Tractor radio

[JHurt]

Anyone have a recommendation on a fender mount radio? Must have an aux input, or Bluetooth on it. I really don't care if it even has AM/FM on it. I've searched the web and found a couple that I'm interested in, but just wanted to hear some real world experience from the TBN community. Thanks in advance!

 

[M5farms]

JUst get a good quality bloothtooth speaker if you don't want a radio. A lot of them now are water proof . a simple mount could be constructed real easy

 

[JHurt]

After a little research I think that is what i'm leaning towards at this point. Thanks!

 

[frugalangler]

Otherwise, Sony and others make a Marine head that's designed to fit in a 5" (or about) opening where most unusable speedometers reside, nice units, as an option

 

[drizler]

JUst get a good quality bloothtooth speaker if you don't want a radio. A lot of them now are water proof . a simple mount could be constructed real easy

This sort of thing makes the most sense. Once upon a time you had to chop hole to mount things like radios and speakers. Today you can tuc them away under the dash wherever they are so small. No need to even drill holes often either. Just make a small enclosure or buy one and simply glue it on with silicone . You can scrape it all off when you change your mind. I love this new stuff.

 

[M5farms]

This sort of thing makes the most sense. Once upon a time you had to chop hole to mount things like radios and speakers. Today you can tuc them away under the dash wherever they are so small. No need to even drill holes often either. Just make a small enclosure or buy one and simply glue it on with silicone . You can scrape it all off when you change your mind. I love this new stuff.

I was going to put a radio in my Kuboto rtv when I realized my wife had a small Bluetooth speaker she won as a door prize last year. I sick it in the glove box and when I want to listen to the radio or a ballgame I just pull it out put it on the dash and use the tunein app . simple but gets the job done . when on my cables tractor I pop in my BT earbuds and put ear muffs over them and off igo

 

[Steave]

I use to do the ear buds with hearing protection over them. Great sound this way but got tired of the wires to my IPhone. Wanted these blue tooth headphones with hearing protection and finally broke down and got them a couple months ago. I enjoy these as they are comfortable , blue tooth, AM/FM, with great sound and reception is as good as my truck stereo and way better than my home stereo.

What I miss though is not being able to hear the phone ringing through the headphones. When the phone rings it cuts off the signal slightly for a couple of small blips but hard to recognize a text call with the tractor running. My ear buds had a speaker built in the wiring so you could talk and listen during a phone call. It is quality built but you'd expect it to be at $70. Another good point is it uses 2 regular batteries AAA. I had them knocked off my head by limbs and hit the ground 2 times don't seem to bother them.

Amazon.com: 3M WorkTunes Wireless Hearing Protector with Bluetooth Technology and AM/FM Digital Radio (9542-3DC): Home Improvement

 

[Brazos by Nemo]

I have a lot of Mkita tools so I bought a Makita radio that uses the same batteries as my tools and bungee it to my rops and it sits on my rear fender. Works great and I use the radio all the time off the tractor. It was cheap and they have blue tooth options, etc.

 

[DFB]

Even though you originally asked about radios it sounds like a Blue Tooth speaker is more in line to what your wanting if a built in am/fm tuner isn't necessity as you mention further along in the original post.

I have a few different ones and use them often with a tiny MP3 player that also has AM/FM and SDS sound card options. Of course you can use smartphone Ipod etc that does all that too

Plenty of options in BT for size, and/or sound quality, plus numerous ones have an IP water resistance rating for outdoor use, some even be submerged in water and still work, and many have rubberized boot protection.

Some including the Altec Lansing I have also has threaded insert for a more permanent mounting with a bolt. Though hook and loop or two sided 3m tape could be options too.

I have quite a few outdoor/worksite options for sound and the Milwaukee M12 radio was the very first, it's one rugged radio. And I have an inexpensive BT receiver adapter on it too so I can also wirelessly stream to it. And that was followed by the small Milwaukee wedged shaped BT speaker. I have carabineer clipped to that for a secure attachment for like on a tool bag. Again its built tough.


Since then purchased the new dual battery BT speaker Milwaukee released awesome sound and pretty bulletproof but you really pay for it too.

I also have Sunex Tools socket speaker it looks like impact socket and it has a fairly secure magnetic base for flat metal surfaces like a tool box, fender or even the ROPS. Holds pretty good though normally I won't be driving around with it like that!

Battery life maybe important and many with built in rechargeable batteries have different run times and recharge times. This is probably the main reason I like the power tool battery sound options I can quickly swap out batteries if needed but what BT speakers I have has pretty phenomenal runtime and easily more than all day long. Radio pulls more power from the batteries but still good too.

Amazon is full of speaker options. Prices vary from < $20 range to over $100 and of course sound quality and loudness will too. I have also seen dual wireless BT speakers offerings recently.

There is an older thread on few different BT speakers and some worksite radios

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/348910-bluetooth-speaker-tractor-recommendations.html

Let us know what you end up with

 

[CincyFlyer]

You can get some decent musician's in-ear monitors for under $100 that will block external sound (no added hearing protection needed) and plug into your iDevice.