Kubota B3200HSD Custom WorkLight Install

[Birdman1970]

I did a lot of searching for lights that I felt would give me sufficient lighting, yet put a reasonable load on my B3200HSD electrical system.

Thanks to some folks on this forum, I got good pointers to some LED lighting that looked perfect for my application. Thanks to "SpringHollow", I purchased the 18W (~1.5A) LED lights from the following site:
autolumination.com

The lights can be found about 1/2 way down this page. Here are the specs:
LED Power: 18W
. Operating Voltage: 10-30V DC
. Luminous: 1380Lum
. Waterproof rate: IP 67
. Current draw 1.4A @ 12V,0.70A@24V
. Optional Color: Black
. Color Temperature: 6500K
. Material: Diecast aluminum housing
. Pmma lens
. Beam: Wide flood beam pattern
. Size: 128mm*116mm*43mm LED Power: 15W
. Operating Voltage: 10-30V DC
. Luminous: 1380Lum. Waterproof rate: IP 67
. Current draw 1.2A @ 12V,0.60A@24V
. Optional Color: Black
. Color Temperature: 6500K
. Material: Diecast aluminum housing
. Pmma lens
. Beam: Wide flood beam pattern
. Size: 128mm*116mm*43mm
. 18 Watt


For the switches, I chose to use marine switches that are waterproof and have a light on them that indicate when the lights are ON.

For mounting the switches, I chose to use the blank plate that is on the plastic housing on top of my right tractor fender where the 3-pt hitch controls are.

Since these are only 1.5A each, I was able to tap into the already wired and fused bullet connectors that come with the tractor....these connectors were on the right hand, rear side of the seat and were strapped to the std wiring harness with electrical tape....I show a picture below where that is located.

I am EXTREMELY happy with these lights and I am very very picky.

Here are the results:

 

[red4now]

Looks good. Noticed that you will be using them in time for snow removal.

Just finished adding three LED work lights (two pointing forwards and 1 backwards) in time for this purpose as well on the B3030. As your pictures show, what a big difference from factory (front head lights) to the new configuration. Makes the original fronts seem like side markers.

Speaking of side markers I got a little carried away and also replaced all bulbs with LED bulbs, except for the front head lights - have ones for that as well but the hole for the mounting bezel is too small to allow this bigger bulb to go through. Maybe next time.

Another add I may do is to put on one of those blue LED mini strobe lights. Had someone drive behind me coming off the road onto our property lane way and caused over $1000 worth of damage to the rear less than a year old snow blower - what a pain. The guy thought our driveway was a side road and he was looking for a place to park and finish his coffee. Maybe the mini strobe will help - plus it will look cool.

P.S. No ROPS were injured / reconfigured / damaged as a result of the LED work light install.

 

[Birdman1970]

Looks good. Noticed that you will be using them in time for snow removal.

Just finished adding three LED work lights (two pointing forwards and 1 backwards) in time for this purpose as well on the B3030. As your pictures show, what a big difference from factory (front head lights) to the new configuration. Makes the original fronts seem like side markers.

Speaking of side markers I got a little carried away and also replaced all bulbs with LED bulbs, except for the front head lights - have ones for that as well but the hole for the mounting bezel is too small to allow this bigger bulb to go through. Maybe next time.

Another add I may do is to put on one of those blue LED mini strobe lights. Had someone drive behind me coming off the road onto our property lane way and caused over $1000 worth of damage to the rear less than a year old snow blower - what a pain. The guy thought our driveway was a side road and he was looking for a place to park and finish his coffee. Maybe the mini strobe will help - plus it will look cool.

P.S. No ROPS were injured / reconfigured / damaged as a result of the LED work light install.

Yup...needed to get these puppies on before the snow flies....I could tell it would be quite challenging to see, especially at night, without these lights.

That really stinks about your accident.......surely the strobe light could help (definitely would be cool looking ) but not sure if it would prevent all people from actually seeing a BRIGHT ORANGE tractor :laughing:

I agree....No ROPS damaged in this install, I used my own custom angle brackets that I painted to match the ROPS and used the existing mounting bolts for the canopy to mount the brackets.

 

[red4now]

Yup...needed to get these puppies on before the snow flies....I could tell it would be quite challenging to see, especially at night, without these lights.

That really stinks about your accident.......surely the strobe light could help (definitely would be cool looking ) but not sure if it would prevent all people from actually seeing a BRIGHT ORANGE tractor :laughing:

I agree....No ROPS damaged in this install, I used my own custom angle brackets that I painted to match the ROPS and used the existing mounting bolts for the canopy to mount the brackets.

No kidding re: bright orange tractor against a bright white back ground !

You just reminded me to pickup some paint this winter some time and paint those brackets as well come spring - right after I pick up one of those strobe lights of course.

 

[Tollster]

Very nice work and attention to detail. I am the fussy type too and really like your switch mount. Where did ya find the marine grade unit?

 

[MF 1532]

Very nice work and attention to detail. I am the fussy type too and really like your switch mount.

I second this quote :thumbsup:

 

[Birdman1970]

Thanks for the compliments, guys!

I thought about using the turn signal switches for the front/rear worklights since I really don't use them, but a couple of items kept me from going that route:
1) Tractor still under warranty....didn't want anything to potentially be an excuse by the dealer not to fix under warranty, so ran my own circuitry
2) The dashboard is a challenge to try to remove....I tried it (even removed the steering wheel). but the engine speed control knob created a hangup and I wasn't gonna mess with it any more
3) The blank plate created a good opportunity if I screwed up the cutting of the holes....I could simply order a new blank plate and start over. A relatively cheap security blanket.

I also didn't show a picture of how I mounted the lighting. I mentioned before that I took a 90' bracket, rounded one end with a sabre saw (using sheet metal blade) and dremel tool, and attached it to one of the existing bolts that are used to hold the canopy on to the support bracket. I used the Rustoleum Charcoal Gray Gloss Enamel spray paint (found at my local Home Depot) to match the ROPS color.....I'm happy with the match - the flash of the camera makes the ROPS look darker, but in person it is pretty close in color! Here's a pic:

Another item, that was a secondary surprise, was that because of where I mounted the lights (a tad back from the edge of the canopy) I can actually see my entire instrument panel with the factory tractor lights off.....the pic in my original post, where I'm sitting in the seat, shows how well the dash is lit up......this was a much appreciated side effect of where I mounted them.



To answer the question of where I got my marine switches, I went to a store called West Marine (we have one local). Were I to do it again, however, I would have looked online for a better pricing.....these things were quite expensive (~$20 a piece) at the local shop and I know you can get weatherproof switches much cheaper than that online. I was in a pinch for time and needed them during a certain window I had for installation time over the weekend, so I bit the bullet and bought the only ones I could find in town.

 

[beppington]

This great! Thanks for posting all the details :thumbsup:

 

[Deere Greg]

Very nice, and thanks for posting.
I will check out the lamps you selected - I like the wide pattern of illummination. I am somewhat underwhelmed my a pair of "floodlights" I purchased for the same application. Though billed as flood type, what I got are more like driving lights, and don't have enough beam width.

I like The pattern from those LED lights you used - seems to be very appropriate for the application. Perhaps I will use the two narrow beam lights I have for front-facing, and look into the LED Floods for rear facing lamps.

I recall reading that in Ontario, blue flashing lights are now reserved for officical highway clearing equipment, but that is only on public roadways. So all those snowplow contractors are supposed to turn off their flashing blue lights when leaving private property or, at least in theory,when backing onto a highway to take a run at a driveway. You may opt for yellow strobe lights if you decide to go that way - they may be more universal in use should you ever travel down the road to a neighbours in summer or winter. Just FYI, FWIW.

Greg

 

[kcender]

Nice looking setup.I got three LED lights under the tree for Christmas but haven't installed them yet.They are replacements for the halogen auxilary lights on my 3240.I am hoping they will be an improvement.