[bena]

The boss was asking for an opinion, but I didn't know what to suggest so I thought I'd ask the "experts"....

1680 picking windrows of dry beans. What would be best for lights to see through the dust at night? I haven't run it much in the dark but in daylight sometimes the dust is so bad you can't see the header!

Please don't tell me HID, I know thats out of the budget.

Thanks
Ben

 

[mx270a]

I know the feeling when you can't see 20 feet in front of you.

At night you need light. Your options are pretty much halogens or HIDs. If you go with HIDs, I would be inclined to get a pair of all-in-one HIDs where the ballast is in the case with the bulb. That way you can take them off the combine for use on something else other parts of the year.

We found that a GPS display (even if not steering) will allow you to see where you are in the field relative to the ends.

-Lance

 

[ebertfarms]

you can get LED's that replace most round-insert lights. There about $130/light, and their still new-ish to the marketplace so the debate is out on them. I'll be running them along with the roof-mounted HID's this spring on my tractor to see if their any better.

 

[johnnyboy]

In high dust, lights in the roof will escalate the problem since the lights will reflect off the dust similar to what headlights do in fog in a car. If you buy some high wattage halogen, HID or LED lights, you might want to consider mounting them as low as possible and at least below eye level perhaps on the front posts. 1680???? Does that have a Motorola alternator? 110 amps? If you add to many lights, you might not have enough alternator since the alternators really don’t put out the current at the same level as the rating.
I’ve seen high intensity LED lights, you think HID look white, the LED light has even a whiter color. I would not be surprised that within 5 years they will be the light of choice to replace HID lights once the price comes down.