What do you use for lights on your machines?

[jimbob200521]

I'm looking around at lights for the cab on my 1864 to keep me lit up this winter after dark. My ideal setup that I'm shooting for is to use the two 35 watt lights that come on the machine when I'm going down the road (I have about a 1/3 mile drive to work and between various houses that I do). When I get to a job site, I want to switch off the front lights, and then have 2 flood lights up top of my cab that I can switch on when I start plowing and one in back so I can see where I'm backing up. As far as wiring goes, that's going to be the easy part. I am making a small switch panel with a 15 amp in-line fuse that'll have 4 switches total (I'll use 2 switches for lights, front and rear, and that'll leave 2 for whatever else I may want to add on). I'm thinking some lower power LED flood lights would be a good solution for this setup. So far, I'm leaning towards these:

http://www.amazon.com/LENBO-White-Wa...pr_product_top

But I'm curious; what does the rest of OCC use for after dark lighting on there machines? Any suggestions from those that have been down this road?

[CADplans]

IMHO, LED's have a poor level of light output. They state they deliver lumens, but, my experience with them has shown different results.

I installed an LED in my shed, along side a halogen that is rated at half as many lumens.

The halogen far out performs the LED.

I have purchased several of those eBay 12 volt specials, and have tried them, they are all in the junk box.

I know we have to scrimp on amps, but, LED's do not seem to deliver.

[J-Mech]

Originally Posted by CADplans

IMHO, LED's have a poor level of light output. They state they deliver lumens, but, my experience with them has shown different results.

I installed an LED in my shed, along side a halogen that is rated at half as many lumens.

The halogen far out performs the LED.

I have purchased several of those eBay 12 volt specials, and have tried them, they are all in the junk box.

I know we have to scrimp on amps, but, LED's do not seem to deliver.

I could not agree more!!!!

I use the same lights that came out on the machine. 35W lights in rubber mounts. Very happy. It pushes the amp load to the max, but I have had not issues. I'm running 6 total 35W lights. I do however, let the machine idle (at about 1500 RPM) with all lights off for about 15 min prior to shutting it off. I do this because I found that if I don't, there isn't enough amps left to charge the battery, and after a few starts it tends to go dead. This only happens in winter months when I am pushing snow only in the dark, so the lights are always on. If I stop to come in and warm up, I just leave it running (lights off). As cold as it is, it's easier on the motor to do this anyway.

Nightlight.jpg

[sawdustdad]

LED lights have come a long way in the past 5 years. There are some now that are quite bright. I replaced 50W halogen spreader lights on my boat with 18W LEDs, and the LEDs are much brighter. I've also purchased some "60Watt" equal CREE LED lamps for household use--put three in a ceiling fan. They are every bit as bright as the 60W bulbs they replaced. Now, the $9 ea. price tag is hard to swallow, but they are supposed to last 30 years.

To the OP--if you are looking for bright lights for working at night, I'd look at the marine spreader lights. You can find cheap ones on ebay that might work OK for a while, but folks I know that bought them, discovered they are neither waterproof nor "marine grade." Good quality LED spreader lights might cost $100 each or more.

coastalnightlights.com is one well regarded seller.

http://www.coastalnightlights.com/st...spreaders.html

[jimbob200521]

Originally Posted by J-Mech

I could not agree more!!!!

I use the same lights that came out on the machine. 35W lights in rubber mounts. Very happy. It pushes the amp load to the max, but I have had not issues. I'm running 6 total 35W lights. I do however, let the machine idle (at about 1500 RPM) with all lights off for about 15 min prior to shutting it off. I do this because I found that if I don't, there isn't enough amps left to charge the battery, and after a few starts it tends to go dead. This only happens in winter months when I am pushing snow only in the dark, so the lights are always on. If I stop to come in and warm up, I just leave it running (lights off). As cold as it is, it's easier on the motor to do this anyway.

Attachment 56028

That doesn't look half bad! I'm guessing 2 in the grill and 2 on each fender (2 facing forward, 2 facing the rear)? And those are pretty cheap lights, as well. Hmm...that may be a better solution and I wouldn't need 2 facing the rear so the amp load on the electrical system would be a little less even.

sawdustdad: Thanks for the info/link! I know you get what you pay for and right now, to put it bluntly, I'm not willing to pay $40+ per light. Someday the cost will come down, but for now, it's looking more and more like I'll have to go with some classic power hungry lights for my needs. I'm still going to keep my eyes peeled, though!

[J-Mech]

Originally Posted by jimbob200521

That doesn't look half bad! I'm guessing 2 in the grill and 2 on each fender (2 facing forward, 2 facing the rear)? And those are pretty cheap lights, as well. Hmm...that may be a better solution and I wouldn't need 2 facing the rear so the amp load on the electrical system would be a little less even.

Yes. The two in grill are obviously the originals. I just bought rubber mounted 35W for the 4 on the fenders. Yes, the two that face forward on the fenders flood the sides. I found that when blowing snow, with all the "fog" you can't see very far in front of you. After some near misses with objects just off to the side, I found it way more important to see what you are next to. I have never had any issues with the grill lights not shining far enough in front of me. The two facing rear are the same way. Aimed in a pattern that lights a large area. I'm used to big tractors and wanted to see behind me, although I do other jobs at night where that is more important. When pushing snow, or even mowing, one light would be fine. FWIW, some simple shims under the upper part of the mounts of the grill lights will aim them farther forward if you don't think they are "high" enough. I haven't mounted lights on my cab yet, and let me tell you, it WILL have them come winter. I'm not doing that again. It was like working with a flashlight after using a tractor with 6!

[Shaner]

stock headlights. i used to have a set of tractor style rubber body lights on mine but they looked awful so i took them off, currently have them mounted on my gator but they are going to be removed and mounted to the bumper of my plow truck so i can see what im backing into....smashed the fender of my trailer with the bumper because i had no reverse lamps.

i have no issues with the headlights on my tractors. for some odd reason the 782 headlamps seem to outshine the 2072 headlamps. ive swapped them and still same effect... not quite sure why but i don't hardly use them in the dark anyway.

[drglinski]

Here's what I did with my 147. http://onlycubcadets.net/forum/showthread.php?t=26385

I use the stock headlights and taillights. I wanted another for the rear. Since I have a tiller mount, I used a bolt that was too high and mounted to that. The ground goes under the mount and the hot goes to a switch in the dash where the e-lift switch would be (I don't have the e lift I have a manual lift) then to a fuse then directly to the batt. The light has a quick connect - now insulated- because I take if off in the spring and re install before I need it in the winter. I got the light at O Reilleys- I think it was like 15 dollars.

[jimbob200521]

Wanted to post an update. I took the advice of guys here and decided against LED's. I instead took the more sensible approach of using standard 35 watt tractor utility lights. I went to pick up 2 at a local O'Rielly's, but they only had one for now. I ran a single 12ga wire from the battery to the main switch on my panel (a 4x4x2 PVC box drilled to house 4x switches). From there, I ran 16ga stranded wire to each of my 2 lights and 1 windshield wiper. The video provides more detail, but that's the jist of it. Also provided is wiring diagram of how things are hooked up. Hope y'all enjoy

[Rescue11]

I can't help but mention the bs of leds not performing... is bs! You get what you pay for is what it boils down to. You can get a crappy halogen light if you don't spend the money for a decent one. Leds are no different.

Buying cheapo leds from china off ebay is obviously going to yield poor results. High intensity led lighting it will blow the doors off of any light out there, ask me how I know. Not to mention the significant amp draw reduction....