This week's tractor upgrades

[Jim Timber]

Took a trip up today to fetch some stuff, drop off my 150 gallon fuel tank before I got a letter from the city about it sitting in my driveway, and did some test fitting of these scabbards. Looks like the lower/wider position is the only option because I can't get the 28" bar out of the sleeve in the narrow position as it hits the safety screen. Screen is staying, so the scabbards are going wide.

Need to fab up some upper brackets to bridge the gap to the winch chassis, get the UHMW inserts made up, and then it'll be time for paint.

 

[tooln]

Your a busy man Jim.

 

[Jim Timber]

Sometimes. :p I need to get back to running production on STD's too. I'm out of satin 300BLK's and I have orders coming from my dealers for them.

And once these are done, I need to get back to working on the stump shredder too.

 

[Jim Timber]

Installed them today. :)

 

[tooln]

Looks good. It will all come in handy once you start cutting/skidding. This winter I'm going through my 40 and do some serious cutting. Been trying to talk the wife into it since we bought it. I've been telling her we need to remove the mature trees to keep it healthy. After she saw the ones that came down after yesterdays storm she's finally seeing the light.

 

[Jim Timber]

I'm full-on logging my aspen this year as soon as the weather's more agreeable and my business is less demanding of my attention.

The saw on the left is 88cc and has a 28" bar on it. Goes through oak like butter. :) The scabbards will swallow a 30" bar, but that's just because of how the ammo can height worked out.

I have about 6 acres of oak to clear cut as well, but those will be done after the aspen, and maybe not even started this year. I need to see how my neck/hands hold up to the logging first, as oak can go bad on you if it sits in the wrong weather.

 

[Jim Timber]

Another couple hours in the shop and this is ready to go back up. :)

Ok, so it's not very helpful in that position. This should make it clearer:

I actually had mounted it in version 1, but discovered the way I had the rear lights configured (hanging below the bar in the holes between the top two on either side) was possibly going to lead to a bonked noggin when looking backwards on rough terrain. So I repositioned them with the leg brackets to bring them up higher and closer to the sides of the ROPS. Then added the middle bracket for the antenna and utility light. The stock utility light is virtually worthless, so I'm augmenting it with a 18W flood LED like on the side lights. Should be a big improvement.

Once the paint finishes hardening, I'll tidy up the wiring and get it ready to install.

I also finally got a shot of the Rhino Grips in action:

 

[tooln]

Look the Northern lights oh no that's just Jim. :)

 

[Jim Timber]

:D

These are 27W for the round ones, and due to the not so great reflector system, it's just bright enough to see (unlike the absolutely terrible headlights on my tractor). I didn't want to go with the popular ultra bright straight bar style for a couple reasons - cost, and they blind you! These are a lot easier on your eyes when getting into the tractor, and they're about $10 a light shipped. They also have a better dispersion (due to the not-so-great reflectors) so the light is more even across their throw.

Moving at tractor speed, I don't need to throw a beam 300yds out. I just wanted good coverage. :) Plus, whenever I get my next outbuilding done (or I buy a 40' high cube), I'll take this off and rework the lights again when I build my FOPS cage. For now, this attaches with (2) 1/4-20 bolts, and will have a couple holes for wiring in the tube as well.

 

[Freeborn]

Looks great Jim,

Are you going to video your equipment in action? I'd like to see how it works.

 

[Jim Timber]

I've been meaning to borrow my dad's gopro camera. One handed shaky cell phone video is kinda hard to watch, let alone shoot. :)

I did take a pic of these in the shop before the sun came up.

The outside lights are angled about 12 degrees to the sides and the bar itself is aimed sort of at the ceiling in the garage, so this isn't doing the lights justice. But you can see how evenly lit my wall and door are. The garage door in the background is about 30' away and is only seeing direct light from one fixture.

 

[tooln]

I can see you mounting a GoPro on your tractor. Truth be told the idea has crossed my mind.

 

[Jim Timber]

I have friends who like videos for some reason. :) I had a GP Silver hero3 and returned it for poor low-light performance. I might just mount the cell phone instead.

 

[Jim Timber]

Decided to do a function check out in the back yard. Fence is 45' away for perspective.

It's dark enough back there you can't see your feet without the yard lights on.

These are gonna work great! :)

 

[Freeborn]

Jim,

Can you provide a link to where you bought your light? I have a utility light on my tractor and would like to update it to an LED.

Thanks,

 

[Jim Timber]

These came from Amazon. There's oodles of them out there.

 

[Jim Timber]

Got a video of the lights on the tractor the other night.

LED recap: (4) 27w forward, (2) 18w side, (2) 27w rear, and (1) 18w work light in back

Driving at night is a whole different experience now. You can actually see! :D

 

[tooln]

WOW what a difference.

 

[Jim Timber]

Yep. It's a huge improvement. Kinda funny driving down the road in an orb of light vs the headlights which were almost dangerous on asphalt.

 

[foggy]

The new LED lighting is almost unbelievably bright. Always have an odd, surreal feeling when operating in artificial lights tho. Just never feel like I see the whole picture. :eek: