Mowing in the Dark....

#1
We live on 8 1/4 acres of land. I keep roughly 6 acres of that cut all summer. I have a Ferris zero turn mower I call
"MowZilla". 72'' cut rear discharge deck, full 4 wheel independent suspension, powered by a 33.5 horse Cat Diesel and it will cut grass at 11 to 12 miles an hour. I normally can cut all 6 acres, trimming the ditch and around the house and shop in 3 hours. I have been threatening to put lights on my mower for several years. I built a light bar for it that would just slide into the front of the frame rails. I drilled and tapped a hole in the top of the leading edge of the rails to lock the light bar in place.

I have been looking at lights for the last 2 years and had been searching for a good set of fog lights so I would have a wide beam. Then I discovered these LED light bars. After looking at a bunch of them I figured out that a 22'' curved Light Bar would be just right. I spent a whopping $22.99 with free shipping for a light bar. I figured it couldn't be that good for that little....

Well I was wrong. I added an upper surround to the light bar I had made to protect the light bar from limbs or sticks. Made sure the light didn't stick out beyond the front of the mount and went to making things work. I wired it up with a relay and a Trailer type plug so that I can remove it if I have to. I used it last week to cut the grass and didn't start until it was already dark. All I can say is that it works far better than I ever imagined that it would. I ended up cutting the grass in 2 1/2 hours. I was surprised. You can see the cut edge of the grass from the previous pass while making the next pass BUT the flaw is that you cant see the edge of the deck to trim around anything... I picked up a couple of 10 watt LED floods that are tiny. I am going to mount them right behind the front shocks and aim them at the leading corner of the deck so that I can see to trim cleanly. Hopefully I can get them on this week.

Here are a couple of pics of the light and bracket.









It looks odd but it sure works good! Plenty of distance from the center lights which are spots and plenty of spread from the outer lights which are floods. And it sure was nice not to be cutting in the heat.

Doug
 
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#2
I have Halogen Driving lights on my Bad Boy ZTR , put them on a few years before the LED craze but I love em , I only cot 2.5 acres but nice to do it when it's cooler !!
 
#3
We live on 8 1/4 acres of land. I keep roughly 6 acres of that cut all summer. I have a Ferris zero turn mower I call
"MowZilla". 72'' cut rear discharge deck, full 4 wheel independent suspension, powered by a 33.5 horse Cat Diesel and it will cut grass at 11 to 12 miles an hour. I normally can cut all 6 acres, trimming the ditch and around the house and shop in 3 hours. I have been threatening to put lights on my mower for several years. I built a light bar for it that would just slide into the front of the frame rails. I drilled and tapped a hole in the top of the leading edge of the rails to lock the light bar in place.

I have been looking at lights for the last 2 years and had been searching for a good set of fog lights so I would have a wide beam. Then I discovered these LED light bars. After looking at a bunch of them I figured out that a 22'' curved Light Bar would be just right. I spent a whopping $22.99 with free shipping for a light bar. I figured it couldn't be that good for that little....

Well I was wrong. I added an upper surround to the light bar I had made to protect the light bar from limbs or sticks. Made sure the light didn't stick out beyond the front of the mount and went to making things work. I wired it up with a relay and a Trailer type plug so that I can remove it if I have to. I used it last week to cut the grass and didn't start until it was already dark. All I can say is that it works far better than I ever imagined that it would. I ended up cutting the grass in 2 1/2 hours. I was surprised. You can see the cut edge of the grass from the previous pass while making the next pass BUT the flaw is that you cant see the edge of the deck to trim around anything... I picked up a couple of 10 watt LED floods that are tiny. I am going to mount them right behind the front shocks and aim them at the leading corner of the deck so that I can see to trim cleanly. Hopefully I can get them on this week.

Here are a couple of pics of the light and bracket.









It looks odd but it sure works good! Plenty of distance from the center lights which are spots and plenty of spread from the outer lights which are floods. And it sure was nice not to be cutting in the heat.

Doug
Doug, where did you find that light? ... I just picked up a brand spanking new Kawasaki Mule this week and I am looking at adding some lighting to it....I've been seeing these type lights show up on everything around here and wondered where they were paying for them... I've seen them at Tractor Supply but I'm not paying what they want for them....
 
#4
You didn't stop to think this deal through........now you don't have an excuse to quit for the day and drink a beer!:drinkup:
 
#6
Doug, where did you find that light? ... I just picked up a brand spanking new Kawasaki Mule this week and I am looking at adding some lighting to it....I've been seeing these type lights show up on everything around here and wondered where they were paying for them... I've seen them at Tractor Supply but I'm not paying what they want for them....
This thing will do all you want to do and then some. I miss quoted the price, they are $26.99....

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XXGH57G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Bought this one to install in the bumper of my truck. Lots brighter and even further down the road illumination. Cheaper too.... $20.85. Same brand as the other, "AutoFeel".

480W 22Inch 7D+ OSRAM LED WORK LIGHT BAR Combo Off road Driving Lamp vs 20" 24" | eBay

Doug
 
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#7
When I was a young kid I had a walk-behind lawnmower that I converted to run off of small propane cylinders using a regulator from a plumbing soldering torch, actually ran REALLY good, better than it did off gasoline. I also put some small headlights (autozone) on it ran off two non-rechargeable 6 volt lead batteries, pretty good setup that actually worked for a long time. This is waaay nicer than my setup was.

It should be mentioned that the greens mowers (reel mowers) used on golf courses have headlights and alternators in order to facilitate early-morning and late-night mowings when the course is closed - the only time they can mow safely.
 
#8
I got the rear lights finished up and mounted today. Still have to wire them to the relay for the front light. I have about 600 feet of road frontage that I have to cut and I figured I would rather have rear lights than not. They were simple enough to mount once I figured out a safe place to mount them so that they wouldn't get ripped off by a bush or limb. A simple 90 bend and lay out the holes to secure it to the hood, paint, mount the lights and wire it.



Picked up these small flood beam lights to illuminate the leading edge of the deck. I cant see it to trim up close so I will mount these tucked in behind the front shocks and they should solve that problem.







I should be set once I get the front side lights mounted and the wiring completed.

Doug
 
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