Temporary Rooftop 360 lighting for night and early morning.

chim · Nov 13, 2019

I thought the OP was looking for 360 degree warning lights until I re-read the thread. Here's my approach. Been too busy lately and the grass and leaves were getting ahead of me. With rain (and probably the end of civilization as we know it according to the local weather guy) forecast for yesterday, I decided to mow Monday night. I checked a weather app that showed the temp at 54 and a dewpoint of 41. Grass was dry as a bone. It was 9:30 PM when mowing began.

Lighting Revisited - OrangeTractorTalks - Everything Kubota

Rustyiron · Nov 13, 2019

Nothing wrong with the cheap eBay China lights. I bought a pair of 48w after buying a ECCO (domestic) led and comparing them side by side. Both were identical right down to the casting of the housings and mounting hardware. I figured rather than them making the money from me thinking that I was supporting an American company, I'd cut them out of it. The price difference was shameful, the single light (Ecco) an Idaho company, was $45, on eBay I bought a "4 pack" for maybe $60, it's been 4-5 years ago and I don't exactly remember the price but one of them is starting to get a foggy lens but still operates and the "fogging" of the lens is not noticeable.
I have 4 on the on the tractor and 4 of them on the shelf for replacement's, that so far has been unnecessary.
My plowing route takes about 6-7 hours, usually well after dark, and there are usually 26+ "plowing events" every year so they do get some decent hours on them.

bridge4 · Nov 13, 2019

chim said:
I thought the OP was looking for 360 degree warning lights until I re-read the thread. Here's my approach. Been too busy lately and the grass and leaves were getting ahead of me. With rain (and probably the end of civilization as we know it according to the local weather guy) forecast for yesterday, I decided to mow Monday night. I checked a weather app that showed the temp at 54 and a dewpoint of 41. Grass was dry as a bone. It was 9:30 PM when mowing began.

Lighting Revisited - OrangeTractorTalks - Everything Kubota

Better have lights on that mower lol. Thanks for the link!

Edit: You do have lights on that mower :laughing:

That little cube hidden near the step is genius. I like your placement choices. I will check out my tractor in the next week or so and try to find some clever spaces like that!

bridge4 · Nov 13, 2019

Rustyiron said:
Nothing wrong with the cheap eBay China lights. I bought a pair of 48w after buying a ECCO (domestic) led and comparing them side by side. Both were identical right down to the casting of the housings and mounting hardware. I figured rather than them making the money from me thinking that I was supporting an American company, I'd cut them out of it. The price difference was shameful, the single light (Ecco) an Idaho company, was $45, on eBay I bought a "4 pack" for maybe $60, it's been 4-5 years ago and I don't exactly remember the price but one of them is starting to get a foggy lens but still operates and the "fogging" of the lens is not noticeable.
I have 4 on the on the tractor and 4 of them on the shelf for replacement's, that so far has been unnecessary.
My plowing route takes about 6-7 hours, usually well after dark, and there are usually 26+ "plowing events" every year so they do get some decent hours on them.

I'd love to see a picture or two of your set up. I generally like to buy American when I can, but when people are obviously just reselling chinese crap, well I'm not in a rush to do business with them.

Rustyiron · Nov 13, 2019

Not much to see, I had built in mounting locations when I made the roof and yes, no cab.

They are 48w that really light up things along with letting other traffic know your there.

These are the 4 spares that I have not needed, opening up that box for the pic reminded that I had to steal the ss mounting bracket from it last year. The light on the tractor must have vibrated enough to to break it. At the ebay price I wouldn't be too upset if they all burned out every year other than the actual time to replace them, but like I said, these are 4-5 years old. Iirc the seller had them listed each, by the pair, then choices up to about a dozen.

I will say that snow blowing presents a problem that I don't know the best answer. All the snow mist in the air (at night) is very similar to fog, now when I have to blow it's on the rear and I'm going backward and very close to this snow "mist. It may be a little better out on the front being further away if that's what you have, I just don't know and for me, blowing is usually an extra service that can be done during the day at my convenience making room for future plowings.

bridge4 · Nov 14, 2019

Rustyiron said:
View attachment 628548 View attachment 628549 View attachment 628550

Not much to see, I had built in mounting locations when I made the roof and yes, no cab. They are 48w that really light up things along with letting other traffic know your there.
View attachment 628551 These are the 4 spares that I have not needed, opening up that box for the pic reminded that I had to steal the ss mounting bracket from it last year. The light on the tractor must have vibrated enough to to break it. At the ebay price I wouldn't be too upset if they all burned out every year other than the actual time to replace them, but like I said, these are 4-5 years old. Iirc the seller had them listed each, by the pair, then choices up to about a dozen.
View attachment 628552
I will say that snow blowing presents a problem that I don't know the best answer. All the snow mist in the air (at night) is very similar to fog, now when I have to blow it's on the rear and I'm going backward and very close to this snow "mist. It may be a little better out on the front being further away if that's what you have, I just don't know and for me, blowing is usually an extra service that can be done during the day at my convenience making room for future plowings.

Thanks for the photos! You've done a great job getting that tractor into a real snow machine. Building your cab obviously helps when you can design light placement as you go, but I think there are enough areas I can mount on mine without a big worry. I have a rear blower and will be blowing the snow as often as possible to keep our parking lots open all winter. I am leaning towards amber lighting because of this. Like you said it turns into a dust cloud basically and you can't see with white light in that scenario. Amber lighting is my focus, but it is harder to find as many good options in amber. I have found a few though that I think I will try out, just not sure I will get them set this winter in time or not. Have a busy week/weekend an am going away next week. So will depend on the weather when we get back I guess.