's like sixty real watts. I can feed it from my existing worklight connector which is fused at ten amps. It's plenty bright and it doesn't dim. I'm not sure a lower voltage would dim it. Some are powered by an electronic power supply which can overwork itself at low voltages. I've not dug into it. I don't worry about blinding oncoming traffic. Nobody should be in my driveway or field at night anyhow. Besides, I can always kill the light bar and run on just the tractor's wimpy headlights.

When they state something like 250 watt LEDS its the equivalent of incandescent lighting.... The real telling thing is lumens.... Generally LEDs draw something like only 10-15 % of what a incandescent lamp draws...

Dale

 

[MF243RedTop]

If traffic isn't a issue with a private drive and working on such inclines and steep drop offs
I would mount one on each side of the cab.
Would be like working in the midday sun.

 

[Avenger]

I have a similar drive, not as long, but steep.
I replaced my factory cab lights with LEDs. I put spot lights looking forward and flood lights on the back. They are not dimmable, but I am not in traffic. If someone, like a delivery driver, or my wife, is coming up the driveway, I simply pull over as much as I can and turn off the cab lights. They are work lights afterall.

The spots up front are great, light reaches all the way up well past the FEL. The floods in the back illuminate well past the edges of the implements I run. I am considering 'ditch' lights, or side-of-the-cab lights to illuminate the sides. But this is low priority. These LED's are also very clean looking light. Almost a blue or natural light. They are not yellow or dull.

After two years of running these lights, they are great! No yellowing of the LED's, no water or moisture inside. I can easily adjust them independently, which is the sole reason why I didnt go with a bar. The spots look forward and staggered. The floods on the rear simply look down.

Here is the Amazon link for the lights I got:
Amazon.com: Auxbeam LED Light Bar 7Inch 36W Flood Led Off Road Lights Driving Lights LED Work Lights Waterproof for Jeep Off-Road SUV Truck Car ATVs Boats (2 PCS): Automotive
Amazon.com: Auxbeam 7” LED Light Bar 36W Spot Off Road Driving Lights Waterproof for trucks 4x4 Military Mining Boating Farming and Heavy Equipment: Automotive

I also made a video of these on my tractor:
LSXR4145C Tractor - Added better lights and preparing for cold weather - YouTube

 

[ctgoldwing]

When they state something like 250 watt LEDS its the equivalent of incandescent lighting.... The real telling thing is lumens.... Generally LEDs draw something like only 10-15 % of what a incandescent lamp draws...

Dale

If that's the case then they should specify in their ad! If it says 250w a reasonable person would expect a 250w device. If it said 250w equivalent to incandescent or if the ad said 'so many lumens' one would expect something else. The way its worded is deceiving.

 

[PILOON]

If that's the case then they should specify in their ad! If it says 250w a reasonable person would expect a 250w device. If it said 250w equivalent to incandescent or if the ad said 'so many lumens' one would expect something else. The way its worded is deceiving.

Problem is few folks are all that knowledgeable when it comes to those technical terms, many of which are just recently getting used.
Add that many laws/rules were written many years ago.

Case in question is SAE (automotive) regs that limited headlights to 25 watts.
Well halogen 25 watts is sure brighter than incandescent and then LED 25 watts is more like 250 incandescent watts.

LOL, you can tell the age of the oncoming vehicle by the headlight brightness.

In self defense I installed LED headlights so that I could send back a message to oncoming cars that don't dim.

 

[WranglerX]

If that's the case then they should specify in their ad! If it says 250w a reasonable person would expect a 250w device. If it said 250w equivalent to incandescent or if the ad said 'so many lumens' one would expect something else. The way its worded is deceiving.

That is the problem.... A 250 watt incandescent would draw approximately 20 amps.... Keep in consideration a standard 7 inch incandescent sealed beam headlight (not H4) is rated at 60 watts and draws about 5 amps...

A really big issue I'm having is most LED light system do have illumination patterns in literature, I am torn between "Fog Lamps" and "Driving Lamps" on ,my Jeep....the funny thing is lumens and watts should corelate, but they don't, so you don't really know what you are getting until you install them and fire them up.... I put a utility LED flood lamp low on rear bumper of my Jeep to augment backup lights in tail light assembly, now I have 4x the light in rear, not real bright but enough to see better.... And I didn't even have to change the fuse for backup light circuit...

Dale

 

[WranglerX]

Problem is few folks are all that knowledgeable when it comes to those technical terms, many of which are just recently getting used.
Add that many laws/rules were written many years ago.

Case in question is SAE (automotive) regs that limited headlights to 25 watts.
Well halogen 25 watts is sure brighter than incandescent and then LED 25 watts is more like 250 incandescent watts.

LOL, you can tell the age of the oncoming vehicle by the headlight brightness.

In self defense I installed LED headlights so that I could send back a message to oncoming cars that don't dim.

Automotive sealed beam incandescent have been 60 watt for high beam and 55 watt for low beams for years..... Where are you getting the 25 watt numbers...

Dale

 

[Looking4new]

Problem is few folks are all that knowledgeable when it comes to those technical terms, many of which are just recently getting used.
Add that many laws/rules were written many years ago.

Case in question is SAE (automotive) regs that limited headlights to 25 watts.
Well halogen 25 watts is sure brighter than incandescent and then LED 25 watts is more like 250 incandescent watts.

LOL, you can tell the age of the oncoming vehicle by the headlight brightness.

In self defense I installed LED headlights so that I could send back a message to oncoming cars that don't dim.

You and me both. I had LEDs in the Freightliner AND LED moose lights on top of the mirrors.

 

[Looking4new]

That is the problem.... A 250 watt incandescent would draw approximately 20 amps.... Keep in consideration a standard 7 inch incandescent sealed beam headlight (not H4) is rated at 60 watts and draws about 5 amps...

A really big issue I'm having is most LED light system do have illumination patterns in literature, I am torn between "Fog Lamps" and "Driving Lamps" on ,my Jeep....the funny thing is lumens and watts should corelate, but they don't, so you don't really know what you are getting until you install them and fire them up.... I put a utility LED flood lamp low on rear bumper of my Jeep to augment backup lights in tail light assembly, now I have 4x the light in rear, not real bright but enough to see better.... And I didn't even have to change the fuse for backup light circuit...

Dale

I think you would be better off with 'spot' lights on the front of the Jeep. Do you off road at night?

 

[WranglerX]

I think you would be better off with 'spot' lights on the front of the Jeep. Do you off road at night?

No to much at night ... Had some really great "driving light" on a car in the 70's but can not seem to find any LEDS with same beam patterns... I had one long range driving lamp out between the two regular head light beams and a flog lamp for low close/wide illumination... Could actually see better than with standard head lamps.... Oh well....

Dale

 

[Looking4new]

Dale, which model Jeep?