Post by RaisedByWolves on May 4, 2011 8:20:58 GMT -5
Well, I have wanted a 140 since I was a little kid but never had one come my way. Finally after years of working with lesser tractors I finally got one for a good price that was in good shape. The 140, in combination with my 318 gave me the interchangeability and versatility I was looking for and allowed me to pair down the fleet a little.
I went ahead and sold off a couple tractors I was well familiar with, only to find that the 140 had one less than glaring flaw.......The headlights.
Dont get me wrong, the 140 has more style and beauty than many many other tractors in its league. It also has the same headlights as most tractors......That shine through tiny little holes.
The first time I took it out in the woods trails after dark I swore I had lost a headlight, but upon returning to the house I found them both working. I looked around to find some replacement lights to see if fresher lights would be any better and WOW are they asking a lot for these little tractor lights!
So not wanting to pay too much for a couple bulbs I went to our local electrical supply house to see what they had that might work. When I asked the guy at the counter if they had a similar light to what I had brought in, he asked me if they were 12V or 6V lights, to which I replied 12V. He went in the back and produced a box of bulbs meant for emergency lighting applications that were the exact same sealed beams used in our tractors!
GE 4044's FOR 1/2 the cost of the ones the tractor places sell!
Doing good so far, but it gets better.
Years ago I used to ride Mountain bikes and a co worker of mine was riding to work on 2nd shift and needed better lights than what the bike world offered at the time. We played around with a bunch of different bulbs and reflectors to try and come up with a better mouse trap with little success.
Then one day I purchased the wrong bulbs from Ratshack by accident. We were playing around with 9-12V lighting and I had accidentally bought a 3V bulb.
Just for shits/giggles we put this bulb in our lights and were immediately impressed with the light output, it must have been 5X what we were getting with the 9V bulbs.
The main downsides we found were #1 Heat, they got very hot being pushed by 4X the rated current. #2, current draw was HIGH, they gave 5X the light, but the batteries were drawn down FAST. #3, the bulbs had a short lifespan.
The lifespan issue we narrowed down to two problems. #1: Excessive heat making the filaments break down rapidly. In one test we powered these bulbs for 48hrs before they burnt out on their own. The problem here is that they would last no more than 4hrs on the road.
This led us to problem #2 which we narrowed down to the overheated filaments sagging due to overheating and riding the bike on bumpy roads with skinny high pressure racing tires.
They call road racing bikes "Prostate Pounders" for a reason.
We finally hit on a compromise solution that had us using a 6V bulb on a 10-12V circuit. This solution was durable, gave good light output and also a long battery life, which only required recharging every third day for my commuting buddy with his 1.5 hour round trip each day.
OK, I told you all that to tell you this: ;D
While picking through this suppliers shelves I stumbled upon a 6V light (Off brand 7613-1) that gives much better light output with surprising longevity. The standard tractor light is 12Watts at 12V (GE 4044), these 7613-1 lights are rated at 8Watts at 6V input.
By over driving these 6V lights to 12V you wind up with 16Watts of light output, a 25% improvement!
At this time I have retrofitted these lights into all of my tractors that take this style bulb with good results. I now have better lighting on the 140, and exceptional lighting on my Power King's that let the full diameter of the lens shine through the rubber mounts.
I dont have any information as to who makes these lights due to them coming in a plain white box, but for the $6 I paid for them their a bargain.
I have run these lights for about 6-8 months now with good success. I have even gone so far as to get the lights hot and drive the tractor over the bumpiest ground that wouldn't throw me out of the seat without damaging one.
The only Caveat I have is that these lights will burn out faster than the 4044's as they are over driven. But considering that I have 40yr old tractors with the original lights still in them I dont see a slightly shorter lifespan as being a serious issue.
Pic of the lights label.
I went ahead and sold off a couple tractors I was well familiar with, only to find that the 140 had one less than glaring flaw.......The headlights.
Dont get me wrong, the 140 has more style and beauty than many many other tractors in its league. It also has the same headlights as most tractors......That shine through tiny little holes.
The first time I took it out in the woods trails after dark I swore I had lost a headlight, but upon returning to the house I found them both working. I looked around to find some replacement lights to see if fresher lights would be any better and WOW are they asking a lot for these little tractor lights!
So not wanting to pay too much for a couple bulbs I went to our local electrical supply house to see what they had that might work. When I asked the guy at the counter if they had a similar light to what I had brought in, he asked me if they were 12V or 6V lights, to which I replied 12V. He went in the back and produced a box of bulbs meant for emergency lighting applications that were the exact same sealed beams used in our tractors!
GE 4044's FOR 1/2 the cost of the ones the tractor places sell!
Doing good so far, but it gets better.
Years ago I used to ride Mountain bikes and a co worker of mine was riding to work on 2nd shift and needed better lights than what the bike world offered at the time. We played around with a bunch of different bulbs and reflectors to try and come up with a better mouse trap with little success.
Then one day I purchased the wrong bulbs from Ratshack by accident. We were playing around with 9-12V lighting and I had accidentally bought a 3V bulb.
Just for shits/giggles we put this bulb in our lights and were immediately impressed with the light output, it must have been 5X what we were getting with the 9V bulbs.
The main downsides we found were #1 Heat, they got very hot being pushed by 4X the rated current. #2, current draw was HIGH, they gave 5X the light, but the batteries were drawn down FAST. #3, the bulbs had a short lifespan.
The lifespan issue we narrowed down to two problems. #1: Excessive heat making the filaments break down rapidly. In one test we powered these bulbs for 48hrs before they burnt out on their own. The problem here is that they would last no more than 4hrs on the road.
This led us to problem #2 which we narrowed down to the overheated filaments sagging due to overheating and riding the bike on bumpy roads with skinny high pressure racing tires.
They call road racing bikes "Prostate Pounders" for a reason.
We finally hit on a compromise solution that had us using a 6V bulb on a 10-12V circuit. This solution was durable, gave good light output and also a long battery life, which only required recharging every third day for my commuting buddy with his 1.5 hour round trip each day.
OK, I told you all that to tell you this: ;D
While picking through this suppliers shelves I stumbled upon a 6V light (Off brand 7613-1) that gives much better light output with surprising longevity. The standard tractor light is 12Watts at 12V (GE 4044), these 7613-1 lights are rated at 8Watts at 6V input.
By over driving these 6V lights to 12V you wind up with 16Watts of light output, a 25% improvement!
At this time I have retrofitted these lights into all of my tractors that take this style bulb with good results. I now have better lighting on the 140, and exceptional lighting on my Power King's that let the full diameter of the lens shine through the rubber mounts.
I dont have any information as to who makes these lights due to them coming in a plain white box, but for the $6 I paid for them their a bargain.
I have run these lights for about 6-8 months now with good success. I have even gone so far as to get the lights hot and drive the tractor over the bumpiest ground that wouldn't throw me out of the seat without damaging one.
The only Caveat I have is that these lights will burn out faster than the 4044's as they are over driven. But considering that I have 40yr old tractors with the original lights still in them I dont see a slightly shorter lifespan as being a serious issue.
Pic of the lights label.