Led lite advice

[Walkin Horse]

Last nite at TSC I saw a led lite bar for $130. It was 3000 lumens at 980'. I think it said 30 watts but I could be wrong. Does this sound good or junk. It was on the Christmas specials shelf.

I don't use the tractor at nite much like some do to push snow. Maybe putting out round bales or getting back to the house. The push bar blocks my hi beams and cast shadows on low beams. I thought about cutting. And changing the push bar but can't seem to find a design I like.
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[s219]

I think I have seen better prices online, but hard to say without specs. Google led light bar and see what comes up. Also look into led spotlights and floodlights. If you want separate front/back lights, they are the way to go. Generally $40-50 each.

 

[Tractor Tom]

LED's are all over the map price wise. Look for Cree LED's if you can, they seem to be a bit brighter than no name LED's. 24 to 36 watt flood lights work well for tractor work. I have a set of no name 24 watt on the front,and a set of 18 watt Cree on the back. The 18 watt Cree are as bright as the 24 watt no name. Both are floor light type. I will be adding another set of 24 Watt on each end, just to really make things bright. With the short days I do a lot of night time Snow work.

 

[Walkin Horse]

Ok thanks. I'm not sure a light bar will work anyway. I want to put it inside the rops. The look too narrow to do that with.

 

[JerryK]

I put four 27 watt round LED lamps on my ROPS several years ago. I don't really use my tractor at night... but the bright LED's [ along with flashers and a rotating beacon ] make me feel safer when I work out by the road moving snow in the winter.... especially when the snow is blowing hard. Maybe help some idiot blasting down the road to see me. They also help when I am changing attachments in my barn, light up the area real good. There are lots of brighter ones on the market, but a 27 watt LED flood puts out about the same amount of light as a 50 watt halogen flood, and don't use much current. The best prices I usually find are on EBAY. They are mostly based on a 3 watt CREE LED, which the 27 watt have 9 of. The 48 watts have 12, etc. Four of the 27 watt use about the same current as one 50 watt halogen flood at 13.8 volts. I took the factory 50 watt halogen work lamp off the rear of my Mahindra and used that circuit to hot up the four LED's.. You can get four of the 27 watt lamps for way less than that $130 TSC light bar...


Example.... $57 including shipping ... 4pcs 27W Round Flood Beam Off Road ATV Truck UTV Boat Auto LED Work Light Lamp | eBay

 

[oosik]

I looked at McDermott marine flood lights. Designed specifically for outside use in extreme wx conditions. Fairly good sized and not cheep but I've seen them on commercial fishing boats and they will turn night into day.

 

[Monster5601]

I put four 27 watt round LED lamps

I did the same except on our RTV900 which is used for snow removal. I put two LED spots facing straight out and outboard of the spots I added an LED flood at a slight angle. The work lights in your eBay link look just like the ones I added a few years ago. Still working, water tight and vibration resistance. The stop/flood combination provides a great deal of light with nearly 140 degrees of coverage. I also added two floods to light up the back.

 

[Code54]

I looked at that same light bar yesterday - in my opinion it is overpriced by a good bit. As other have said CREE LED's are the way to go. There are some 10W LED's in bars/lights now that are extremely bright. A good quality 6" - 10" bar will provide an incredible amount of light and be $50 or less. I run one 6" front facing bar and have more than enough light to plow at night. The bigger bars are better on faster moving machines (RZR's, SxS, Jeeps, etc) because you don't over drive the light, with a tractor going 10mph it is not hard to stay in the sweet spot.
They also make lights that are often referred to as "D2 style" or cube lights that fit easily in far tighter spaces. I have a set on BX and they work extremely well. Everyone and their brother is selling light bars and some of the big names ones do produce slightly more light than the cheaper ones but you also may pay 5x more for their product (which often does have a better warranty but in all honestly I don't know a lot of guys having light bars burn out...)
Anyway - good luck with your search

 

[Cord]

Last nite at TSC I saw a led lite bar for $130. It was 3000 lumens at 980'. I think it said 30 watts but I could be wrong. Does this sound good or junk. It was on the Christmas specials shelf.

Junk. The wattage is way too low for the lumens output at that distance. I went with a pair of 60 watt LED up front and love them. 20 watt units are pointed to the sides. You are right to not just go by the lumens, but to also watch the wattage. Before long you can start spotting the cheapies. Also watch the beam spread. For our work you'll want a wide flood, at least 60 degree beam spread. Save the spots for your truck.