Max 26XL ROPS lights

[tmcj]

I did a lot of research on this site before attempting to install LED work lights on the ROPS and found various tips throughout different threads, so I decided to try to help the next guy and put it all together for how I went about doing mine. By the way, YES, my tractor needs cleaned, LOL, but it is a tractor after all.

1. Raise hood and remove both side covers from the engine bay
2. Remove 2 grommets and remove 4 bolts to remove the firewall cover (10mm socket)





3. Lower the hood and remove the 2 instrument panel bolts (10mm socket) Also remove the gas tank cap.


4. Lift steering column boot and remove 2 Phillips head screws from instrument panel (#2 screwdriver)


5. Standing on floorboards, lift each side of instrument panel over the steering boot and column

6. Remove 2 screws from the underside of the instrument panel to remove the auxillary switch panel (#1 screwdriver)


7. Drill holes for new switches in the auxillary switch panel (mine were drilled 3/4")



8. Depending on your lighting system harness you now have to route the wires to the battery, and to the lights. I didn't take pic's because I'm sure this will be different for every harness. I used the existing grommet in the firewall for factory wiring to run to the battery. I ran the wires for the switches straight down behind the steering column cover, under the rubber mat on the floor board, and then under the fender and below the seat mount, and then split to each side of the ROPS for the lights.

9. Reinstall the auxillary panel into the instrument panel, install the switches and connect the wiring. Connect the wiring to your lights and battery. Reinstall the instrument cluster, steering boot cover, firewall cover, side covers and hood.

10. Light mounting on the ROPS is another story. I work with fiberglass reinforced plastics so I used 2 pieces of 2" x 2" x 1/4" angles, notched them to fit over the ROPS, and drilled the light mounting holes. Rather than use U-bolts, I used the flat plate that comes with a u-bolt and two 5/16" bolts to mount the angles. Here's a pic of my light mounts and switches.






The lights are Rigid Industries Dually LED lights with the diffused lense. I also used wire loom to cover all of the exposed light wires from the floor board back and zip tied them to the ROPS, except for the upper sections so they are flexible when lowering it. I'll have to get some before and after pic's of the lighting difference and post up later.

Hopefully this will help the next guy adding lights to the Max 26XL or similar machine. Any ideas or suggestions are more than welcome to add on to the process.

 

[nosurprise]

Very nice.

 

[RNeumann]

I've always wondered how the lights on the ROPS works from a lighting standpoint. I also wonder how it does with shadows and glare off the hood etc in front of the lights. I'm assuming it's the way to go as mounting them on the brush guard means the FEL blocks a lot of light and mounting them to the FEL seems like a good place to put them if you want to break them!
I've considered putting the lights on magnetic bases (like tow trucks use when they add tail lights to a car they are towing) so they could be moved depending on the task. But like most things I'm probably over thinking it.....

Let us know how it works with shadows and glare as you move forward.

Your install and photos show nice work- looks very clean! Thank you for sharing. I think I will be coping much of this soon

 

[oldpilgrim]

I found my rops mounted lights, looked good, cast a lot of light but reflected in my glasses so badly, I removed them. I mounted them on the front of my canopy, ahead of me.

 

[Fosters69]

Nice, I wished you posted it a couple months ago. Wiring isn't my strong point so I had the dealer install exactly the same sort of set up. I had it done for winter snow blowing, but they are super nice even now. With the fel up, the headlights are marginal at best.

Thanks for posting the info though and enjoy.
Dan

 

[tmcj]

I had originally wanted an LED light bar on the center of the ROPS but in messing around with an LED worklight just held in place there it pretty much shown right in the back of my head and cast a shadow of me over the tractor and several feet in front of it, so I went with the Dually's mounted on each side of the bar instead. I did notice that when you look to the side or turning to look backwards they are glaring bright in your face. But I typically wear a hat so a minor head tilt blocks the majority of it so you don't get blinded. I had considered installing the rear ones next to the factory tail lights but much of the light gets reflected and blocked by the backhoe or blade. It seems the higher the better so the ROPS was the best option I came up with for front and rear facing lights.

By the way, when I said I routed the wires below the seat mount I guess it's more like under the fender body directly below the seat. They are pretty well protected there and are not in the way at all for turning the seat for the backhoe.



Rigid Industries lights are a very simple plug and play system. It comes with the illuminated switches, battery terminal connections, inline fuse, and the plug in connectors at the lights. In my opinion Rigid LED's are top notch and quick and easy to install. They are expensive but I think they are worth every penny. I just spent a few extra dollars for the wire loom to protect the wires and have a cleaner appearance anywhere they are exposed.

 

[mike69440]

I had originally wanted an LED light bar on the center of the ROPS but in messing around with an LED worklight just held in place there it pretty much shown right in the back of my head and cast a shadow of me over the tractor and several feet in front of it, so I went with the Dually's mounted on each side of the bar instead. I did notice that when you look to the side or turning to look backwards they are glaring bright in your face. But I typically wear a hat so a minor head tilt blocks the majority of it so you don't get blinded. I had considered installing the rear ones next to the factory tail lights but much of the light gets reflected and blocked by the backhoe or blade. It seems the higher the better so the ROPS was the best option I came up with for front and rear facing lights.

By the way, when I said I routed the wires below the seat mount I guess it's more like under the fender body directly below the seat. They are pretty well protected there and are not in the way at all for turning the seat for the backhoe.

View attachment 490091

Rigid Industries lights are a very simple plug and play system. It comes with the illuminated switches, battery terminal connections, inline fuse, and the plug in connectors at the lights. In my opinion Rigid LED's are top notch and quick and easy to install. They are expensive but I think they are worth every penny. I just spent a few extra dollars for the wire loom to protect the wires and have a cleaner appearance anywhere they are exposed.

I did not pull my instrument cluster to get a a power source. My Max 28 had an extra 2 amp and 3 amp circuit in the taillight harness. I used those with a fender mounted marine waterproof switch. The downside is the limited amps prevents hanging huge LED's, but my little 18 watt Lights do fairly well. No fuse popped so far.

 

[dragoneggs]

tmcj, looks great! reading you did a lot of research and you executed well. For others, here is another unique way of doing it (the Click Bond way).

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/299015-led-light-install-but-look.html