ACHINBAC
Silver Member
Wanted a lever indicator for the bucket, but not a bolt on rod type. After a bit of head scratching, a couple coors lights, and digging through some old parts boxes, this is what I've come up with:
The sensor in the arm is a magnetic reed switch. The magnet is bolted to a carved up stainless washer. Both will be painted orange when I get a chance. The set up is very accurate and adjustable via the magnet/washer clamp, and is not affected by snow or dirt. The magnet is neodymium and scary powerful. The switch operates a high power red LED mounted on the plastic shroud at the base of the FEL stick (TBD- mocked up in the picture) and can be seen out of the corner of your eye even when not looking directly at it. Switch wire was routed inside the FEL arm, out, and then bundled with the hydraulic hoses. LED goes red the second the bucket is level - you can set level with the arms on the way down, or without hanging off the side of the tractor or in the dark during a complete white out in a blizzard with your eyes almost frozen shut.
The sensor in the arm is a magnetic reed switch. The magnet is bolted to a carved up stainless washer. Both will be painted orange when I get a chance. The set up is very accurate and adjustable via the magnet/washer clamp, and is not affected by snow or dirt. The magnet is neodymium and scary powerful. The switch operates a high power red LED mounted on the plastic shroud at the base of the FEL stick (TBD- mocked up in the picture) and can be seen out of the corner of your eye even when not looking directly at it. Switch wire was routed inside the FEL arm, out, and then bundled with the hydraulic hoses. LED goes red the second the bucket is level - you can set level with the arms on the way down, or without hanging off the side of the tractor or in the dark during a complete white out in a blizzard with your eyes almost frozen shut.