2015 GC 1720 LED Dash Conversion & 20" Sirius LED Light Bar & LED Reverse Light

Clipse3GT · Dec 10, 2015

2015 GC 1720 LED Dash Conversion & 20" Sirius LED Light Bar & LED Reverse Light

So I had some LED's left over from different dash projects and decided to mod the MF 1720 with custom LED dash lighting. I know the OEM bulbs are a bit lackluster and pretty dim overall. So the LED's really help the dash come alive. They are bit brighter than actual picture the camera takes a away a bit from the brightness a touch. However, the effect is greater in person and not overwhelming.

I used these ones. Fit perfect and light up nicely. No issue using them on the hazards or dash.
https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...b-5-led-miniature-wedge-retrofit-car/199/872/

Dash Illumination - Amber x4
Warning Battery / Oil Press. - Red x2
Glow Plugs - Amber x1
Indicators - Green x2

After - Dash Only

Everything On

Everything on + Hazards

Christmas Mode - Ho Ho Ho

If anyone wants to see either Red or Green for the Dash illumination let me know. I found both Red / Green light spectrum and brightness to be much more than the Amber. Might be a bit too much when dark out it will be too bright. With the LED light bar on the wash out is much less.

Moving on... :thumbsup:

Decided to add some lighting to the GC. The OEM lights and even the rear work light on the ROPS (standard on GC1720) are pretty weak and dim. Not much help when mowing near dusk or keeping working into the night on a project with loader or backhoe. However, primary reason for the LED's is for snow removal to have plenty of light working later night or early morning. Also great for deer hunting lol... So decided to go all out with some proper lighting. I wanted a bright flood type lights with full waterproof enclosures and can take beating if get whacked by a branch.

Decided to go with these light from Motoalliance after much research. Pretty happy with the choice with the quality. Plus they come with a full harness with relay (works with key in off position, similar to the OEM dash switch) all connections are with waterproof connectors. All the wiring enclosed with plastic sleeve (not the split kind, fully jacked) with heatshrink ends with glue/metal connectors on the ends. Pretty top quality overall since they are made for ATV/Off Road trucks. Plus the length of all the wiring is perfect for the GC 1700 series. No need to cut anything. Just ran all the wiring with the OEM locations just like the factory following all the way into the ROPS and up coming out where the OEM lights come out. I had to disassemble one of the connectors apart on the harness so I can pass it through the plastic GC body with out drilling or making the hole larger. I opted for the splitter to also run the rear LED work light / back up light. Works with their LED light bar harness so it's all plug and play - easy... :cool2:

20" Sirius Professional LED Flood/Spot - https://motoalliance.com/Site.Store.go?action=gotoProductDetails&id=1344
2" Sirius Professional LED Flood - https://motoalliance.com/Site.Store.go?action=gotoProductDetails&id=967
Sirius LED 1 Female to 2 Male Multi-Plug Harness - https://motoalliance.com/Site.Store.go?action=gotoProductDetails&id=1128

To mount the LED light bar I decided not to drill into the ROPS. Mostly for structural integrity and I hate drilling into new equipment unless I absolutely have to do it. So I wanted a clamp system that I could rotate the LED light bar freely to the rear when using the backhoe at night/dusk. Luckily, someone makes one of these mounts for the ROPS. The GC 1700 is a 2x3" ROPS. It comes with 2 square U-bolts, hardware, and mounting plates.

You can find the mount here:
http://www.utvpartsandaccessories.com/kubota_l_series_lighting.html

Total Project Cost was about $300 since I ordered the lighting on Black Friday there was a addition 15% off coupon. I figure it as a investment in the lighting plus come with a lifetime warranty on them.

The LED's light bar/worklight are extremely bright lights up the darkness almost like daylight. I tried to take a picture with my phone camera and the camera can't pick up the brightness very well since it minimizes exposure time. I will need to use my DSLR one of these night and take a proper picture with tripod to get proper exposure. There is no humming from these light either and draw less than incandescent lights so not much strain on the alternator. Checked voltages with multimeter with system operating 14.1v with nothing running except engine. 13.95v with all LED's on / dash / running lights / hazards.

I'll check this thread updated once I get some running time on the lights and new dash setup. Also will see if I can update the front headlight to LED in the future.

jc21 · Dec 12, 2015

Re: 2015 GC 1720 LED Dash Conversion & 20" Sirius LED Light Bar & LED Reverse Light

Nice work!!

WilliamBos · Dec 12, 2015

Re: 2015 GC 1720 LED Dash Conversion & 20" Sirius LED Light Bar & LED Reverse Light

Excellent work. Love the idea.

AxleHub · Dec 15, 2015

Clipse,

I've bought lights in 2015 but as yet haven't installed then on my GC1715.

I bought 3 weatherproof units . . Each LED light is 6 inches wide by 1 inch tall.

I'm curious what your wattage draw is between the front and rear lights you used.

And your dash is nice looking.

Clipse3GT · Dec 15, 2015

Re: 2015 GC 1720 LED Dash Conversion & 20" Sirius LED Light Bar & LED Reverse Light

AxleHub said:
Clipse,

I've bought lights in 2015 but as yet haven't installed then on my GC1715.

I bought 3 weatherproof units . . Each LED light is 6 inches wide by 1 inch tall.

I'm curious what your wattage draw is between the front and rear lights you used.

And your dash is nice looking.

Rough Calculations:

LED Light Bar = 200 watt (Each OSRAM LED = 5w x 40 units)
Led Rear Work Light = 20 watt (Each OSRAM LED = 5w x 4 units)

Total: 220w

Amperage Draw @ 12v: 18.3 amps
Amperage Draw @ 14v: 15.7 amps

Alternator: 40 amp output

There is really nothing besides lights, hazards, dash, fuel pump, sensors and LED's that uses the alternator. Very little draw on the system overall. So you can still add some speakers and a couple extra LED's and 12v cig lighter and some USB chargers without a problem.

At least that is my plan to add some speakers with bluetooth and a cig/usb 12v output. Possibly build a custom enclosure out of a ammo box since they are cheap and easy to get. Still have some room to use for storage.

Clipse3GT · Dec 15, 2015

Re: 2015 GC 1720 LED Dash Conversion & 20" Sirius LED Light Bar & LED Reverse Light

Forgot to add. Make sure you figure out what your draw will be for those LED's. They generally run 3w for CREE LED's and 5w for the OSRAM x number of units in the light bars. Then figure out your amp draw on the system and then figure out the length of wiring you will need. The small gauge of wire you use the more voltage drop you will get going to the LED. Most LED's will operate in the 9v to 16v range. But too little voltage to lights will overheat wiring and decrease output of the lights. I used a relay in my system so the load is carried on the relay and not the switch, it's a better setup for these lights. Somewhere around 10-14 gauge in most applications is enough, bigger is better. More lights you add the thicker the gauge depending on the draw and number of units.

AxleHub · Dec 15, 2015

Clipse3GT said:
Rough Calculations:

LED Light Bar = 200 watt (Each OSRAM LED = 5w x 40 units)
Led Rear Work Light = 20 watt (Each OSRAM LED = 5w x 4 units)

Total: 220w

Amperage Draw @ 12v: 18.3 amps
Amperage Draw @ 14v: 15.7 amps

Alternator: 40 amp output

There is really nothing besides lights, hazards, dash, fuel pump, sensors and LED's that uses the alternator. Very little draw on the system overall. So you can still add some speakers and a couple extra LED's and 12v cig lighter and some USB chargers without a problem.

At least that is my plan to add some speakers with bluetooth and a cig/usb 12v output. Possibly build a custom enclosure out of a ammo box since they are cheap and easy to get. Still have some room to use for storage.

Wow . . Thats a whole different league of candle power. Each of my led units is 6 inches by 1 inch rated to a watertight level of 68 watertightness. Cast metal housings . . they each contain 6 leds at 3 watts per for a total of 18 watts of draw for a 200 foot 60 degree angle "bright white coloration" penetration.

I figured 2 facing front at 15 degree angles (1 left and 1 right) should give me 150 degree coverage and one rear facing at 60 degree coverage all three with a slight downward angle but all three adjustable vertical and horizontal angles.

You must really light up the horizon like daylight

I test ran mine uninstalled but as yet haven't figured a good switch for use.

Did you wire your's into the headlight switch or separate control switch?

Clipse3GT · Dec 15, 2015

Re: 2015 GC 1720 LED Dash Conversion & 20" Sirius LED Light Bar & LED Reverse Light

Yeah it's pretty darn bright. But **** I figured go big never can say I don't have enough light then to finish a project.

Here is the wiring diagram for the way I have mine wired up (Page 3 I think): https://motoalliance.com/vol_user/uploads/EStoreComp/Professional Series LED Instructions.pdf

But I have mine wired directly into the battery going into the relay, switch going into the relay, and output to the lights from the relay. So the switch turns on the relay which in turn carries the load and powers the lights. It's setup this way so the load is not carried on switch alone due to the draw being up to 20 amps max.

For your light setup.

18w x 3 lights = 54 watt draw

Amp draw @ 14v : 3.86 amp
Amp draw @ 12v : 4.5 amp

So you would be fine to wire up to the main light switch that's there OEM on the dash so when you turn on the headlights your LED's turn on as well.

I put my switch under the seat on the right side. It's covered from the rain/snow by the seat and I did not want to drill the dash or plastic so I put it to be hidden and out of the way if / when I need extra lighting.

Here is a picture:

AxleHub · Dec 15, 2015

Clipse,

Very fancy pdf showing iems and wiring.

I had cobsidered usung the spare power wire conveniently suppliwd my Massey at the rear of the tractor (item 18 on the wiring diagram un the manual ). While it isn't fir everyone . . It coyld work for my lighting because that powet feed is 70cwatta maximim and my lights would only rewyire 54 watts if all were on. I I did that it would not require avhomerun to the dash area if I also mounted the switch/switches in the back part of the tractor around or on rops or ???

Clipse3GT · Dec 16, 2015

Re: 2015 GC 1720 LED Dash Conversion & 20" Sirius LED Light Bar & LED Reverse Light

IIRC, there are two extra 12v outputs one is used to run the auxiliary work light that the 1720 comes with from the factory (it has + and - wire / 18ga) and other is a spare (+ only 18ga, need to use chassis for ground). I disconnected my worklight and tucked the wire away to use later for a 12v cig lighter / usb charger that I will add to charge my phone when out and about. I think that all the GC 1700 level tractor have a AUX output at the rear to use for like a sprayer pump etc...

I think you can easily tap into that spare + wire, it is fused for 15 amps at fuse 7 location) and use it to power 54 watts of LED lights, I did see that 70w max rating. I doubt you would need larger gauge wiring. I would run/add a switch just on the + wire and then find a suitable chassis ground. Probably something around the seat area is a good place for the ground. I would install the switch either under the seat or you could always mount it to the ROPS or drill a hole in the ropes and have it mounted there, but a clean dry place is a good idea. What I did it I hot glued the contacts around the switch after they were wired to prevent corrosion and water getting in. I am just not a fan of drilling into structural parts especially something designed to withstand a roll over of 3000 lbs. machine.