Added side strobes to my L5740

[High Compression]

Hey Gang! I know I posted my forward and rear facing safety lighting before. I realized that when I was backing or pulling out onto a street during snow removal, I didn't have any notification for traffic on the sides of my tractor. Why not a 360 deg beacon? Won't fit in the garage. So I found these Nova SLWIC3 strobes on Strobes N' More. I liked that they were LED, split, self contained, with several flash patterns. Only 1/4" thick. Won't bore you on the details of making the mounts. Just made a cardboard template. Plasma cut out a couple pieces of aluminum. Drilled some holes. Used the existing upper door hinge mounts. Wired into my existing lighting system and there you go. Maybe 4 hrs so far. Had to get ready for Sunday's snow so I hadn't painted yet. Gonna be black or Kubota grey. Used them about 20 hrs day and night with no problems. Was concerned about flash back from the glass, but didn't even know if they were on. Had to look in my rear view mirrors to tell if they were working or not. Here's a couple pix and a quick video.

Thanks HC

 

[SanDucerro]

Very nice!

 

[DT86]

That looks great! I'd have something like that if I only had the need!

 

[High Compression]

Thanks guys! Yeah not everyone has the need. But I do like to push snow so they are safety necessity for me. I've had a few close calls. Hopefully these help eliminate those close calls.

 

[powerstroke444e]

Looks good you can never be to safe

 

[creekbend]

That's nice.:thumbsup:

 

[mjncad]

I see 4shorts has inspired you to add lights to your rig. :thumbsup:

 

[4shorts]

Very cool my friend. Can never be to safe on the road. I did something similar but mounted 4" X 1" quad flashing Grote LED lights by each lollypop light on the cab. I made an aluminum mount and they are bright. I'm happy with them plus knowing their Grote/Whelen means they will last a loooooog time. Great to see your sill around. :thumbsup:

 

[High Compression]

Very cool my friend. Can never be to safe on the road. I did something similar but mounted 4" X 1" quad flashing Grote LED lights by each lollypop light on the cab. I made an aluminum mount and they are bright. I'm happy with them plus knowing their Grote/Whelen means they will last a loooooog time. Great to see your sill around. :thumbsup:

Those are great lights. I have them on trucks.

 

[High Compression]

I see 4shorts has inspired you to add lights to your rig. :thumbsup:

Actually this is my 3rd tractor that I have had strobes on. Paul is inspirational for sure, but he didn't have influence on this go round.

 

[Bob77064]

Good job.

 

[pwt]

Looks really nice. Excellent job. I wish / hope I had the understanding to do something like that. How hard is it to figure out all the wiring.

 

[High Compression]

Looks really nice. Excellent job. I wish / hope I had the understanding to do something like that. How hard is it to figure out all the wiring.

Thank you very much!
Really the wiring was the easy part. On these particular strobes, there are three wires. A positive, a negative, and a wire to change your flash pattern. If you can hook up a car battery you can wire these. I pre-programmed my flash pattern before installation simply using a 12v battery. By attaching the pos. to + and neg to - on the battery then simply touching the 3rd wire momentarily to the +, it scrolls through the different flash patterns. Then I ran a wire from my switch to the strobes, and grounded the neg. wire near by and your done.

 

[pwt]

High Compression,
Thank you for the explanation, you make it sound easy, which means you have an excellent understanding.
But, where do the wires from the tractor come from? do you need to run wires from the tractor battery, is there a connection box somewhere, do you have to install a switch to turn the lights on and off. How do you run the wires. Do you have to tie the wires to an existing light. Clearly showing showing my lack electrical understanding.

 

[High Compression]

High Compression,
Thank you for the explanation, you make it sound easy, which means you have an excellent understanding.
But, where do the wires from the tractor come from? do you need to run wires from the tractor battery, is there a connection box somewhere, do you have to install a switch to turn the lights on and off. How do you run the wires. Do you have to tie the wires to an existing light. Clearly showing showing my lack electrical understanding.

pwt,
I'm sorry, I thought you meant just the strobes.
Unfortunately the details of each installation will vary from tractor, to tractor, vehicle to vehicle. For example, in my Kubota L 5740, inside the cab at the base of the left "B Pillar" (or middle cab post) is a accessory plug with switched (meaning it's only hot when the key is on) and fused 12v as well as a ground. So, I did not have to run any wires from the battery. But I did wire a relay, and a switch to control my lights.

Now keep in mind, on a vehicle, you will need to supply your light with a 12v + source and a - ground at a minimum. You will want to install a fuse and a switch, and possibly a relay depending on the amperage load. I know this sounds confusing, but it really isn't. Picture your battery, you have a big black wire and a big red wire attached to it. The big black wire will be attached to the frame, body or chassis. That is your ground. That is why you can also ground your light to metal where you mount it, because the metal frame, body and chassis are one big "wire" attached to the (negative or -) on your battery. Now from the (positive or +) on you battery, you run a wire and install a fuse then a wire from the fuse to your switch and from you switch to your light. That is how you complete the circuit.
To bad we weren't closer, I would be happy to help you do an install and teach you along the way.
Here is a simple wire diagram. Also a video of a tractor similar to yours with strobes in the turn signals. :thumbsup:


John Deere 3520 Cab Strobe Project - YouTube