Adding LED's for night work

[VaBeekeeper]

Here are the lights I used

Sucool 2pcs One Pack 4 Inch Square 48w Led Work Light Off Road Flood Lights Truck Lights 4x4 Off Road Tractor Jeep Work Lights Fog Lamp for Jeep Cabin/boat/suv/truck/car/atv/vehicles/automative/jeep/marine - - Amazon.com

Ditto for me. Those LEDs worked great. Mounted them on the ROPS of my Kubota L3901. Put two facing forward (see photo); put another facing backward when I discovered that I couldn't see anything at night when backing up. The lights are of very solid construction and provide ample light.
So ample, in fact, that my neighbor called the cops on me one night when I was mowing my field, claiming I was "harassing him by shining lights on his property." Which reflects more on him than me... that guy is a piece of work, who has taken up the hobby of making war on all his neighbors. The cops know him well, he calls them so often, but they can't do anything, as they have to respond to each call. On this occasion, they informed the guy that they didn't believe I was intentionally harassing him (I wasn't), that I was well within my rights to mow my fields after dark, and that I had offered to stop mowing any time the light bothered him, if only he would give me a courtesy call rather than automatically complain to the police. Apparently he didn't like that response; I never received a call from him, but soon started finding various objects that had been tossed into my field: bottles, spray cans, bug bombs, bundles of wire, chopped-up pieces of furniture, a nearly full jug of RoundUp, an 8' fluorescent lamp, all hidden in tall grass near our shared property line. I could have responded forcefully to his escalation, but believe me, dealing with this guy is not worth the hassle. So now I am reduced to mowing much of my field under the hot sun, and what I have to do at night I do with an elaborate mowing pattern designed to prevent my beautiful, bright lights to shine upon his accursed domicile. I know one thing: come a hurricane or a snowstorm, I'll use my tractor to help every neighbor on my road, with one significant exception...

 

[BMan2005]

Do you have any existing lights on the roof of your cab? If yes, use that circuit. If no, there may be a spare power plug under the seat for a work light. I used 2 48W LEDs from Amazon that cost less than $25 for the pair!

View attachment 521846

Went ahead and placed my order. Bought two of the lights you have, one for the rear of the tractor, the other can go on my Ranger, not sure how I went this long without a rear facing light for it, and a 22" curved light bar for the front.

Btw, I just noticed your tractor history. Seems like you've sampled a few. Lol

 

[BMan2005]

Ditto for me. Those LEDs worked great. Mounted them on the ROPS of my Kubota L3901. Put two facing forward (see photo); put another facing backward when I discovered that I couldn't see anything at night when backing up. The lights are of very solid construction and provide ample light.
So ample, in fact, that my neighbor called the cops on me one night when I was mowing my field, claiming I was "harassing him by shining lights on his property." Which reflects more on him than me... that guy is a piece of work, who has taken up the hobby of making war on all his neighbors. The cops know him well, he calls them so often, but they can't do anything, as they have to respond to each call. On this occasion, they informed the guy that they didn't believe I was intentionally harassing him (I wasn't), that I was well within my rights to mow my fields after dark, and that I had offered to stop mowing any time the light bothered him, if only he would give me a courtesy call rather than automatically complain to the police. Apparently he didn't like that response; I never received a call from him, but soon started finding various objects that had been tossed into my field: bottles, spray cans, bug bombs, bundles of wire, chopped-up pieces of furniture, a nearly full jug of RoundUp, an 8' fluorescent lamp, all hidden in tall grass near our shared property line. I could have responded forcefully to his escalation, but believe me, dealing with this guy is not worth the hassle. So now I am reduced to mowing much of my field under the hot sun, and what I have to do at night I do with an elaborate mowing pattern designed to prevent my beautiful, bright lights to shine upon his accursed domicile. I know one thing: come a hurricane or a snowstorm, I'll use my tractor to help every neighbor on my road, with one significant exception...
View attachment 521954

Gotta love those type of neighbors. I have one where we live now that lives across from us I could care less about.

You could have always just moved that round up back to the property line and let that rotary mower rip. Haha

 

[sandman2234]

I started reading this post because I sometimes mow at night on property that I am very familiar with. The lights on my JD do not allow me to do that, but the Kubota does. However, the FEL kind of gets right in the middle of the light stream, so I either have it raised too high or too low. I was thinking a light bar across the bottom of the sun shade might be a good idea. I read where the light connection is at, so all is well.
VaBeeKeeper,
I have spent the last week on my tractor helping others in my neighborhood, at no charge to anyone. (We had a hurricane here) My mowing tractor with it's 72 inch belly mower won't start, and one of the neighbors was approached about mowing another neighbors yard (Electrician's yard). I told him if he was going to mow other people's yards, I would pay him to mow my front yard. Price was agreed upon, but then he called his mother in law (who owns the mower) and she said "no". She did not want to wear out her mower on other peoples yards. So... her trees and broken power pole are still laying all over her yard and everyone else in neighborhood has piles on the street where I helped clean up using my tractor.
I figure if she doesn't want to wear out her $3,000 riding mower, I don't want to wear out my $30,000 tractor. I am thinking she is getting the picture because as I finished the last neighbor today, (right across the street from her) the son in law asked me if I was going to start on theirs. I told him that I had to go service my $30,000 tractor. Shortly after, I saw them out there with the riding mower trying to pull a tree limb. They didn't make it across the yard with it. That was the tree limb that landed on the power line and snapped her power pole. (which the electrician could have replaced).
I think her's is known as penny wise and dollar foolish.
David from jax

 

[sandman2234]

David from jax

 

[BMan2005]

Just got my tractor back today so I could look it over. I found a quick connect plug in the back that had a tag on it that said rear working light, guessing that'll be it. I'll call the dealer tomorrow to check before adding the lights.

 

[airbiscuit]

Just got my tractor back today so I could look it over. I found a quick connect plug in the back that had a tag on it that said rear working light, guessing that'll be it. I'll call the dealer tomorrow to check before adding the lights.

You can buy one of those 2 prong pigtails at an auto parts store (kind of like 1/2 of a 4 prong flat trailer plug). Hook that up to a 12 V bulb and you will be able to tell if it is constant power, or switched to your key or light switch. After that, it's easy. Wire an inline fuse to the positive wire on your pigtail, then to a toggle switch, then to your lights.

 

[Wagtail]

If there's a pre-existing 'quick connect' at the back of the tractor (as there is in this case) it is most likely already hard-wired to the tractor's 4-position light switch. An inline fuse + toggle switch won't be required.

[Off/Hazards/Hazards-Lights/Hazards-Lights-Work Lights]

 

[airbiscuit]

If there's a pre-existing 'quick connect' at the back of the tractor (as there is in this case) it is most likely already hard-wired to the tractor's 4-position light switch. An inline fuse + toggle switch won't be required.

[Off/Hazards/Hazards-Lights/Hazards-Lights-Work Lights]

You are right of course, I just like to do the belt and suspenders approach. I have my wires tucked in a wire loom and zip tied to the ROPS, but they are still kind of vulnerable to being snagged. I have the toggle switch so I can turn the ROPS lights off if I'm on the road and meet a car. Maybe one of the positions on my light switch would also do this, but instead of fiddling with that, I just hit my illuminated toggle. I also have a separate toggle for the rear facing work light. Different strokes.

 

[Cataclysm]

Here are the lights I used

Sucool 2pcs One Pack 4 Inch Square 48w Led Work Light Off Road Flood Lights Truck Lights 4x4 Off Road Tractor Jeep Work Lights Fog Lamp for Jeep Cabin/boat/suv/truck/car/atv/vehicles/automative/jeep/marine - - Amazon.com

Atwoods sells the same lights under the "Blazer" name. I bought the 8 LED 24w round ones. I thought they matched the rounded LS Tractor lines better. They were $29.99 apiece though.

I took off the two rear lights/wiring and used two round connectors and plugged into the stock harness under the cab roof. The supplied stainless hardware bolted right to the LS mounts. Super easy. The original lights were listed at 37.5w so I saved a little bit of electrical load.

So then I mounted an 11" LED light bar that I had laying around under the front overhang of the cab. I used the factory LS 10A top flashing beacon circuit. The factory connector is under the cab roof near the back. Two spade connectors install right into the factory plug and a few feet of wire to the front of the cab to power the light bar.

Plenty of light now to work at night! I will probably replace the front two factory work lights with two more of the round 8 LED's from Atwoods.