LED head lights (PICTURES)

[callum12 256]

Hi all,

A while back i started a thread asking about the suitability of LED headlights for my A-800. I was in full swing with wiring them then I had 3 months with no tractor while it was at a friends workshop to help me with the exhaust. so I finally got it back and have really kicked off again. the LEDs are wired in and are really bright. At first I was unsure about the bright white light rather than the more yellow light from a filament bulb, but after testing I think the modern brightness contrasts nicely with the rustic old-ness!! 

I shall upload some more detailed shots and night testing tomorrow but for now here you are:

 

nice old style lamps made by a company called Ring, not sure of the brand reputation but seem just fine to me.

 

the LEDs are from eBay and labelled as 'Cree' 7W 12V LEDs. that's 7W for the two! LEDs are amazing:

 

please excuse my rather shifty look! the photo, it was taken by surprise and it looks like i'm hot-wiring the tractor to steal it or something! lol the dog is Willow. the LEDs look quite unimpressive here but they are actually very bright:

 

I shall explain and photograph the wiring and earthing methods tomorrow when i can get some good pictures.

i hope you have enjoyed looking,

Callum

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,546]

Nice! Can you get a us a picture of them at night?

Mike........

[callum12 256]

yes i sure can! they will be coming tomorrow, cameras aren't the best at showing the brightness of lights, auto exposure and such. I will shine a maglite next to it for comparison. I'm sure you all know what sort if light they chuck out.

callum

[roscoemi 245]

I have a pair of LED lights mounted to the cab of my tractor and they will turn dark into daylight! Much more light and use less power to do it, you will like them on night rides.

[312Hydro 474]

Looks great! I like the picture of you "hot wiring" the tractor while your dog keeps lookout, lol

Edited April 6, 2015 by 312Hydro

[chex313 123]

Willow looks like he/she is disgusted with you for taking credit for a wiring job that Willow must have done... Nice lights, I had the same style(Non LED) on my B80.  

[Save Old Iron 1,566]

 cameras aren't the best at showing the brightness of lights, auto exposure and such.

callum

correct, that is the whole purpose of auto exposure, to make all photos appear to be the same brightness.

 

try some comparison shots with manual exposure settings or a lux meter.

[callum12 256]

thanks for the kind words guys,

I have got an (D) SLR camera so I will use that, no lux meter though. 

me and willow are a right bunch of hooligans, but what little barking she does is much worse than her bite!

[meadowfield 2,616]

Nice work :thumbs:

[callum12 256]

As promised,

here are the more detailed shots of the wiring, the night time pictures will come later on sorry to keep you on the edge of your seat!!

 

starting at the switch, this is a large toggle style switch with a 15A (can't quite remember) limit. I bent the lower tab to insure it wouldn't short on the dash.

 

I then have a fuse in a fuse holder, I am using a 3A fuse for the LEDs, not sure where I'm going to mount the fuse holder just yet:

 

the wire from the fuse then runs under the chassis (away from any movement) and pops out through a hole used to access the front axle greaser.

 

the wire then goes into the bonnet where it splits via a piggy back spade connector to the two lights not sure how you can hold back the wires to look neater without drilling though the bonnet. any suggestions>>

 

the lights are then earthed to the bonnet using their mounting bolts, I cleaned off the old paint and rust to insure a good connection. I used rubber grommets to avoid the metal rubbing through the wires

 

the bonnet then has an earth strip running from the bolt that mounts the sheet metal to the hinge going to one of the engine mounts. this is to insure a good earth as the bonnet hinges are pretty loose at the best of times! might turn some nylon bushings using my lathe. 

 

and finally here is a shot of the dash board, looks totally original at some point i may add some dash lights that come on with the headlights (LEDs of course)

 

so i hope you enjoyed plenty more pictures, stay tuned for the night time testing!!

Callum

[callum12 256]

Finally some night time testing photos,

the first picture is just to show how dark it was:

 

and with the lights on:

 

nice lens flare here, like and action film:

 

success i'd say,

Callum

Edited April 6, 2015 by callum12

[slovinski 42]

Nice lights....good job personalizing your ride

[meadowfield 2,616]

Job well done I'd say!

To tidy up the wires, maplin do stick on clips that you run a zip tie through. I use them on my hoods, much neater than tape or letting them flap about!

[953 nut 56,150]

  Took a look and found that they make an LED replacement for the 1156 headlights on my 953s,  $ 2.11 each.  

[callum12 256]

I need to go to maplin soon anyway, I'll definitely pick up some of those.

the bulbs in mine are the H3 size, I reckon they will be a LED replacement for most sizes, If not I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to modify and make your own bulb holder. remember to change your fuse though!

 

just a thought, these pictures where taken with the engine off, so not charging the battery. the voltage should be around 14V when charging so they might be even brighter!!

Callum

[clip 185]

Looks nice! Glad to see another member is using LEDs, I like the fact that they draw a lot less compared to halogens. Here's my setup with exposure settings:

[callum12 256]

great post you've got there, those lights looks really bright. I wonder if mine have such a difference between idle and operation speed? 

Just got to sort out the engine governor stuff then i'll be away!!

Callum

[DotheDoo 15]

I upgraded my lights too. Much better at night. Also added some small license plate lights to aim down on the shifter/dash area. They are smaller than a dime but they put out a lot of light. I have one on each side of the steering column. I fabricated a bracket to hold the new LED lights keeping the stock round head light plate in place.

Edited April 7, 2015 by DotheDoo

[callum12 256]

very nice indeed, I might do some dash lights too.

did you do them so they come on with the headlights?

[meadowfield 2,616]

I've done a similar thing with 5mm leds under the dash shining down. Will try get some pics...

[Anglo Traction 761]

Hi all,

A while back i started a thread asking about the suitability of LED headlights for my A-800. I was in full swing with wiring them then I had 3 months with no tractor while it was at a friends workshop to help me with the exhaust. so I finally got it back and have really kicked off again. the LEDs are wired in and are really bright. At first I was unsure about the bright white light rather than the more yellow light from a filament bulb, but after testing I think the modern brightness contrasts nicely with the rustic old-ness!! 

I shall upload some more detailed shots and night testing tomorrow but for now here you are:

 

nice old style lamps made by a company called Ring, not sure of the brand reputation but seem just fine to me.

the LEDs are from eBay and labelled as 'Cree' 7W 12V LEDs. that's 7W for the two! LEDs are amazing:

 

please excuse my rather shifty look! the photo, it was taken by surprise and it looks like i'm hot-wiring the tractor to steal it or something! lol the dog is Willow. the LEDs look quite unimpressive here but they are actually very bright . Callum

Nice Job on the Lights Callum. Ring are a long established manufacturer and retail in UK.

 

I only used replacement LED SMD Bulbs on mine as I don't use them at night, but are much brighter after improving the reflectors- 

 

 

........not sure how you can hold back the wires to look neater without drilling though the bonnet. any suggestions?.

The way I secured the Wire to the lights was to make a tube from fine Fibre Glass matting and bonding it inside the Hood with Resin. I used some tubing from a Soap dispenser to form it and left the tube in there-

 

 

Not easy to get a good image, but worked for me and it bonded well to the abraded Powder Coated base surface prior to painting.

[callum12 256]

Anglo traction, that looks really good, really tidy. It would also protect the wires too.

meadowfield, yes we like pictures!!

Do you think I should get a bigger battery? the one I've got now is a 17 Amp hour motorcycle size battery.  id like to have a nice power reserve if I have to work in the dark without having to run the engine.

thanks all,

Callum 

[bmsgaffer 2,046]

Anglo traction, that looks really good, really tidy. It would also protect the wires too.

meadowfield, yes we like pictures!!

Do you think I should get a bigger battery? the one I've got now is a 17 Amp hour motorcycle size battery.  id like to have a nice power reserve if I have to work in the dark without having to run the engine.

thanks all,

Callum 

 

Do you have any rear lights?

 

if your LED's are 7W for the pair then your fully charged 17Ah battery will run your LED's alone for a (theoretical) 29 hours. I would leave in a little safety factor for starting reserve but I think you'll be OK!

[callum12 256]

No i don't but I will look into some, I couldn't find any that looked particularly tractor like last time i looked. 

nice! 29 hours! no worries there then, i'll leave the battery as is.

thanks all 

Callum

[DotheDoo 15]

PEP Boys by me is starting to stock a lot more LED bulbs now so it is a lot easier to get replacement bulbs. But, the complete LED light, Amazon is still the better location for lamp kits. Be sure you are getting them from a US distributor so they arrive quickly and not being shipped from Hong Kong or other places in China. Warranty can be managed a lot quicker. Also be aware of beam width. Most will list a 8 degree, 30 degree or even a 60 degree beam. The larger the number, ie. 60 degree beam, the better the light spread is on the lawn in front of you vs lighting up the neighbors with a 8 degree pencil beam that is useless on a tractor. Doesn't light up the lawn at all.
I want to install a rear light on mine, but I want the size to be small, made of metal, and out of the way. I'll post a pick once I have found something that works. The dash lights I posted earlier are wired to the head lights so all come on at the same time. I may do another set to shine down on the mower deck since I tend to find myself always cutting my grass late at night. Work long hours and kids have baseball games to watch....