Lights added.

[cowboydoc]

Last night I picked up 3 of the 3x5 55 watt flood lights for my tractor. I took the blinker box off of the ROPS and spliced two wires into the hot with the lights on and the ground. I then ran this up and through the hole that is already in the rops at the top. From here I attached my lights using the shrink connectors to maintain a waterproof seal. I put a grommet in the hole where the wires came out to prevent that from rubbing. I mounted the bracket for each light using a self tapping screw for each one. I don't think three small holes is going to hurt anything. I then taped it all with industrial electricians blacktape and put the wires in the black tubing with the ribs. I mounted the lights to the underside of the top of the rops. I faced two backwards and one forward.

I had wondered if this would be too much of a load for the switch and lights but I left it on for over an hour moving bales and cleaning up some trenches and the wires didn't get hot at all.

I'll try and get some pics and post them but my camera is not working right.

Total time for the project from start to finish was about an hour.

 

[hazmat]

<font color=blue>I had wondered if this would be too much of a load for the switch and lights but I left it on for over an hour moving bales and cleaning up some trenches and the wires didn't get hot at all.</font color=blue>

Plenty of sources on the web for what gauge wire for given amp draw & run length. Don't have any handy right now to post.

The "feel if its hot" test is more accurate than you'd think/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[jinman]

<font color=blue>I mounted the lights to the underside of the top of the rops. I faced two backwards and one forward</font color=blue>

Exactly the way I want to do it on my tractor, but I haven't had a lot of night-time operation yet. Anything I put outside my ROPS gets knocked off on a tree limb. Even my factory lights have been knocked off their pegs so many times they have busted frames and lenses./w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

I'm going to go against the grain (like that would be a surprise to people who know me /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif ) and mount my auxilliary lights either on the top of my ROPS or high on the outside of the upright portion near the top. Simply put, there's not enough room for me and lights underneath the folding ROPS on my Deere 4200. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

To be fair, that's not the fault of poor design or anything like that. I just sit a little taller in the saddle than most folks. I can appreciate your concern over damaging lights mounted there but I'm less concerned now than I was this morning.

This afternoon I spoke with a representative of J.W. Speaker Corp. about their lights. One thing he told me was that, instead of using wire screens/guards in front of the lenses for protection as I remembered seeing years ago on off road equipment, they now simply use polycarbonite lenses on their lights. I would imagine Grote and Allied do the same thing.

As to further protecting them, I thought of simply making some 1/4" steel boxes (like an oversized stake pocket) to extend out slightly beyond the face and back of each light to keep that one branch I'd undoubtedly find that just clears the ROPS from clearing all of my lights off the top. /w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif

For what it's worth, this guy (who sells thousands of lights to everyone from Kenworth to John Deere & New Holland, etc.) recommended the rubber housed round lights over their 4" x 6" halogen lights for durability. I still like the looks of the 4" x 6" halogens with the switch right in the housing so I can control each individual light separately.

Once again, I might be going against the grain. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[jinman]

<font color=blue>I'm going to go against the grain</font color=blue>

You have to mount things based on your particular situation, so if you don't have a low doorway or a lot of tree limbs to deal with, your method is just fine. I sit pretty "tall in the saddle" also, but my ROPS is much higher and wider than my head, so the placement of lights is really not an issue for interfering with my head and shoulders. How tall and wide is your 4200 ROPS?

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Doc, here's a response I had made to another lighting post - I think it applies here too. Sounds like you might not be overloading the circuit, but I think you are getting close to it. i will readily admit that I am very conservative when it comes to wiring - I have seen to many fried wiring harnesses.

You should use a relay for safety's sake rather than run the amperage for the lights thru the toggle switch. This way the switch just has to provide a very low amperage to activate the relay. The larger 10 or 12 gauge supply wiring will go to the relay and to the lights, with a only smaller gauge (14-16) needed for the switch. Install a fuse (or circuit breaker) between the 12v supply and the relay. In many cases, not only will the relay protect the switch, but will also allow full 12v voltage with minimal voltage drop to reach the accessory/light. Some switches are no bargain, as they add a lot of resistance to the circuit.

I use
www.delcity.net
www.waytek.com
www.the12volt.com
for supplies and info

 

[cowboydoc]

Nick,
Wouldn't the fuse burn out in the panel before it fryed any of the wiring harness? I didn't put another switch in because it seems they always go bad and I just wanted this simple. Turn on one switch and the lights go on. I could easily add some fuses in the hot wires though.

 

[gobbler]

Gary,

Where did you find the lights with a switch in the housing?

Jim

 

[hazmat]

<font color=blue>I took the blinker box off of the ROPS and spliced two wires into the hot with the lights on and the ground.</font color=blue>

I'm not familiar with the JD unit, but I suspect that the headlight switch is already on a relay. And I'd be willing to bet it has a fuse or circuit breaker. Did your owners manual come with a wiring schematic?

<font color=blue>Wouldn't the fuse burn out in the panel before it fryed any of the wiring harness?</font color=blue>

This depends on the size of the fuse & gauge of the wire. Take it to the extreme: you have a 2,000amp fuse & a 20 guage wire, the wire will easily become a "light bulb" and burn at that current.

Primarily select the fuse to protect the wire, not the appliance (light bulb, motor, etc). A well designed circuit is matched three ways, Example:

Light draws 7amps
Wire should handle 7+amps (for discussion sake lets say you use 14 guage good up to 15amps (not sure if this is the right number but its close))
Fuse or circuit breaker should be sized between 7 and 15amps.

For expensive sensitive equipment if you want to try to protect the appliance from an over current event, go with a lower amp fuse, if it's a lightbulb, no harm in having the 15amp.

Bottom line, the fuse size should be no greater than the max amp rating on the wire! You can't have wire that is too big, but you can have a fuse that is too big.

Hope this helped.

 

[cowboydoc]

Good expl. hazmat. If I used the same size wire then that the blinkers and safety lights were on, which I did, then I should be ok. I know on both of my other tractors they have six or seven lights going off of just the one switch and the same size wire and fuses. That's why I thought it should be ok with this.