Headlights with a loader?

[IslandTractor]

I have not yet made a material move but have concluded that anything increasing the tractor envelope is not acceptable. I have experimented with LED flashlites held at various locations just under the canopy. I find this to be the best place and will put it into effect when/if I really need to.
larry

I find LED flashlights too weak compared to standard headlights. A couple of hundred powerful LEDs in a bar would be great but $$$.

 

[JB4310]

I find LED flashlights too weak compared to standard headlights. A couple of hundred powerful LEDs in a bar would be great but $$$.

They have led flashlights now that are amazingly bright and efficient, the technology is moving faster than the computer chip technology was a few years ago. I have no experience with 12 volt vehicle leds (except for stop/running/clearance lights), but I expect they will really change things with the aux headlight/ worklight market.

JB

 

[IslandTractor]

They have led flashlights now that are amazingly bright and efficient, the technology is moving faster than the computer chip technology was a few years ago. I have no experience with 12 volt vehicle leds (except for stop/running/clearance lights), but I expect they will really change things with the aux headlight/ worklight market.

JB

I agree but I haven't seen any reasonably priced units yet. Last time I looked it would cost well over $100 for LED units compared to 30 or so for traditional units.

 

[RoyJackson]

I agree but I haven't seen any reasonably priced units yet. Last time I looked it would cost well over $100 for LED units compared to 30 or so for traditional units.

I'm not convinced of the durability on the brighter LEDs yet either...

 

[JB4310]

I agree but I haven't seen any reasonably priced units yet. Last time I looked it would cost well over $100 for LED units compared to 30 or so for traditional units.

I suspect prices will start coming down soon.

In the flashlight market now you can get a light for $60. that a few years ago was several hundred dollars.

Made in China of course, but surprisingly high quality.
I just bought one of these,

Quark "X" 123² 4Sevens.Com

JB

 

[SPYDERLK]

They have led flashlights now that are amazingly bright and efficient, the technology is moving faster than the computer chip technology was a few years ago. I have no experience with 12 volt vehicle leds (except for stop/running/clearance lights), but I expect they will really change things with the aux headlight/ worklight market.

JB

I agree but I haven't seen any reasonably priced units yet. Last time I looked it would cost well over $100 for LED units compared to 30 or so for traditional units.

Youre only going to need a total of 20W or so LED lite to make your tractor a lite island. While Ild opt to wait a little on the availability of good floodbeam wired in LEDs for 12V, you could literally go right now with about 3 handheld flashlites clipping into appropriate places. Remove and use elsewhere when needed.
larry

 

[the6shooter]

TractorCabDepot.com - Cabs, Enclosures, and Accessories for all your Tractor Needs has light mounting brackets for mounting lights, no drilling required. priced right too.

 

[DK35vince]

I'm gonna have to try that, I love the canopy but the increased sound is a nagative.

JB

What I used is a 4'x6' roll of the multi-purpose heat and sound insulation ($29.95) from LMC Truck.
Then cut it to fit.
Part #48-2590
It is a well made insulation mat.

 

[JB4310]

What I used is a 4'x6' roll of the multi-purpose heat and sound insulation ($29.95) from LMC Truck.
Then cut it to fit.
Part #48-2590
It is a well made insulation mat.

Thanks for the info,

JB

 

[Gittyup]

TractorCabDepot.com - Cabs, Enclosures, and Accessories for all your Tractor Needs has light mounting brackets for mounting lights, no drilling required. priced right too.

I simply used a piece of uninstructed I had lying around and two u-bolts inside of roll bar (no sun shade). Lights are up high and clear everything. Mounted a marine switch (no relay neededed if switch is properly rated and fused) in the plastic cowling behind the 3ph height lever. Two front one back. They work great.

There are several threads on roll bar mounted lights, with a lot of good photos. Just search for them. Here again is my "light bar". Don't have photo of switch mount, but another member actually gave me the idea and used a similar switch. He did post photos.

 

[RoyJackson]

I simply used a piece of uninstructed I had lying around and two u-bolts inside of roll bar (no sun shade). Lights are up high and clear everything. Mounted a marine switch (no relay neededed if switch is properly rated and fused) in the plastic cowling behind the 3ph height lever. Two front one back. They work great.

There are several threads on roll bar mounted lights, with a lot of good photos. Just search for them. Here again is my "light bar". Don't have photo of switch mount, but another member actually gave me the idea and used a similar switch. He did post photos.

Nice job!!!
I think you meant "unistrut" rather then "uninstructed"...looks like a SpellCheck gotcha!

 

[IslandTractor]

Nice job!!!
I think you meant "unistrut" rather then "uninstructed"...looks like a SpellCheck gotcha!

Man, ain't that the truth. Those automatic spellcheck programs really can get you in sneaky ways when you least expect it. .

 

[JB4310]

Man, ain't that the truth. Those automatic spellcheck programs really can get you in sneaky ways when you least expect it. .

Definitely don't leave it on auto correct.

Mine does not like the word "alot" it's a word I use all the time.

Is this still not an accepted word?

Sounds like an Andy Rooney segment.

JB

 

[pacerron]

Definitely don't leave it on auto correct.

Mine does not like the word "alot" it's a word I use all the time.

Is this still not an accepted word?

Sounds like an Andy Rooney segment.

JB

Most spell checkers let you add words of your own even if they are not spelled right. Then you won't be slowed down by them in the future.

 

[moored4]

Bear with me on this one! We have a local dinner that's open only for breakfast and lunch. If you go there on any Thursday you will find there is a gathering of ranchers, farmers, old-timers, and yes some want-to-be's. The unique thing about this group is it is made up of a old world German who still speaks very broken English, came here during the middle 40's if you know what that means. We have CEO's and Mill workers. Full time Ag. People and the want-to-be's. Young ones and yes! us old ones. There are people with masters and doctorates and then some who didn't finish grade school. We sit around for more time than we should eating breakfast and talking farming, cows, horses, crops, and their Tractors. And in all the time we have been going there has been no mention of who is smarter, who the best linguist is, or who has the most money. If I want to know something about row crops I'll ask the old German, he has been doing them for a long, long time. Have a Diesel problem, ask the heavy diesel mechanic, who didn't finish grade school. If you got a tax or money question, ask the want-to-be, he has more letters behind his name than are in the alphabet, You want to know about horses or hay making then you might ask me who left home when I was 12, graduated collage with a AG degree but I cannot spell worth a dang. We accept and respect each other for whom and what they are and that no one is better than anyone else. It is like TBN but in real time.
Last year I was trying to get the last of the hay in before a rain hit, I missed the Thursday gathering, that afternoon, slowly some members of the gathering started showing up one by one. This was not solicited; they just knew that one of us needed help! I GUESS WHAT I AM SAYING IS LET's HELP EACH OTHER NOT look at ones weak point.
Sorry for the Rant this is a GREAT bunch of men and women here with a wealth of knowledge.

 

[cttractor]

I thought about putting the lights on the loader arms. Any thoughts on this?

I did this on my last tractor and really liked it. The bucket was always lit even when raised and dumping. I don't travel with a raised bucket except to load a truck or trailer, so the light was always on what I needed to see: the truck sides when loading and the bucket is low and the light shining on the ground ahead when traveling. If you go this route, just route the wires following the hydraulic lines and they won't interfere with raising and lowering.

 

[cttractor]

I find LED flashlights too weak compared to standard headlights. A couple of hundred powerful LEDs in a bar would be great but $$$.

LED lights come in various lumen levels. There are some very bright LED lights out there, but they're pricy, generally around $100- $150 depend on what you get. You can certainly get equally bright incandescent lamps for much less $15 - $40, but they draw much more current. This is usually only an issue on smaller tractors with 20 - 30 amp alternators. Bigger machines of all makes usually have alternators putting out more generous current levels.

As for hardiness, the LED lights should be the toughest of all because they're solid state and don't have any supported filaments that are most fragile part of a lamp. I've dropped one of my LED flashlights on the concrete floor from a stepladder several times and it still works fine. Of course, that doesn't mean some cheaper tractor light made in China couldn't be fragile. I bought some expensive LED lights for my tractor and love them (well, I didn't like paying the credit card bill when it came in, but I've forgotten that now and am just enjoying adequate lighting).

 

[Gittyup]

Spell checker did get me. I did type unistrut. It got me at work last week too. I typed FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) in a spreadsheet. Didn't see the autocorrection, and it changed it to LPGA (as in ladies golf). I then presented the info in a meeting. Everyone got a big laugh out of that one

 

[kiotiken]

Part of the deal when I bought my tractor was that the dealer had to install front and back lights. This was mostly for snow removal, but it's nice this time of the year with the backhoe. He added a nice switch under the throttle, very clean and professional looking.

 

[cttractor]

Part of the deal when I bought my tractor was that the dealer had to install front and back lights. This was mostly for snow removal, but it's nice this time of the year with the backhoe. He added a nice switch under the throttle, very clean and professional looking.

Nice lighting! Same for me in that I normally normally use the lights mainly for snow removal. But they do certainly come in handy for those big jobs where we work all day and into the night and want to finish the job while we're set up and have all the equipment out there.