ROPS lights - pods vs light bar

[Rutland]

I have a L3901 and want to add lights to the ROPS for moving round bales when it's dark out. For front facing lights does it make a difference having a 12-20 in light bar vs two pods spread apart? I carry a bale about foot off the ground and generally have 5x5, so that is 6 feet up and the bales stick out a ways. I would think either option would be an improvement, just wondering what others experiences are.

In addition I am considering adding a beacon, or additional amber lights to tie into the blinker/hazards on the ROPS. I have to drive just over a mile on the road and would like better visibility to vehicles. Does anyone have a recommendation for this? Also can I drive on the road with a light bar turned on without blinding traffic, and is it legal?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

No you cannot legally drive on the road with a light bar on, they are listed as off road use only.
Put a pair mounted low and pointed down for road use, that should keep you out of trouble.
I'm a fan of mix of light bars and pods mounted in different locations.
Also note: You can get LED's in flood, spot, or a combination of both.
I also use LED flashers (red to the rear and yellow to the front).
If you have any white lights pointed to the rear, put them on a seperate switch than the front facing, so you can run down the road without them on.

 

[John T]

I have a L3901 and want to add lights to the ROPS for moving round bales when it's dark out. For front facing lights does it make a difference having a 12-20 in light bar vs two pods spread apart? I carry a bale about foot off the ground and generally have 5x5, so that is 6 feet up and the bales stick out a ways. I would think either option would be an improvement, just wondering what others experiences are.

In addition I am considering adding a beacon, or additional amber lights to tie into the blinker/hazards on the ROPS. I have to drive just over a mile on the road and would like better visibility to vehicles. Does anyone have a recommendation for this? Also can I drive on the road with a light bar turned on without blinding traffic, and is it legal?

On my BX23s, I use 2 led light pods in front (Rigid brand) and 2 strobes on the back of the bar.
This is only for my safety when I cut the grass near the street OR plow snow.

if you buy a good quality LED light, either will work fine pods/bar.

If I were in your position, I would probably get a full light bar to mount on the rops along with good quality LED strobes (Whelen brand) for the rear

As far as running on the road, Yes they are illegal (and discourteous) to oncoming traffic.

One option is Amber clip on covers... I have a 40" (Black Oak) light bar on my Jeep and I have amber covers on for that reason. They are still VERY bright...
I usually click them off when I see oncoming traffic.

Check out Black Oak lighting.
I have the single row on my jeep and it is More than enough. They also make a double row that you can probably see from the moon.

Stay away from cheap eBay/amazon Chinese led light bars.

Black oak/whelen/rigid... all good name and most law enforcement/military use them.

they are expensive, But well worth it. Black oak is liftime warrantee.
They replaced mine last year... because of a slight paint peel... send one picture, they sent a brand new light in the box with a pickup slip paid for the return
Great cust service.

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[Mark_BX25D]

Check out Black Oak lighting.

Thanks for that tip and the testimony! It's hard to find good quality products these days, and companies that will stand behind them. And some of us like to buy American.


Speaking of tips, notice that your comment I quoted is now a link? That's very handy for your readers.

You could also do it this way.

Here's how that's done:

Look for the chain symbol at the top of the post you are editing. Here it is:

Just highlight the text you want to make into a link, click that chain, and then paste in the URL. Done!

 

[Bee-Positive]

I have a ROPS mounted light bar pointing forward and two spots pointing backwards, one down towards the 3 pt. and one back about 10'. The bar lights up a nice wide area. Contrary to JT above I have the "cheap Amazon" lights, no leaks or condensate, three years so far, stored outside uncovered most of the summer. Inside in the winter.

As far as on the road you could get brighter LED replacement bulbs for the stock headlights. Would work well if you're not traveling with a load or otherwise blocked by the FEL or bale spear.

 

[chim]

There are lots of threads on lighting. My preference is LED floods because you want to light wide nearby areas. Spots aren't useful on something that only travels 17MPH. Individual lights / pods can be aimed independently and that's an advantage over bars. I think some people go with light bars because they enjoy saying "light bar".

In recent years different programmable LED flashers have come along. They're available as domes, surface, flat and semi-flush mounts. Not wanting to add height to the cab, I used these flat little 3-LED guys on the perimeter of the L4240 Although they're small, the light is incredibly bright. At night the ones on the front and rear light up road signs at quite a distance and the ones on the sides light up houses along the road. The wiring is fished around the inside of the top.

 

[McMXi]

I've been a fanboy of VisionX products for close to 20 years now ever since my friend in Hawaii introduced me to them. He was so impressed with them that he became a dealer. He owns and operates a recovery company specializing in difficult recoveries such as a big rig rolling down an embankment. He needs to have top tier lights since he never knows when or where his next recovery job is so he has tens of thousands of dollars worth of VisionX and raves about how good they are, how problem free they are etc. That's been my experience too with two sets of headlights and three lightbars.

Currently I have VisionX headlights in the Jeep as well as a 12" lightbar. I have a 30" lightbar on the F-250 and will most likely add a lightbar to the F-450 once I have the new bumper/brush guard installed.

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I will readily admit that I'm not prepared to spend VisionX money on either tractor. Both came with front and rear work lights which are decent on the M6060 and ok on the MX. I did buy three sets of Hella LED cubes but have yet to install them. If only I could find good headlights for the F-250.

 

[ObservantTexan]

I installed 2 light bars, front and back…then 2 pods, 1 right, 1 left. I then installed an Auxbeam 8 gang switch to turn them in and off.

 

[tcalvin48]

I have a ROPS mounted light bar pointing forward and two spots pointing backwards, one down towards the 3 pt. and one back about 10'. The bar lights up a nice wide area. Contrary to JT above I have the "cheap Amazon" lights, no leaks or condensate, three years so far, stored outside uncovered most of the summer. Inside in the winter.

As far as on the road you could get brighter LED replacement bulbs for the stock headlights. Would work well if you're not traveling with a load or otherwise blocked by the FEL or bale spear.

Hey Bee, that's where I'm looking too. What 'cheap brand' did you use? I think I would like to get pods so I could turn them 180 for working with the backhoe. How are you mounting them on the ROPS?
Thanks,
Tom Stoltz
in Maine

 

[Bee-Positive]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XP2J1G1?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

The forward facing flood is held to the underside of top the ROPS with two 50# magnets (also Amazon).
Each rear facing flood is bolted into existing holds on the sides of the ROPS.
The wire harness is routed inside the ROPS, under the seat and chassis, to the battery. It's not wired through the key / relays at all so I have to be sure it's "Off" so I don't drain the battery.
The on/off button supplied with the wire harness fit right into the unused hole for the cruise control which the BX1880 does not have.

I did notice condensate in one of the small spots yesterday, but it works fine. I'll have to disassemble and dry it out.

 

[Bee-Positive]

P.S. The kit does not come with the relay shown in the wire diagram picture. The instructions do show how to wire it directly to the battery.

 

[tcalvin48]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XP2J1G1?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

The forward facing flood is held to the underside of top the ROPS with two 50# magnets (also Amazon).
Each rear facing flood is bolted into existing holds on the sides of the ROPS.
The wire harness is routed inside the ROPS, under the seat and chassis, to the battery. It's not wired through the key / relays at all so I have to be sure it's "Off" so I don't drain the battery.
The on/off button supplied with the wire harness fit right into the unused hole for the cruise control which the BX1880 does not have.

I did notice condensate in one of the small spots yesterday, but it works fine. I'll have to disassemble and dry it out.

Really interesting, thank you and it has left me with many questions... the Amazon 50 lb magnets look like they have hooks. I didn't see a rectangular magnets. I get my magnets from K&J Magnets. Rufus AI says the bar weighs 6 lbs so the 50lb magnets must hold pretty tight. Wiring seems straight forward enough except for where to mount the rocker switch. My B2650 doesn't have any unused holes for mounting it. That could be interesting.
Sure gets dark early now, I could use the light, thanks again,
Tom Stoltz
in Maine

 

[Bee-Positive]

Really interesting, thank you and it has left me with many questions... the Amazon 50 lb magnets look like they have hooks. I didn't see a rectangular magnets. I get my magnets from K&J Magnets. Rufus AI says the bar weighs 6 lbs so the 50lb magnets must hold pretty tight. Wiring seems straight forward enough except for where to mount the rocker switch. My B2650 doesn't have any unused holes for mounting it. That could be interesting.
Sure gets dark early now, I could use the light, thanks again,
Tom Stoltz
in Maine

I used round rubber coated magnets with 1/4" male threads. I would have drilled a hole in the dash if I didn't have the hole already. The 30 lbs. one would probably work just fine.