WinterDeere
Elite Member
Having just gotten thru another fall season, where so often weather and schedule dictate pushing past sunset while either mowing or using the JRCO Blower Buggy on my zero turn, I went thru the usual frustration of zip-tying and duct-taping various Li-Ion LED work lights all over my rig to get the chores done. It's time for something better and permanent.
The rig I'm running when pushing past sunset is most often the Little Wonder Optimax blower (EX27) on the blower buggy, which looks a bit like this:
Mounting lights down near the front casters or even in the forward cowlings by my knees seems like a good recipe for blinding myself from the back-scatter off that big white blower housing, while creating long shadows out front from the blower blocking the lights. My mower has a ROPS, which I usually keep folded down, but the hinges are up at shoulder height. If I clamp lights onto the lower ROPS, they'd be near bicept height. Probably the best-case scenario on this mower.
But I HATE the way the HID's on my tractor ROPS blind me when looking to the side or behind me. I need to find some good LED lights with a shade that can be turned or moved, if I go this route. Otherwise, I need to build shades into the light mounts, which could be done, but maybe not easy to get perfect the first time (unless also adjustable).
Deere sells a light kit for this mower (2009'ish 757 ZTrak), but since it's out of production in must be sourced thru the parts counter at much higher cost (i.e. buying individual components rather than kit). The only thing useful there is to see the kit supported up to two 35W halogens (70W total), so apparently the generator on this little mower could support a decent array of LED's. I'm planning on two facing forward, with the left-hand side angled very far left to see what the blower is moving, and one wide-angle LED lamp facing rearward.
Ideas?
The rig I'm running when pushing past sunset is most often the Little Wonder Optimax blower (EX27) on the blower buggy, which looks a bit like this:
Mounting lights down near the front casters or even in the forward cowlings by my knees seems like a good recipe for blinding myself from the back-scatter off that big white blower housing, while creating long shadows out front from the blower blocking the lights. My mower has a ROPS, which I usually keep folded down, but the hinges are up at shoulder height. If I clamp lights onto the lower ROPS, they'd be near bicept height. Probably the best-case scenario on this mower.
But I HATE the way the HID's on my tractor ROPS blind me when looking to the side or behind me. I need to find some good LED lights with a shade that can be turned or moved, if I go this route. Otherwise, I need to build shades into the light mounts, which could be done, but maybe not easy to get perfect the first time (unless also adjustable).
Deere sells a light kit for this mower (2009'ish 757 ZTrak), but since it's out of production in must be sourced thru the parts counter at much higher cost (i.e. buying individual components rather than kit). The only thing useful there is to see the kit supported up to two 35W halogens (70W total), so apparently the generator on this little mower could support a decent array of LED's. I'm planning on two facing forward, with the left-hand side angled very far left to see what the blower is moving, and one wide-angle LED lamp facing rearward.
Ideas?
