daryl672
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Post by daryl672 on Nov 21, 2020 15:51:41 GMT -6
I want to install led light bars on top of the cabs of my 6030, 8440 and 7720. The sound guard cabs might be a little narrow to mount a 50 inch one without a lot of rigging or making special mounts, a 42 inch looks like it would be easier to work with. But I am wondering if it would put out ample lighting. Anyone have any experience with them? How well would a 42 inch light things up?
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Post by meskie on Nov 21, 2020 16:29:13 GMT -6
42” will give off a lot of light. But I would go with 2 or 3 smaller ones so you can aim the light where you want it.
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daryl672
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Post by daryl672 on Nov 21, 2020 17:01:37 GMT -6
I'm actually looking at packages from ebay that have the light bar plus 4- 4 inch lights that come with it, so yeah I was planning on also putting smaller ones on too, do both. I promised myself I would get them after I was running around the field trying to find the grain truck with those crappy lights on the combine this fall. I was just debating which size light bar I wanted before I ordered. Thanks for the insight!
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anvil
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Post by anvil on Nov 21, 2020 21:37:17 GMT -6
Do you listen to the radio??
I have heard the cheap light bars can wreak havoc with AM FM radio.
It's the cheap electronics inside, I think there is a RF suppressor that can be added but that's all i know.
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Post by meskie on Nov 21, 2020 22:46:16 GMT -6
I’ve used a few different LED lights and some give trouble and some don’t for the radio. I bought some RF suppressors Couple years ago but haven’t used any yet as the tractor that have trouble we sold.
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daryl672
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Post by daryl672 on Nov 22, 2020 0:13:16 GMT -6
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Post by northernfarmer on Nov 22, 2020 9:30:38 GMT -6
I was thinking about your idea of mounting light bars on the tractor roofs and while I have never used a light bar so not sure what the vertical spread pattern is on them typically as I imagine they vary by brand, the problem with tractors and lights on the roof shining ahead is the possibility of light hitting the top of the engine hood and if there is an exhaust stack or engine air intake stack in front and light bouncing back from any of those objects and blinding you and becomes worse when there is any dust on the windows. Then the matter of dust in the air and lets say its tillage at night and dust billowing around, that just blinds a guy as that light up high shines against all that dust in the air and looks much like driving with the high beams on in a snow storm. Obviously if you don't use the tractors much that way and turn those lights off in such conditions its fine. Just my opinion on a tractor, I think you might be happier having lights of whatever choice you went with on the front of the hood and also sides of the hood shining at an angle to light up that area in front of the tires and beyond. I'd suggest wiring it up such that you have control of those lights separate from any others but use relays such that they will not come on unless the main light switch is on or at least main cab relay trigger controlled so turning off the key will kill the power for the simple fact that it would be easy to forget turning off these extra switches or accidentally flick one on during the daytime and not realize it and kill your batteries.
The combine, again not sure how the vertical light spread is and others with experience would have to chime in to give feed back on that but with a combine you want to make sure no light shines against the windshield and don't imagine it would with lights bars on top but just something to keep in mind. I've put extra lights on one combine as an experiment by using some square LED units mounted on the hand railings, combination of a medium beam pattern unit shining forward with a slight tipped down bias and then another light that is more of a flood pattern aimed out at an angle and down to see the end of the straight cut header good and the crop just out ahead of it. Then using them for the first time and finding out how the light hit objects that reflected back at the operator, stray light hitting the windshield or lighting up part of the hand railing and that even being a problem. I had to make different brackets to move them some, make shielding out of metal or plastic to prevent light from going where it caused operator blinding. Its always an experiment it seems, what light pattern and where its mounted and how it all works out in the end and certainly some factory light placements have been far less then desirable.
In the last couple of falls I have started leaving the trucks run at night ( diesel truck/trailers ) with the clearance lights on when sitting in the field so that they are easy to find, combine windshields start getting dusty and not the best lights on older combines and so on and so the combine operator can see far in the distance as to where the truck or trucks are sitting and no hunting around in a cloud of dust as we get those conditions where the air becomes still and with more then one combine in the field its disorienting and a person is tired and struggling and with weird shaped fields and trees the truck can be around a corner etc and it being lit up helps a lot. Same would apply for a cart operator to find the truck easy as well.
Anyway just some personal thoughts on the topic with my good and bad experiences over the years
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Post by northernfarmer on Nov 22, 2020 10:27:22 GMT -6
Also a curious question, how are you planning on running a light bar that draws that kind of power as that figures out to about 50 amps for the bar alone and another 10 amps for the two small lights. I would assume that you will have to install high amperage output alternators on all three of those units as for example the 6030 may only have a 55 amp alternator and the combine a little bigger possibly at 72 amps and the four wheel drive a 90 amp unit from what I find info on and with other lights and a cab fan etc, any of those alternators would be overloaded. These larger LED light bars suck insane amounts of power and wanted to make you aware of that if you were not looking at that aspect.
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daryl672
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Post by daryl672 on Nov 22, 2020 13:48:33 GMT -6
I realized the muffler in the tractors were going to block the beam directly in front of me and I would lose some vision there but I'm hoping it won't effect too wide an area. I don't think there will be a reflection problem with them since they are black. I mainly want better lighting off to the sides to see where the edge of my last pass was anyways, so I figured I would give it a shot. And with the combine, yeah, there shouldn't be any problem with blockage at all. As for dust, well you get that with normal lights too, we'll have to see how these perform in those conditions. All I know is it can't be any worse than what i have now. As for the amps, from what I read these chinese lights don't actually draw the amps they are supposed to, I'm hoping that is correct. I figured if guys are putting them on trucks there should be no problems putting them on a tractor or combine. Here's a couple posts I found about it on a forum www.f150forum.com/f83/500w-light-bar-do-i-need-stronger-alternator-312683/"Most chinese 50-52" light bars are rated at 300w, so I wonder what the true output/draw of yours will be. I have 3 x 30" 180w bars (540w total) and I don't have a problem with my 05 powering all those, the high beams, and my subwoofer. When I hit the lights, my battery voltage drops from ~14.4v to ~13.7v." "You are correct, all these Asian bars state X amount of watts based of the number of leds. The true wattage isn't even close. You'll be fine with the stock alternator" Somewhere else I read a guy saying his 52 inch bar was only drawing about 30 amps, so I guess I will find out when I try it. I'll try to remember to do a follow up and let you guys know once I do |
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Post by Albertabuck on Nov 22, 2020 14:12:35 GMT -6
Daryl you should look into how the Aussies did up lights on the earlier tractors. You want the lights up front so they don't reflect off the hood, the glare will be over powering. If your 6030 has AC then it should already have at min a 72 or most likely a 90 amp alternator already. The 84 should be similar. However on either of them, you have to add relays into any circuitry for additional lights on those older Deeres, never mind the switch, the wiring can't hack it. I can't remember if any of it is available online, but there was an organization like our PAMI down there that did tests and such with tractors, Kondinin Group I think it was called, I have one of their books from the 90s, shows a lot of good ideas.
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Post by meskie on Nov 22, 2020 14:19:58 GMT -6
It looked like that light that was linked had a switch and relay that came with it. If not you can buy them of amazon for pretty cheap. They are easy as you just hook up the power and ground and its wired properly.
I’m not sure how some of those company’s measure watts. Sometimes it the equivalent to a halogen watt and sometimes it’s how many watts the lights are. Then there are some that don’t make any sense at all. I try to find ones that tell the lumen output. I have some where a 24 W light out performs a 45W light.
The really white led lights really shine on dust on a combine. Almost like driving into a blizzard. Most of the cheaper ones are around 6000 for colour as they appear to give off more light. In dusty distractions I found the 4500 color is better. But everybody’s eyes are different.
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daryl672
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Post by daryl672 on Nov 22, 2020 16:46:00 GMT -6
Daryl you should look into how the Aussies did up lights on the earlier tractors. You want the lights up front so they don't reflect off the hood, the glare will be over powering. If your 6030 has AC then it should already have at min a 72 or most likely a 90 amp alternator already. The 84 should be similar. However on either of them, you have to add relays into any circuitry for additional lights on those older Deeres, never mind the switch, the wiring can't hack it. I can't remember if any of it is available online, but there was an organization like our PAMI down there that did tests and such with tractors, Kondinin Group I think it was called, I have one of their books from the 90s, shows a lot of good ideas. Well there won't be any worries about reflection off the 6030 hood, it looks like it was stored outside most of it's life, it's pretty faded. lol. But yeah it could be a problem with the 8440. I'll have to see if I can keep it adjusted high enough to be functional if that's a problem. I already thought that if nothing else I can always move it to the back of the cab and use it to shine back. We'll see how it goes once I get them installed. I'm just tired of straining my eyes with these crappy lights I have now. If it doesn't I can always try going with smaller lights up front or something |
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daryl672
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Post by daryl672 on Nov 22, 2020 17:00:37 GMT -6
It looked like that light that was linked had a switch and relay that came with it. If not you can buy them of amazon for pretty cheap. They are easy as you just hook up the power and ground and its wired properly. I’m not sure how some of those company’s measure watts. Sometimes it the equivalent to a halogen watt and sometimes it’s how many watts the lights are. Then there are some that don’t make any sense at all. I try to find ones that tell the lumen output. I have some where a 24 W light out performs a 45W light. The really white led lights really shine on dust on a combine. Almost like driving into a blizzard. Most of the cheaper ones are around 6000 for colour as they appear to give off more light. In dusty distractions I found the 4500 color is better. But everybody’s eyes are different. I read about some guys having to run heavier wires to stop the bars from flickering, might have to do that if its a problem, and maybe even a better switch. I'm sure what comes with the bar isn't going to be top of the line. And yeah it looks like these ones I bought are 6000 colour, maybe the 4500 would be better. I guess I'll have to see once I have them Good feedback guys, appreciate the help |
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jaymo
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Post by jaymo on Nov 22, 2020 19:14:19 GMT -6
All our equipment has LED lighting. For the most part we have swapped out the original lights with similar wattage LED. We've also managed to find really good LED insert bulbs too so everything looks nice and tidy.
Slapping a giant light bar on the roof is pretty quick and easy but then your old halogen lights will look really pathetic!
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Post by northernfarmer on Nov 22, 2020 19:28:09 GMT -6
I was taking the wattage at face value but like you mentioned they are playing the numbers game to impress no doubt. The small lights I installed and tested and could test with a multi meter were what they said they would draw. I used a simple multi tester as a lot of the cheaper ones can only carry up to 10 amps and then blow a fuse if much beyond that so would have to use an amp clamp around meter instead for testing purposes on the light bars and also do a battery voltage before and after the load is applied to see how the system is coping with it.
As to the light beam pattern and what light ends up hitting the engine hood, experimenting with a light on a roof will soon tell the story to a degree but if there is any amount of light that hits the hood it will reflect far more into your eyes to change your pupil size then one would give it credit for and even that black stack. One thing I have found with lights is that if there is any line of sight between the lens of a light and the surface of a windshield invariably some light even though its insignificant will shine from the lens to the windshield and if the windshield is clean you don't notice it much but as soon as there is any dust its a whole other situation. So another words 90 degrees for example from where the light is aimed can be affected by this stray light and cause grief. That is part of the reason I bring all this up, I suspect the light hitting the stack will bounce back onto your windshield ( and your eyes ) and when the windshield gets dirty is when you will notice the real effects. Hard to know some of these things until one is operating the equipment out in the field at night in the dust and then you get all the answers.
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