Snowplow blocks headlight beam

[Chuck4310]

When I'm driving in the dark, the headlight beam is blocked by the snowplow when it's raised.
Has anyone installed lights to compensate for this? Either higher or lower?
Like ditch lights?

Chuck

 

[jimainiac]

Lots of people put lights on the rollbar. I put on two, that swivel on their brackets. I have one facing forward to light beyond the loader bucket, and the other is facing backwards. That combination works great for me, for moving snow around at night.

 

[Chuck4310]

I should have mentioned that I need to keep the rops folded down to fit in the garage. It normally stays like that.
If it weren't for that, I would go with your suggestion Jim.

 

[Travelover]

............... It normally stays like that................

Would ya fold it up real quick if you were rolling over?

 

[aczlan]

you might be able to put a pair of pieces of angle iron on your loader arms (the vertical part) and mount lights to them, then they would stick up 1-2' above your plow in most cases, and wouldn't blind you when you look back like the ROPS mounted ones tend to do.
Attached is a crude (5 minutes in paint) version of what I am talking about. The blue bars are 1" or so angle iron, and the black things are lights. Alternatively you could mount the lights where I put the second pair (with a #2) on the rops, however you would block them frequently when working (or at least ( would).



Aaron Z

 

[Jeepnford]

I've thought about mounting lights on the plow itself,similar to the way they are mounted when on a truck. That's been put on the back burner since we've had such a small amount of snow this year,plowed once.

 

[Thumper & Buttercup]

I'm in the same boat, but I am going to mount a set on the ROPS Bar facing forward, I'll be posting up some photos, the way I'm mounting them I can drop the ROPS back down if needed. In my case the only time I would drop the ROPS bar if I'm in the woods and need clearance. I thought of putting a set on the loader also but gave up on that for us.

 

[LBrown59]

I should have mentioned that I need to keep the rops folded down to fit in the garage. *It normally stays like that.
If it weren't for that, I would go with your suggestion Jim.

This is no good.

Would ya fold it up real quick if you were rolling over?

He might die trying.

 

[Thomas]

Maybe temp setup on rear fenders?

 

[Chuck4310]

Thanks for your suggestions. I've got a few spare electrical connections on the rear wiring harness. I'm going to post pics on the jd forum to see if anyone can id them before I trace them out.
As I recall old Fords, or was it IH, had lights mounted on the sides up front down low.
Aaron- You have my wheels turning about attaching something removeable to the top of the loader mount "tower".

Apologies for getting off topic but thanks for the comments about the rops being folded down. While I may be going against the grain here, I actually have it up when logging, towing, operating on uneven ground and whenever else I feel it's necessary.

Chuck

 

[53gravely]

I get the same thing with the stock headlights reflecting off the back of the bucket. You'd think they'd paint the back of the bucket flat black so it ain't so annoying.

Here's my lights rigged to the Roll Bar hinge so they work whether it's folded or up...It doesn't fit in the garage in the up position....witness the chunk missing from the top jamb (people on gin and tonics shouldn't be driving tractors)

My little Kubota has a spade connector pre-wired for a rear work light. I run a rear light and just made up a "Y" connection to a switch in the kick panel below the seat. I had a marine grade push/pull swithch lying around from when I rebuilt my Boston whaler into a flats boat.

With the wire running up thru the rollbar it's protected. I wonder if your Deere has the same pre-wire to the rear. If it does it's under a 1 hour install. Just bolt the lights into the hinge (grind of the bolt so it's short enough to close the RPS). There is a stock hole in the hinge on Kubotas. The only hole I drilled was thru the plastic kick panel for the switch.

Pay attention to your available amps if you're running any other electrical add-ons.

 

[53gravely]

.... I've got a few spare electrical connections on the rear wiring harness.
Chuck

It's one of those!!! Should have read your post better. Get a $5 tester and just go with any free connection that is switched on/off with the ignition.

Install a rear work light for back up and changing implement. On mine there was a factory 3/8 hole in the fender to accept a generic $12 work light. Too easy!! Wire the rear light so it's always on. rig up a "Y" connector off the factory wire--one peice to the rear work light and the other wire off the "Y" goes to the switch (you supply) off of which you power both ROPS lights.

You will want the ROPS lights on a seperate switch. Trust me here. On a June night you will get a mouthfull of bugs...and you'll want to turn them off.

 

[Chuck4310]

53- Thanks for the suggestion. The guys on the jd forum gave me the heads up on which electrical connections to use.

By the way, I had an 8122 Gravely. Fine machine it was.

Chuck

 

[Window Geek]

53,
That whole setup is great. I've got a 7610 and a new project for this weekend. BTW, cute kids. Watch 'em. They grow up fast.

 

[LBrown59]

They were talking about their tractors...!!!!!!

U was awake on that one wasn't U !

 

[Thumper & Buttercup]

Boy rough crowd around here.

You getting cabin fever over there.

 

[Redneck in training]

It's one of those!!! Should have read your post better. Get a $5 tester and just go with any free connection that is switched on/off with the ignition.

Install a rear work light for back up and changing implement. On mine there was a factory 3/8 hole in the fender to accept a generic $12 work light. Too easy!! Wire the rear light so it's always on. rig up a "Y" connector off the factory wire--one peice to the rear work light and the other wire off the "Y" goes to the switch (you supply) off of which you power both ROPS lights.

You will want the ROPS lights on a seperate switch. Trust me here. On a June night you will get a mouthfull of bugs...and you'll want to turn them off.

My TYM has factory installed rear facing light that has switch in its housing. You might get one of those and it will save you additional switch and some wiring.

 

[mwb]

I should have mentioned that I need to keep the rops folded down to fit in the garage. It normally stays like that.
If it weren't for that, I would go with your suggestion Jim.

Why not modify the ROPS. Before I get shot down consider this:
You probably want to fit under a standard 7' (84") door way and your ROPS is currently around 92". If you had a non folding ROPS the spec height is 84" (according to JD site). Why not remove the top section of your ROPS and make a new section with a lower height? You are modifying a safety device but you can easily restore it to original.
If you did this you could also include welded structure for supporting a canopy.

 

[Chuck4310]

Redneck: I've got a 3x5 Peterson Mfg. light on order at our local ag store. 1 hot and 1 ground wire. The circuit it will be connected to is controlled by the headlight switch.

mwb: I know this is a whole other subject but I have a friend who has a jd4400. It wouldn't fit in his barn stall with the rops up due to a low hanging beam. He cut a section out and re-welded to make it shorter.
He parks it next to an old Farmall with no rops.

Chuck

 

[mwb]

mwb: I know this is a whole other subject but I have a friend who has a jd4400. It wouldn't fit in his barn stall with the rops up due to a low hanging beam. He cut a section out and re-welded to make it shorter.
He parks it next to an old Farmall with no rops.

Chuck

I did the same to mine; as-is the ROPS was way to tall and interferred with doorways, tree branches... I had a choice - cut it down to a reasonable height or leave if folded all / most of the time. I removed four inches and that made all the difference - now I can leave it up all the time.