New tail-lights LED

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,318]

 While working on my garage cleaning task I found these LED marker lights that I probably bought 4 or 5 years ago. My plan back then was to install em on my GT1600 plow tractor…so today that’s what I did. 
  Decided to leave the factory reflectors and mount the new lights just below. Pretty happy with the results.

[stevasaurus 22,741]

That looks really cool Mike.  Lights really come in handy when out at night moving snow.  Question is, "How much stuff do you intend to find (that you did not know you had) and how many more projects is this making for you"?    

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,318]

14 minutes ago, stevasaurus said:

Question is, "How much stuff do you intend to find (that you did not know you had) and how many more projects is this making for you"?    

Haha! Finding this “stuff” has really slowed the garage cleaning process.

  There I was cleaning and organizing the garage when something shiny caught my eye…..2 hours later I have rear tail-lights  

Garage still needs some attention 

[stevasaurus 22,741]

Man, I know that feeling.  I had 2 mice in my garage this last fall.  I set a couple of traps with peanut butter on the trigger.  One was licked clean, and the other one caught a mouse that dragged the trap under horses or work benches or what ever.  I need to drag out all the stuff to find that trap.  I still have 1 mouse cleaning the peanut butter off the trigger.  Clever little guy, but his days are numbered.    I've been watching "Tom & Jerry" cartoons to get smarter.

[stevasaurus 22,741]

Mike, the difference with me...I'm looking for things that I think I have somewhere...I am sure I am going to find things I have forgot that I had.  I need to put some pictures up also.  It's that time of year.  

[WHGuy413 2,686]

34 minutes ago, Sparky said:

Haha! Finding this “stuff” has really slowed the garage cleaning process.

  There I was cleaning and organizing the garage when something shiny caught my eye…..2 hours later I have rear tail-lights  

Garage still needs some attention 

9 times out of 10 I start cleaning and get side tracked and end up working my tractors too. I did actually just manage to get the whole garage cleaned besides my work bench. I’m shocked myself that I managed that task without working on something. I like those lights. I may have to do this to mine. 

Edited December 31, 2021 by WHGuy413

[Snoopy11 5,714]

28 minutes ago, stevasaurus said:

I had 2 mice in my garage this last fall. 

Why not just use the green poison cubes that I use?

 

Just put them in the corners of rooms... etc... and the mice will be gone in... less than 2 days...

 

 

Don

Edited December 31, 2021 by Snoopy11

[stevasaurus 22,741]

Don, I have to be careful not to kill other wildlife.  

[Snoopy11 5,714]

4 minutes ago, stevasaurus said:

Don, I have to be careful not to kill other wildlife.  

True sir, in the locations that I use them... no wildlife can access, 'cept for the mice...

 

Don

[peter lena 8,629]

@stevasaurus  , when baiting traps , you don't want to feed them , you want to kill them , put some peanut butter INSIDE  the barrel on the feed pad, I use a tooth pick to just put in enough for smell and death , attach fishing line to base of trap to secure it , after killing , put mouse in trap on fence post , red tailed hawk ,s  have taken mine , pete 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

4 hours ago, stevasaurus said:

mouse cleaning the peanut butter off the trigge

 

That's what I thought too, until...

 

One night checking the traps I saw them damn Mole Crickets swarmed around it gorging themselves on P.B.

 

 

[kpinnc 12,062]

Those lights look nice Mike! I think I may grab a set for the Bronco. I always wondered how to get some lights on that one.

[Horse Newbie 7,069]

16 hours ago, Sparky said:

2 hours later I have rear tail-lights  

How did you wire those in to your existing wiring on the lights circuit ? I have a 1984 Work Horse GT-1600 that I am currently working on refreshing, and plan to change the rear reflectors to lights.

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,318]

32 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

How did you wire those in to your existing wiring on the lights circuit ? I have a 1984 Work Horse GT-1600 that I am currently working on refreshing, and plan to change the rear reflectors to lights.

Used one of those blue plastic “t” taps that come with trailer wiring kits to tap into the hot wire going to the headlights. The taillights themselves are grounded to the fender metal. 

[Horse Newbie 7,069]

15 minutes ago, Sparky said:

Used one of those blue plastic “t” taps that come with trailer wiring kits to tap into the hot wire going to the headlights. The taillights themselves are grounded to the fender metal. 

I plan on using LED lights on rear fenders. Do you think the light circuit will handle the extra load without any alterations.

[EB-80/8inPA 1,641]

16 hours ago, stevasaurus said:

that dragged the trap under horses or work benches or what ever

Another reason I prefer not to use poison.  But even the trapped ones that hide really well before they croak will stop stinking after a couple of days or so.  Delightful creatures, really.  I think they actually do clean up duty on their dead.

Is there anything they won’t eat?

[peter lena 8,629]

@Sparky  have led tail lights on y 3 horses , walmart has them , exact fit for original reflectors . emphasis should be on very reliable connections and grounding , used wire wrap to insure no chafing , very bright , pete

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

3 hours ago, Horse Newbie said:

extra load

 

LEDs draw almost no current.  The original circuit won't even notice.

 

 

Each tail light draws about 50 milliamps ( or  0.05 Amps).  The backup lamp draws about 400 milliamps (or just under a half amp.).

 

 

Edited January 1, 2022 by Jeff-C175

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

2 hours ago, EB-80/8inPA said:

clean up duty

 

I had a rat in the garage wall.  I set a snap trap.  Every day for weeks the wiley rat somehow tripped it without getting caught and took the bait.

 

One day there was a HALF a mouse caught!

 

I put the remaining half under the bait pedal and FINALLY! got the sumbeech.  And it was a BIIIGGGGGG!!!! RAT!  They don't get that big being stupid, but he couldn't resist his desert.

Edited January 1, 2022 by Jeff-C175

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,318]

3 hours ago, Horse Newbie said:

I plan on using LED lights on rear fenders. Do you think the light circuit will handle the extra load without any alterations.

That’s the beauty of LED’s…minimal amperage draw, so definitely no problem adding to the existing circuit. In the case of my plow tractor I also swapped in LED headlights. 

[dodge78 90]

21 hours ago, stevasaurus said:

Don, I have to be careful not to kill other wildlife.  

Use Fresh Cab, it does not kill them but will drive them out.

[Horse Newbie 7,069]

6 hours ago, Sparky said:

also swapped in LED headlights. 

I am strongly considering going to LED’s on my ‘94 520H, and my ‘84 Work Horse GT-1600… the only reason I haven’t yet is I don’t really mind the old school “ orange “ headlights, and I will almost certainly never be operating them at night where I need lots of illumination. But, then again swapping over to LED would certainly save on the wear and tear and strain on the voltage regulator/ charging system… y’all think ?

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

4 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

y’all think

 

I actually don't.  I don't believe that lowering the load would make it last longer.

[kpinnc 12,062]

33 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

But, then again swapping over to LED would certainly save on the wear and tear and strain on the voltage regulator/ charging system… y’all think ?

 

On both those tractors, it's simple plug and play. PAR-36 bulb style. Check Superbrightleds.com. Not cheap, but likely a one time purchase. They produce more than double the light output, and they last forever. As has been said before, they use almost no power. 

 

...sorry, I'm a bit of a fan. I got sick and tired of finding dead bulbs with incandescent lights every flipping time I needed them.

Edited January 2, 2022 by kpinnc

[kpinnc 12,062]

I gotta add one more comment:

 

My 310-8 has a battery that is several years old, and is only good for a couple start attempts. The voltages below are with the tractor not running. Four LED lights drop the battery from 12.2 to 12.1 VDC, and as I said the battery is just about gone. Any other type (incandescent, halogen, whatever) of high output light would drastically load the battery or charging system. 

 

Some folks prefer incandescent for the originality factor, and I respect that. Unfortunately each of my tractors has a job, and performance is my priority.

 

Edited January 2, 2022 by kpinnc