Ideas for lighting on a ROPS tractor

[SARG]

( Another advantage of being retired and near the end of the rainbow ..... the tractor is in "bed" before dark. )

 

[dieselscout80]

I have a steel canopy on my tractor and I mounted a foward facing light bar and a rear facing flood/spot light to the underside of the canopy.

View attachment 1752755Joyous, how helpful is that attic fan at controlling the temperature in your metal building?

 

[tacticalturnip]

Just out of curiosity, what would my 20 acres, 3000 square foot house (including basement) and 2400 square foot metal barn and well cost in your location?

View attachment 1774751

In northern Maine, I'd guess about $700k; southern Maine? $1.5 mil.

 

[JeepHead]

You could always mount a couple lights on the FEL arms.
View attachment 1773529

I have considered this! It seems that my loader is constantly blocking my lights now...

 

[bdhsfz6]

I've been fighting with ROPS lights for years. I've busted a few in the woods, both over and under the ROPS bar. I also got tired of swapping them between tractors, so I made a set that attaches to the ROPS which is easy to remove.

I mounted 4 LED flood lights, two front and two rear, to a piece of channel iron. It sits on top of the ROPS and is held in place with strong magnets. The switch and wiring are also held to the ROPS uprights with magnets. The rig plugs into a cigarette lighter socket.

It removes in less than a minute for woods work and is easily installed on another tractor when necessary.

 

[JeepHead]

I've been fighting with ROPS lights for years. I've busted a few in the woods, both over and under the ROPS bar. I also got tired of swapping them between tractors, so I made a set that attaches to the ROPS which is easy to remove.

I mounted 4 LED flood lights, two front and two rear, to a piece of channel iron. It sits on top of the ROPS and is held in place with strong magnets. The switch and wiring are also held to the ROPS uprights with magnets. The rig plugs into a cigarette lighter socket.

It removes in less than a minute for woods work and is easily installed on another tractor when necessary.

I have already bought large magnets for mounting lights if I decide to go that route. I will probably at least add some magnetic mounted lights for easy removal.

 

[jyoutz]

Dieselsvout80: “how helpful is that attic fan at controlling the temperature in your metal building?”

It does help some and is on a thermostatically controlled switch. It comes on when the temperature reaches 78 degrees. During the peak of the summer, we are in the 90s and it may drop the temperature about 5-10 degrees. Of course it shuts off at night. Next year I’m going to run it continuously so it can pull cool nighttime air through the building and see what that does.

 

[YogiBear79]

Made these pinch brackets, mounted forward and rear facing lights, no drilling into ROPS.

 

[86Scotty]

New here, new to me tractor. Kioti CK 27. I'm pretty blown away by my $37 Nilight 3 light combo I installed last weekend. It's getting dark about 4:30 in my valley in the winter and I'm just getting warmed up usually by then. I'm sharing this because it's a great value and taylor made for a small tractor. I only had to extend the wiring for the top 12" light bar, the rest was plug and play. I did borrow a few ft. of wire from the worthless original ROPS side lights that everyone tears off. Mine were already long gone.

I wired this directly to battery on my tractor so I can leave the lights on with tractor off. What I can't show is how well the kit is sized and made for a tractor this size. Happy to take more/better pics of the install for anyone interested in a cheap and effective solution.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XW8WK6Q?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

 

[etpm]

I spend a lot of time in my woods and often times I am out after dark. My Kubota only has the front and side LED's which don't offer the best light as the loader blocks most of it. Looking for ideas on what ya'll have done for lighting. I am getting ready to start fabricating a new grill guard once the metal arrives. Plan to start tackling the lighting around the same time.

I know it's been almost two months since your post but if you haven't bought lights yet you may want to try what my neighbor did for his new Kioti tractor. He bought lights from Amazon that were about 20 bucks. Very bright LED lights with magnetic mounts. He stuck 'em on his ROPS in various positions until he found what works best for him. He told me that they don't move at all.
Eric

 

[JeepHead]

I know it's been almost two months since your post but if you haven't bought lights yet you may want to try what my neighbor did for his new Kioti tractor. He bought lights from Amazon that were about 20 bucks. Very bright LED lights with magnetic mounts. He stuck 'em on his ROPS in various positions until he found what works best for him. He told me that they don't move at all.
Eric

I knew all along I would want the front grill guard flood light bar as it puts a ton of light covering a wide area up front. I had thought of the magnet light bases a while back and ordered a set off of Amazon as well as light pods. I may end up using the magnetic bases still yet. Mine are probably 4" bases and once they grab on, it takes a tremendous amount of pressure to remove them.

 

[SARG]

Just a suggestion ... I have a LED emergency strobe with a magnetic base attached under the rops for when working near the highway ..... I have it wrapped and attached with long "cable zip ties" to keep it secure. I don't totally trust the magnet base.

 

[mike0000]

Sorry I couldn’t find a better picture of my light bar/grill guard than this.

 

[JeepHead]

These extension cords at Harbor Freight can make for great insulated wiring for lighting and much cheaper than wire kits.

 

[86Scotty]

That's a great idea. I do a lot of automotive wiring and usually use zip cord and flex-loom but a majority of the wiring I've done on projects is inside the vehicle. Outside runs are usually big gauge wire for aux batteries, etc.

That's a pretty great idea for LED aux light wiring and you won't find a better deal.

As wire in gets more and more expensive another good hack is buying dirt cheap jumper cables from the dollar store type places and hacking them up for bigger cable runs.

 

[bmaverick]

These extension cords at Harbor Freight can make for great insulated wiring for lighting and much cheaper than wire kits.

I use the same method for trailer wiring. Dumb rodents out here keep gnawing the wires, using the outside extension cord has stopped their nibbles.