Lights on ROPS

[aje3721]

For weeks I poured over all of the canopy manufacturers out there to find a place to mount lights for this winter. After getting thoroughly frustrated at the over priced pieces of gargbage fiberglass out there, I came up with a solution to the no weld, no drill ROPS. I have to thank those of you out there who posted your solutions to this issue due to how it assisted me! By the way, who actually pays $450 for a piece of recycled Corvette that only helps at high noon?
Hope the pic came through...
Thanks again!

 

[cityfarma]

I was wondering about the direction of the bolts. If you happened to roll, the shaft of the bolt may hurt.

Cityfarmer

 

[jbrumberg]

aje3721:

Welcome to TBN ! Nice job on the ROPS lights . As for canopies you should check out Jodale Perry. Jay

 

[mobilus]

aje3721, what's the hydraulic cylinder up against the left side of the ROPS for?

 

[rpoage]

aje3721, what's the hydraulic cylinder up against the left side of the ROPS for?

It's for the ON/OFF switch of course, This is the tractor forum.

 

[aje3721]

The exposed bolts will eventually be covered and a really good point. The left side bolts were left long to handle another plate which would cover the wire connections for the lights. I think the fact that I rolled would give me more problems than worrying about the bolts as my ex-Kioti dealer was kind enough to sell me a tractor without a seat belt. The cylinder is a log splitter but the on and off switch is a better idea yet. Thanks for the tip on the canopy!

 

[bjcsc]

It's for the ON/OFF switch of course, This is the tractor forum.

Now that is funny!!

 

[RonMar]

How big are those lights and how big is your alternator? That is one thing to watch out for as most of these small tractors don't have an overly agressive electrical system. Remember it was most likley partially designed by some corporate beancounter who said if we have 15A of lighting load and perhaps 10A of battery load, then we only need to provide a 25A alternator right?

A 100W bulb will pull about 8 Amps at 12 VDC, so a pair of them would be 16A. If you run them in addition to your installed lights and add to that the load of making up the charge in a cold battery in winter time, you may be overtaxing the alternator and possibly shortening it's engineered lifespan considerably.

Your installation looks great by the way.

My .02

 

[aje3721]

The lights are 55 watts each. I have the front and rear wired seperate and the factory lighting, that does nothing other than illuminate the rear of the bucket, disconnected. The relay for the front lights is powered by tapping into the high beam wire from the factory switch while the rear relay is powered by the back up switch and a seperate toggle to run the rears while stationary (splitting at night).

Thanks for the comments!

 

[RonMar]

Sounds like a great way to do it. I thought about replacing my headlights with ones up on the canopy for that reason, I usually get an excellent, well lit view of the back of the bucket at night