Lights

[GreenYellow]

Need to add some extra lights to my tractor for nighttime/evening work. The sky's the limit for light choices... What are your favorites? Not wanting to spend a ton.

Anyone mount them to the ROPS? Seems like the bug swarm may be bad if the lights are up there.

 

[lobsterman1]

Led lights are the way to go .

 

[Jim Timber]

LED doesn't have the IR signature that seems to attract the little critters. I've had a moth get at my 150 lumen flash light once, but as soon as I directed it away from the thing it quickly lost interest. I haven't noticed much of any real reaction from skeeters or gnats to the LEDs. I don't have any of my aux lighting installed on the tractor yet, so that might change when the power goes up exponentially.

I have some of these for seeing out around the tractor better: Amazon.com: 27W Round LED Work Light Lamp Off Road High Power ATV Jeep 4x4 Tractor 30 Degree Spot Light: Automotive

And a pair of these for "rock lights" by the steps or front tires (haven't decided exactly where yet): Amazon.com: KAWELL® 18W 6.2" DC 9-32V 6500K 1170LM 90 Degree LED for ATV/Jeep/boat/suv/truck/car/atvs light Off Road Waterproof Led Work Flood Light Bar Black Color: Automotive

 

[coobie]

I would look at the Cree LED,s lights.I have Two sets mounted on my Kioti tractor and Kubota RTV 900 happy with both..

 

[GreenYellow]

Thanks guys! These are almost exactly what I was already thinking. Glad to hear you like them.
I'm really liking the look of those Cree 7" lights. I'm thinking 2 forward and 1 backward off the ROPS.
Now to devise a way switch to turn the rear one on when I hit reverse. Challenge accepted...

 

[Jim Timber]

A limit switch mounted by your gear shifter would do it.

Since there's no brake lights on my tractor, I don't really see the problem of keeping the rear lights on when driving forward. I'd rather make someone think I'm coming at them in both directions when on or near the road, and in the bush it doesn't matter.

 

[davepg1]

I just installed a 2 light set last night I had ordered from Rops Lights. I was impressed with the brightness and the ease of install with this company. The fellow I e-mailed with was John and he went above and beyond to help me with making sure they sent the right connectors for my Mahindra. I installed the manual switch on the back of the ROP and tied into the left rear tail light.

 

[newbury]

If price is any major consideration I don't think you can go to far wrong with any of the current "Cree" chinese lights. I just bought two of the 18W 1260 lumen variety for $20 shipped to my door in two days via Amazon prime. That's only $10/light.

 

[GreenYellow]

I appreciate you guys' input! Looks like I'll go with 2 Cree 36w 7" lights facing forward and 2 18w for the back. Gonna think through the switch setup a little. I like the "cool factor" of having the rear lights come on only in reverse, but it complicates the switch setup. For times when I want the rear lights on solid, I'd hate the reverse switch. To do that, I'd have to do a 3 way switch with a momentary switch at the shifter (or a variation of). Probably too much of a pain to be practical... Hard to beat a plain ole toggle switch.

 

[Jim Timber]

I'm going to wire mine so they're powered with the tractor's light switch, and disabled via the toggles. That way I can run as many or few as I want and they go off when I switch to road mode should a car approach me and I'm driving down the street.

 

[varmint]

I've added 27W LED light to three Kubotas so far, and for the $15 each light has cost, eBay or Amazon, I can't complain. No failures, no problems, and best of all, low current draw, so leaving all four on at once isn't a big deal. No issues with blowing snow blocking the lights, either. Waterproof LED switches work well, for me. For an open station tractor, the ROPS seems like a good place for them. I like spots towards the front, floods for the back. Photos are my second tractor- now I have four lights on my third. Why not? Kubotas come with wiring for rear lights, which makes it easy.

 

[gwstang]

I just ordered a pair of these. I need them for evening bush hogging as it is way too hot on an open station tractor this summer. Been pushing 100F the last week and is supposed to be at 100F the coming week. Whew, too warm for me in the afternoon. A little more bearable at dark. I forgot to add that they are $11 something apiece on amazon and free shipping for the 27 watt lights. Cheaper than the ebay same lights.

 

[GreenYellow]

Those look great Varmint. Thanks for the detailed pics. I'll update soon when I pull the trigger.
Then I'll post another update when I'm mowing at 10:00pm at 75 degrees, vs mowing at 5:00 at 98 degrees!

 

[Jim Timber]

Yesterday I got my side lights in. These are 18W and work really well as I intended.

I also got my switches for the front and rear lights installed. Now I just need to put the lights on and be done with darkness.

 

[chim]

Decent lights are a must for me. Several years ago the combination of my schedule and the weather prevented any daytime yard work for the start of the mowing season. Snow removal has always been something that is often done after dark.

Even with LED's there were insect flying around my head with the lights mounted on the ROPS. I wear glasses and the glare/reflection of the lights from shining from behind was beyond annoying. That led to mounting the lights on the loader frame of the B7500 I had. When I replaced that tractor with the current L3200 in early 2012, I did quick and dirty ROPS mounts for the lights for the first Summer. Then when I built the cab at the end of 2012 the first lights were re-purposed plow truck lights for the front and a pair of LED's that faced the rear. The pattern of the plow lights wasn't satisfactory, so they were replaced with LED's. That provided plenty of light for snow removal with white background everywhere. When the snow went away it wasn't as bright around the tractor, so side lights were added.

 

[gwstang]

Nice! Are those the 27 watt led's?

 

[chim]

Nice! Are those the 27 watt led's?

I think the fronts are 27, rears 18 and one 9 on each side. They light things up pretty well. It's hard to get an picture that is representative of how they look in real life. The one taken from inside the cab is closer. The bright lights shining toward the camera seem to trick it into underexposing the shots.

 

[Chain rated]

There's lots of led lights for sale out there. Most of the good ones are cree. But cree doesn't make the complete light, only the led inside. Cree makes thousands of different leds. I've have several different led lights from several different brands. OffRoden Powersports are the only ones that perform better than expected. I've found that lumen ratings on led lights mean nothing. OffRoden Powersports doesn't have a website just word of mouth, Facebook, or craigslist. Great prices too.

 

[varmint]

I don't generally use my tractor at night, only for snow removal... so bugs aren't the problem they might be otherwise. I had mounted lights on posts on the loader frame on my first Kubota, and that worked pretty well, but higher seems better, since I am often working in a confined area- brush and trees on both sides of the lane I plow. I like the idea of 18W sidelights, too... maybe another project.

 

[yoder]

I did mine before led was popular . No problem with bugs and these 55 watt lamps were only $9.00 each and are very bright.