Anyone mow at night/in the dark?

[Xfaxman]

So apparently there is a mistake in the Amazon post.

Here are the technical details:
Technical Details
Brand Rigid Industries
Item Weight 4 pounds
Product Dimensions 7 x 9 x 7 inches
Origin USA
Item model number 20211
Manufacturer Part Number 20211
OEM Part Number 20211
Folding No
Bulb Type led
Voltage 36 volts

?????

Richard

I think that means input voltage up to 36 volts. The LED works off of a "driver" circuit that has a wide voltage input.

 

[GuiltySpark]

Being in Texas, I do quite a bit of night mowing with my X300. So far, I've swapped bulbs out for LEDs, and added LED lights from Amazon.

I had originally intended to mount the work lights dead center of the bumper on top, but quickly discovered that interfered with the opening of the hood. So, I experimented with a couple of locations to mount the extra lights, and finally settled on mounting them on each side of the frame using existing holes in the frame. This worked fine... at first. I quickly discovered that I had two issues. Vibration caused the nuts to back off constantly even with lock washers. So, I switched to nylon lock nuts. Still no dice, they just wouldn't stop drifting. Also, one light would make contact with the steering linkage at a fully extended turn. Just enough to touch, but still I didn't like it.

So eventually I dug out a set of bar mounts that were rubber isolated and absorbed a great deal of the vibration from the mower. They also allowed me to mount them to the bumper positioned toward the outside edge, which allowed proper clearance for the hood when open.

Wiring wise, I just tied it into the headlight circuit. Being that I replaced the factory bulbs with LEDs that use less voltage, and that the LED work lights are low draw, I figured it was OK. So far, it hasn't been a problem at all, and I've maybe 40 hours mowing on this current setup. All in, I've spent $45.

Pros:

• I can friggin see!!
• LEDs are a non-diffused light, so having the headlights high and the worklights low does away with most of the hard shadows LEDs are notorious for.
• Having the work lights down low, it makes seeing the difference between mowed/not mowed really easy. I'm mowing a mixture of weeds, grass, fescue, with missing patches under the shade trees. Sometimes it's easy to lose your track weaving around between trees in the dark. We also have brick hard clay soil so no tire tracks can be seen either.

Cons:

• It is still very dark on the sides of the mower. Mowing next to the barbed wire fence is still iffy, because I like to get as close as I can around the posts with the deck edge. I plan on adding a set of very low power lights to give a little light on the sides.
• The lights do add length in a bad place on the mower, right on the outside edge of the turning curve. When approaching a tree, I used to take them straight on then make a max turn to avoid hitting, putting bumper 1" off the tree or so as I swung around it. The lights probably added 4-5" to this "distance" I have to turn. It sounds trivial, but I've scraped the lights more than once going around trees.

Here's what I used. I've quite a bit of experience with LEDs and wiring, so I went looking for a very specific type of bulb to replace the factory ones. And I'm very happy with the result.

JD Headlight bulb
Cheap work lights
Mounts

I plan on milling around in the shop later tonight, and will take a pic and post it.

 

[KYBOTA2320]

Here in Kentucky mowing, bush hogging, any field work at night in the summer is nice as long as you have a cab. Bugs would be all over you if not in a cab. It's bad enough during the day.

I'll second that. I was out late last night and got swarmed by horsefly's. KY bugs are the worst!

 

[Spindifferent]

I plan on milling around in the shop later tonight, and will take a pic and post it.

Thanks for all of the great info! Pics would be much appreciated. 100 degree days are here in Central Texas, so I might have to start thinking about night vision. :cool2:

 

[Richard001]

Being in Texas, I do quite a bit of night mowing with my X300. So far, I've swapped bulbs out for LEDs, and added LED lights from Amazon.

I So, I switched to nylon lock nuts. Still no dice, they just wouldn't stop drifting.

I would challenge that statement. Nylon lock nuts, or nylocks, have been used in the aircraft industry and on race cars for decades without issues.

I find it hard to believe that nylocks backed off.

Richard

 

[GuiltySpark]

I would challenge that statement. Nylon lock nuts, or nylocks, have been used in the aircraft industry and on race cars for decades without issues.

I find it hard to believe that nylocks backed off.

Richard

Lock washers backed off. I didn't say the nylon nuts backed off, I said the lights still drifted. Which they did.

I would tighten as much as possible without seriously warping the aluminium housing of the lights, but still after 10-15 minutes of usage, they would drift downward. The problem was clear - the existing holes in the frame are much larger than a bolt hole, and even with huge washers, they still moved because of the vibration. The washers were slipping.

OP, I mowed again tonight. Worked like a charm. This was about 9pm, so not quite pitch black yet.

 

[dragoneggs]

I love my LEDs on my ROPS but they are for the odd night job, get home when dark need. Being in the PNW it stays light until well past 9pm for much of the summer and heat isn't a problem here. I can definitely see adding more LEDs if I planned regular work at night. The nice thing is the power needed to power them is no drain on the tractor.

 

[GuiltySpark]

I'll second that. I was out late last night and got swarmed by horsefly's. KY bugs are the worst!

The only thing I have to fight are spiders. We have these buggers that come out only at night and spin large webs from the trees to the ground. They start about dusk, and stay out all night. By morning, they've torn their webs down. I sometimes carry a stick with me to knock them down as I'm driving through them.

 

[Spindifferent]

OP, I mowed again tonight. Worked like a charm. This was about 9pm, so not quite pitch black yet.

Thanks for the photos! Now, we just need some rain here in Central Texas.

 

[Birdhunter1]

I mow at night often, what I like is there is less dust. The downside is the grass is usually wet due to dew so if on a hillside I may sometimes slide or slip. If you are mowing on an open station tractor you do not want lights near the operators station, lights attract bugs. I have my tractor wires where lights on the ROPS are on a separate switch: lights on the front of the tractor come on and to turn the rops lighting on requires another switch... but the front lights have to be on as well. The rops light turn the dark to day, very bright but attract alot of bugs. Most of the time I don't need them but when I need that extra light BAM there it is.