It was a safety thing........strobes?

[theonlybull]

one other thing you may want to check on, is are strobes legal for on-road use?

here, thier supposed to be illegal, even though the fire,pd,ambulance, and DOT all use them. the DOT stated at one of our fire officer's meetings, that it is illegal for us to have flashing headlights, or strobes on our emergency vechials... although they kinda gave up, when it was pointed out that thier own snow plows run double, and tripple flash strobes... /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[GaryM]

The strobes built into the red lens is used to draw folks attention to the fact that the light is red. I have seen them in some localities that have them set to flash for the first 5-10 seconds after the light changes to red.

Some of the units that are used to change all lights to red are triggered by strobes on the emergency vehicle. These strobes operate in a pattern that the sensor on the lights can recognize. Others use an infrared emiter on the emergency vehicle.

 

[markct]

well your strobes look real nice, i just wanted to add one thing that i was told once. the fast flashing of strobes draws attention to the vehicle, but it is hard to judge the distance and exact location of the vehicle because the flash is so fast. however normal flashing lights and revolving lights are easier for the eye to determine where and/or how fast the vehicle is moving since the eye has time to focus on the light. i have noticed this to be true at night when ya are coming up on a tow truck that has all strobes, its just sorta a disorenting yellow strobe effect, you see it right away, but its hard to determine exactly where it is and whats around it. thats why many lightbars have both strobes and revolving or flashing lights, that way ya sorta get the best of both worlds. one thing i plan to add to my ford 8000 sometime soon is turn signals in addition to the 4 way flashers, far to many times i have went to turn left and had someone try and pass me, very few people recognize hand signals nowdays, often they think that you are waving them to pass ya on the left

 

[Inspector507]

LAGEORGE,
I like your set-up. I used a cheaper version on my Yanmar, for times I was out near the road. They had a bolt pattern on the bottom that exactly matched the mounting of the original turn signals. My good luck. They are Xenon stobes with built in strobe unit. Just run 12V to them. $8.95 each plus shipping. I was not impressed with the bolts in the bottom though, they were epoxied in and 2 of them pulled out when I got over zealous with the wrench. Epoxied them right back in /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[rdam]

My marked patrol car has 2 rear facing strobes and two rear facing halogens. If your lined up on the halogens, they are SUBSTANTIALLY brighter.

That is BIG bucks. For the same or less you could have bought a complete light bar. Attached to your ROPS, it would kind of be like a tow truck! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[LAGEORGE]

You’re right about the price of the system vs. a really nice light bar. But a light bar would look a bit odd and my neighbors and public works crews would laugh at me. I know you are just kidding, you were kidding right? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
In other treads people had mentioned the hazards about working near roads. The biggest issue I have is getting onto the road and being seen by speeding Mercedes Benz’s and Hummers. Even though the strobe system is expensive it is the same system that fire departments and police departments count on to avoid accidents. Caltrans also relines on safety strobes to wake people up to pay attention. The system looks professional is effective and what I have read, legal to use while working near the road.
I guess when you want to play with the big boys toys you have to pay. A good example of this is the Broadcast camera vs. the Circuit City top of the line model. One costs $47,000 and the other cost $1,200. Both get the job done but only one can do professionally to share with the world.

On another rant, I have often thought about what hazards I would have faced if I had a John Deere tractor instead of the Blue New Holland. Might I not be seen as well by other drivers since it could blend into the green foliage along the road? I could see a lawsuit on this thought one day. You have to admit that you will see an orange, blue, red and yellow tractors before you see a green one.

George

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Geo. . . I just gotta say I like what you did and I might flatter you by doing something very similar.

The debate of the effectiveness of the strobe versus the effectiveness of rotating versus the effectiveness of a big stick between the eyes of some knucklhead who is not paying attention can be debated ad infinitum.

But to be honest I prefer to make modifications that do not look like an amature (and yes, that would be me) made. So I try to think out my modifications to see how I can improve the function of what I have without compramising the original design, asthetic or function. You achieved your goals of increased visibility while keeping the original look of the machine with a very well thought out and professional installation. I am green eyed with envy.

Now, if you can figure out how to install some lights on that ROPS without showing the wires, drilling holes in the ROPS, welding to the ROPS, then please let me know.

I am seriously considering a couple of forward facing yellow fog lamps on the rops (yellow won't attract the mosquitos that swarm my woodlands) for late evening lawn mowing. My thought is I could probably make light brackets out of metal and using an automotive or marine epoxy mounth the brackets to the ROPS, but how to hide the wires? Possibly some more epoxy and a flat black wire chase running up the side of the ROPS? Anyway, that is another project... Yours looks great and I am jealous!

 

[pekabu]

Hey George, very nice installation. I am looking to do the same with my TC24. Can you tell me which switch you were looking at with the LED?

Dave /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[LAGEORGE]

I found and LED waterproof switch at go2marine.com. I have included a link to it. I like the LED idea but the switch does not look as promising but then again I do not know I have not used it. The Ancor switches seem to be the same ones used by New Holland so if you want to keep it factory looking you might want to stick with the Ancor switch even though an LED does not light it.

Footnote to installation of the switches in the position I have them mounted on the tractor. The switch is very deep and it kind of presses against the fender. I put some plastic/tape insulation on the fender behind the switches to keep things from shorting out. It is a very tight fit but it seems to be holding up just fine.

George

PS: thanks for the compliment! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

LED Switch at go2marine.com

 

[LAGEORGE]

Found somthing better than a switch!

see the webpage I printed since you can't link to it

George