I'm looking to add a light bar to by BX1880 for snowblowing. There are a number of threads but I was wondering if there was a well-documented tutorial on this process? It seems most tie into an existing electrical line vs utilizing something like the 12V plug. It may just be that my search-fu is weak and all i need is a push in the right direction.
Is there a single "best" thread for lightbars and installation?
- Thread starter tiktock
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85Hokie
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Equipment
BX-25D ,PTB. Under Armor, '90&'92-B7100HST's, '06 BX1850 FEL
Two schools of thought....
Tie into the existing electrical circuits....
Make your own...........
Neither would use the 12v plug....but I guess you could
Both can be easy - both can be a royal PITA.
1st question......
Light bar at HOW many amps?
2nd question
JUST the light bar? or you gonna mount stuff in the rear too?
3rd
Are you electrical savvy ?
1st answer:Two schools of thought....
Tie into the existing electrical circuits....
Make your own...........
Neither would use the 12v plug....but I guess you could
Both can be easy - both can be a royal PITA.
1st question......
Light bar at HOW many amps?
2nd question
JUST the light bar? or you gonna mount stuff in the rear too?
3rd
Are you electrical savvy ?
Not sure just yet...I "think" I need to find the spec for the dynamo but not sure where to locate it. Guessing owners manual but havent found it yet. Assuming 10 amps. The 12V plug says not to exceed 120 watts in the manual so 120/12v=10amp which im reading would be around the normal 50% recommendation of a 20amp dynamo. Really dont know what I'm talking about here....regurgitating what i read on another tractor forum on this topic so please correct this BS if it doesnt make sense.
2:
Was thinking just the bar out front for now. Have a front mounted snowblower. I suppose I could put two smaller lights facing rearward at the same time if that would work just for backing up and visibility. Dont need to light up a huge field here, just enough to light to see while blowing out a few hundred feet of blizzard snow in NH.
3:
I am mechanically savvy and i've done some basic electric work wiring boxes, light switches, etc but thats about it. My own answer to the 1st question is borderline gibberish to me.
85Hokie
Moderator
Staff member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
BX-25D ,PTB. Under Armor, '90&'92-B7100HST's, '06 BX1850 FEL
take a look at this page.....
your Bx1880 has a 40 amp alternator .....
https://www.kubotausa.com/docs/defa...titive-comparison-specs.pdf?sfvrsn=4b61f734_0
A 32" light bar will consume about 14+ amps.....with tractor off - a little less once started.
A 20" will draw about 10 amps...
a 22" will draw about 10 amps also.
Light bars are great - but they cannot be "aimed" - where as two 4" lights can be aimed and draw less current.
The real answer here is LUMENS...... more lumens = more light.
here is a kit that will do what you need :
fused - switch - lights......all that you need!
https://www.amazon.com/Nilight-ZH00...TF8&qid=1539827837&sr=1-14&keywords=light+bar
your Bx1880 has a 40 amp alternator .....
https://www.kubotausa.com/docs/defa...titive-comparison-specs.pdf?sfvrsn=4b61f734_0
A 32" light bar will consume about 14+ amps.....with tractor off - a little less once started.
A 20" will draw about 10 amps...
a 22" will draw about 10 amps also.
Light bars are great - but they cannot be "aimed" - where as two 4" lights can be aimed and draw less current.
The real answer here is LUMENS...... more lumens = more light.
here is a kit that will do what you need :
fused - switch - lights......all that you need!
https://www.amazon.com/Nilight-ZH00...TF8&qid=1539827837&sr=1-14&keywords=light+bar
This is the same bar hokie referring to on my tractor,there is some vertical adjustment,I need to adjust mine up just a little more
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And this is two 4 inch lights out the back,I have two more 4 inch light out the front on my roll bar but have learned that I can’t use them this time of year around here because of the bugs,I may get to use them around January maybe
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Are you simply looking for how to connect the electrical circuit?
You have two options. 1) buy a voltage tester and tap into your lighting circuit, or 2) go to Kubota dealer and buy a light harness kit for your tractor
By the sounds of things I'd recommend #2 for you.
Yes this is an area that I'm simply uninformed. I'm aware there are many options available to buy the light bars and individual lights but I'm naieve as to exactly how to connect them up to the electric system in a safe and normal way. Ideally I just want the lights up on the ROP bar, all tied into existing wiring ina way that I can flip a new switch or set of switched i'd install someplace to flip on and off he lights while the machine ran.
I agree a kit option is probably what I'd be looking for where the work I'd do would mainly be installing the lights themselves, running the wires and at most cutting into a splicing into a line that I'm told is the right one
I like learning new skills but electric work is one I am hesitant to just "dabble" with.
Did you get the wiring kits with the lights? Definitely recommend them,the come with the relays,I wouldn’t recommend booking the light bar directly to the switch,especially if your putting all the lights on one switch. I also recommend upgrading the switches that come with the wiring kits if you did get them,most of them aren’t waterproof,they are more for installing inside a truck. I had a thread on mine install,called L3200 light upgrade. Happy to answer any questions
Yeah I got one with a wiring harness/kit/switch that I think was claimed to be waterproof but I'll have to check when it arrives.
OK so I have now received my lights. The kit came with the 22" lightbar and two of the smaller remote lights. It also came with a lighted switch and wiring harness. The harness itself has outputs for two lights....assume I just split one of those two outputs to drive the two remote lights and use one for the bar.
The harness comes with a relay, fuse, etc...looks like its designed to basically hook directly to the battery mounts.
A wiring diagram that mimics what it comes with:
Am I reading this correctly that once I've wired the "To light fixture" parts to my main bar and two remotes, I'd then be hooking two separate lines (one from relay, one from switch) into the positive terminal of my battery and two to the negative if I intend to use the switch?
If instead I wanted to mount the lights and have the normal headlight switch activate my LED bar and remote lights at the same time, How would I modify this installation? That seems a better solution that drilling and mounting a new switch in my dash but if it complicates electrical work I'm clearly a bit underskilled to perform in the first place, I dot want to risk hurting anything.
The harness comes with a relay, fuse, etc...looks like its designed to basically hook directly to the battery mounts.
A wiring diagram that mimics what it comes with:
Am I reading this correctly that once I've wired the "To light fixture" parts to my main bar and two remotes, I'd then be hooking two separate lines (one from relay, one from switch) into the positive terminal of my battery and two to the negative if I intend to use the switch?
If instead I wanted to mount the lights and have the normal headlight switch activate my LED bar and remote lights at the same time, How would I modify this installation? That seems a better solution that drilling and mounting a new switch in my dash but if it complicates electrical work I'm clearly a bit underskilled to perform in the first place, I dot want to risk hurting anything.
The power and ground from the relay,power would be the fused one is for the load side of the relay, there should be a long white wire coming out of the relay as well. That will be for the switch side of the relay. If you want to tie into your headlamp switch just find the wire for your head lamps and connect that white wire to it. The switches side of the relay should already be grounded (all the ones I’ve done have the two grounds tied together and the relay connector). Might be easier to find the headlamp wire at the fuse box rather than at the switch. You might be pushing the wiring and the fuse though trying to run all three lights on the same circuit.
I *Think* I followed that. If I connect the white coming from the relay to the leadlamp wire, I'd then just have the black/red on the fuse side attached to the battery and the lights hooked up the same?
Obviously that seems ideal as I dont need to install a separate switch.
The total lights I am adding are this package:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XPHPMQ4/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
-126W bar
-(2) 18W Pods
Total ~162w
I assumed the fuse/switch that came with the lights could handle all three since they are sold together and someone earlier said the alternator is 40amps....are there other concerns I need to factor in if I use the headlight switch route vs a standalone switch?
Sorry I was in a hurry earlier when I posted, busy day at work. Do you plan to use your factory headlights along with the light bar and work lights? When I figured up your amp draw with those lights all on one circuit it’s around 13-14 amps at 12 volts, 11-12 at 14.4 volts. I reference the voltage because I believe the alternator on mine is rated at 40 amps but I’m not 100% sure. Mine runs at 14.4 volts with no lights on. When I have the lightbar, front work lights, and rear work lights on at the same time my voltage drops to around 12.9-13.2 volts while running. Haven’t put my meter on the alternator wire to see what it’s actually putting out. Check the amperage fuse in the wiring kit you got, I think they are 20 but not positive. You might be ok, but if there is any spikes or fluctuation in voltage you might have issues. I don’t run my factory head lights any more so I don’t know how much lower the voltage would go with them on too (assuming a lot less since the halogen bulbs draw a lot more then the leds). I have mine wired on 3 separate switches and relays to control each set individually. If I were to wire mine to the headlamp switch would cut the wire after the fuse for either the high beam or low beam circuit and use that as my power feed for the relay, eliminating the factory lights. That being said I would also leave that wire accessible to reconnect if you want to sell the tractor and take the lights off. Sorry if I’m throwing too much at you
Let there be light!
I managed to get the main lightbar working without electrocuting myself or catching anything on fire which is a big step in my process. Everything is temporarily wired just to test things out.
I decided after much deliberation to just go with two separate push-button relays for the bar and the two side lights. This way I can decide what I want between headlights, aux, the bar and my side lights all independently. Since I got the bar working, wiring the side lights will just be a repeat of this process.
The main work from here will be routing all the wires through the tractor, lots of zip tie work, etc.
I managed to get the main lightbar working without electrocuting myself or catching anything on fire which is a big step in my process. Everything is temporarily wired just to test things out.
I decided after much deliberation to just go with two separate push-button relays for the bar and the two side lights. This way I can decide what I want between headlights, aux, the bar and my side lights all independently. Since I got the bar working, wiring the side lights will just be a repeat of this process.
The main work from here will be routing all the wires through the tractor, lots of zip tie work, etc.
Don't care for 'light bars' at all. People put them on their on road vehicles completely ignoring the fact that they are totally illegal for on road use and very irritating when driving into one.
Both my M9 and my 105X came with Halogen work lights, high mounted at the cab roof. I removed both the forward facing and rear facing Halogen lamps and replaced them with front mount 7000 Lumen LED spots (CREE SMD's) and rear floods with side shooter LED's.
My forward mounts illuminate clearly for at least 1/4 mile in the field and the rears are good for 1/8 mile. A 4 lamps pull less than 10 amps total and both my Kubota's have 65 amp alternators and group 31 starting batteries. About 1/2 the amp draw of the Halogen's.
Both my M9 and my 105X came with Halogen work lights, high mounted at the cab roof. I removed both the forward facing and rear facing Halogen lamps and replaced them with front mount 7000 Lumen LED spots (CREE SMD's) and rear floods with side shooter LED's.
My forward mounts illuminate clearly for at least 1/4 mile in the field and the rears are good for 1/8 mile. A 4 lamps pull less than 10 amps total and both my Kubota's have 65 amp alternators and group 31 starting batteries. About 1/2 the amp draw of the Halogen's.
Stock headlight location has them shine directly into the back of the snowblower so the area right where I need most to see is pitch black even if I swapped them for LEDs. Only way to overcome this is lights mounted up and above at ROPS level. I'm supplementing with two side LEDs I can angle/adjust better.
Final update to this thread. I am finished with this project. I ended up running two switched relays. One runs the large lightbar up top, another runs two 18W spot lights on the sides of the ROPS.
I wired the main lightbar directly to the battery and I wired the spotlights using the spare AUX wires near the rear bumper. I placed two LED buttons on the dash, one using the spare hole next to the throttle and the other I drilled in directly above that. They look like they belong there!
Wires were routed under tractor along other wires that were there.
I'm a tiny bit concerned how completely water-tight all my wiring was at the rear so may have to do some work sealing things up a bit, mainly out of my own paranoia.
I wasted 3 hours of my life not realizing one of my ground wires wasnt making a connection. Nearly tore my hair out as the way it was connected via an inline splice that didnt fully bite and I was putting my probe on a contact that was grounded but my wire was not. I wont get those hours back but I learned a lot tracing every connection from the battery back to my lights 50X times.
In all, the light output is a HUGE difference over stock lights. Should help keep me from getting run over by the crazy plow guys in my time, keep me from sucking in branches in the snow, etc.
Total cost of the project was pretty cheap...Maybe $75 for the lights, wires, relays and switches.
I'll try to take a video and put it up showing just how drastic the light difference is at such a modest cost to upgrade.
I wired the main lightbar directly to the battery and I wired the spotlights using the spare AUX wires near the rear bumper. I placed two LED buttons on the dash, one using the spare hole next to the throttle and the other I drilled in directly above that. They look like they belong there!
Wires were routed under tractor along other wires that were there.
I'm a tiny bit concerned how completely water-tight all my wiring was at the rear so may have to do some work sealing things up a bit, mainly out of my own paranoia.
I wasted 3 hours of my life not realizing one of my ground wires wasnt making a connection. Nearly tore my hair out as the way it was connected via an inline splice that didnt fully bite and I was putting my probe on a contact that was grounded but my wire was not. I wont get those hours back but I learned a lot tracing every connection from the battery back to my lights 50X times.
In all, the light output is a HUGE difference over stock lights. Should help keep me from getting run over by the crazy plow guys in my time, keep me from sucking in branches in the snow, etc.
Total cost of the project was pretty cheap...Maybe $75 for the lights, wires, relays and switches.
I'll try to take a video and put it up showing just how drastic the light difference is at such a modest cost to upgrade.
Not much light for my use. I run 2 4000 lumen CREE Led cube lights. I need about 1/4 to 1/2 mile range in the field.
This is the same bar hokie referring to on my tractor,there is some vertical adjustment,I need to adjust mine up just a little more
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