No Grill Guard ---No Headlight

[PoleClimber]

For those of you without a grill guard on your tractor. Here's a picture of what can happen to your headlight. I have a grill guard for my tractor but took it off for the winter to plow snow. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif I decided to try out my new grapple and neglected to put the guard back on. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif It's gonna cost me $108.00 for a new headlight assembly. Get yourself a grill guard and use it, trees and brush have no mercy on your hood or lights.

 

[daTeacha]

I've wondered about the vulnerability of the new style lights. What did you hit with it, a branch? Did the lens just shatter? I thought they were high impact plastic.

 

[PoleClimber]

I thought they were plastic also but found out they are glass. I had a 3 inch tree branch in my grapple snag while backing, and it kicked back into the side of the headlight. unfortunately these are not a stock item and had to be ordered from New Holland.

 

[IH3444]

Ouch, sent the bill to Dave! No good deed ever goes unpunished! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif $54 this year, $54 next! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[PineRidge]

Ouch! that was the hard way to learn about grill guards, sorry that happened to you. Does your snow plow hook-up require that you remove the guard for winter use? I have never felt the need to do so since our plow is attached via the QA feature.

 

[Osconda]

PoleClimber,

I know right where you're coming from. My neighbor borrowed my tractor last week and busted one of the lights, knocked off the hood ornament, and scratched the hood. He was loading a dump truck from the back. He was trying to move some of the dirt already in the truck. He "dumped" the bucket and didn't have his foot on the brake. Pulled the tractor right into the back of the truck. He's buying a new light and hood ornament. I'm just gonna touchup the hood. I'm glad it is plastic. Actually I think my neighbor is also real glad!

The light for my tractor was $315! Your light and mine can't be that much different. I better check on that price somewhere else before I pickup the part.

Anyway this prompted me to make a grille guard cause I don't believe the one New Holland makes for my tractor would have prevented the damage.

Here's a pic of my new homemade grille guard. I got $50 of material in it and about 16 hours labor.

 

[NHeuro]

Nice grill guard and cheap
If you can use your hands you will be rich /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
and win a lot of money

 

[daTeacha]

NH brags about the efficiency of the new lights. I have to wonder how the grille guards and loader arms interfere with that.

It almost seems the old round flood light style lights might be a better solution after all. -- Cheaper by far, easy to take off when not needed to protect them from damage, easily replaced when you break them.

 

[PoleClimber]

I'm going to modify mine like yours so it wraps around the corners. Yours looks like its very well built. I don't know if the lights are the same or not. I ordered my light through Messicks. I neglected to get a part # to match up on thier web site.

Bernie

 

[PoleClimber]

I used to have mine on the quick attach but it was to awkward getting around the driveways I plow. Here's a photo of the setup I use now. As you can see there's not much I can do with a grill guard with the plow bracket on. I do have a guard for the tractor but I would have to modify everything unless I made a special setup to hookup to my plow mount for the winter.

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Here's a pic of my new homemade grille guard. )</font>

Hey! That's a great lookin' grill guard, Oscar. It looks like it's pinned in the back so it will pivot forward to allow the hood to open. Am I correct? I think I'd go ahead and add expanded metal to the guard over the lights too. I plan to do that to my factory grill guard this spring before I do much more limb handling. Actually, my rock bucket grapple is shaped so that my front end is mostly protected, but I still get that random limb that just happens to penetrate and poke things it shouldn't. I think expanded metal like in the middle of your grill guard would prevent that danger.

 

[Osconda]

Thanks for the compliment JINMAN. I thought about adding the expanded metal to the sides also but wasn't sure how that would affect the light dispersion. I might add a few pins to each side so I can add some removeable expanded metal sections. I can then remove them when working at night, which doesn't happen very often.

Yes, your right about the pins to tilt it forward. I went ahead and welded those brackets to the frame cause I didn't want to drill all the 1/2" holes in it. The center uprights are 1/2 plate and the square tubing in the center has 1/4" walls. Not sure what the smaller tubing is... maybe 1/8". Anyway the darn thing weighs about 60lbs.

 

[LBrown59]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I thought they were plastic also but found out they are glass. I had a 3 inch tree branch in my grapple snag while backing, and it kicked back into the side of the headlight. unfortunately these are not a stock item and had to be ordered from New Holland. )</font>

Not cheap either I bet.

 

[LBrown59]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( NH brags about the efficiency of the new lights. I have to wonder how the grille guards and loader arms interfere with that.

It almost seems the old round flood light style lights might be a better solution after all. -- Cheaper by far, easy to take off when not needed to protect them from damage, easily replaced when you break them. )</font>

My old bolens tractors have round sealed beam headlights.
Light up in front of you more like car headlights do.
Much better than the headlights on my BX23 and the bolens has a gen. wirh enough gusto to keep up with the battery headlights and starter instead of a week knead puny dynamo like the BX has.

=====

 

[dqdave1]

Liked your pic of front plow. Is it a myers power angle blade. It looked like all you did was fab the mounting hookup. Did you use the truck mount and adapt it? I assume you used your joystick from FEL to angle and lower/raise blade. Looks greeat and a good solution to a front blade.