I saw a couple of threads on the subject from about a year ago and was wondering if anyone has tried and can post feedback based upon their experience.

Thanks,
cm

I usually have my hood connector loose
so it doesn't get hung up when I remove
the hood for service. Like every other
week.

I actually only use my rider for doing leaves in the fall and plowing slush in the winter. This time of year it's dark by the time I get home from work and living in a heavly wooded area I need to keep on top of the leaves and get out there 2-3 times a week. Thus, having effective headlights is a must for me.

I use my Honda walk behind for cutting the grass.

Thanks again,
cm

You might consider getting a good LED flashlight that you can rig up to the tractor, then remove for personal use when not using the tractor. They make adapters for putting flashlights on bicycles, you could probably rig something up for the tractor.

See candlepowerforums.com for more info

The room I'm sitting in right now has a 3-lamp ceiling fitting, with one normal 50w halogen bulb, one mini-fluorescent and one LED unit with no less than 20 LEDs. And the LED unit throws out about as much light as a glow-worm. Even the mini-fluorescent bulb illuminates its third of the room about 10 times as well.

Some of these multi-LED units have a total wattage of about 1.5 and that's just hopeless. There are some new single LEDS on the market that are up to 9 watts and I'd expect to have to buy one or more of those to get enough light to mow safely.

I have one that uses 2 camera-type batteries, a single bulb and easily illuminates a narrow area 200 feet away. Well enough that you could see a chipmunk.

My Fenix TK20 with 2 AA batteries will THROW further than my 3C Maglite incandescent, but it will NOT THROW further than a 4-5-6D Maglite. The beauty of LED lights is their efficiency. The little TK20 will shine 4x longer than the 3C Maglite and still out-throw it. Yes, the 6D Mag will out-throw the TK20, but is much harder to carry around.

Most multi-LED lights, at least the ones you find at your local store, have poor-quality LEDs - they try to make up for poor output by adding more LEDs; this will make them appear much brighter, but they can't throw worth a damn. The reflector is what allows a light to "throw", and the best reflectors are found on dedicated single high-efficiency LED lights. A deep reflector will give you more "throw". This is why the new LED Maglites are a little longer than the incandescent Maglites - they need a longer reflector to achieve the same "throw". Btw, Costco has a pretty good deal on a Maglite combo package.

Rumor has it that much-improved LED lights will be coming out in the next few months; however, you will likely need to look into niche markets to find them (again, check out candlepowerforums).

It said it would illuminate 30 feet away, and that's exactly what it does. On one bulb and AA battery, which seems to last for many months.

John Deere has LED headlamps on the front of my fall cataloge.

My garage door opener now has a single 3 watt LED ($10). Not enough light to work with but plenty to get out of my truck an into the house. My cats like to play in the garage (mice = catfood) and I can leave the light on all night without running up my electric bill.

I started my tomato plants last spring under a 45 watt LED light made for plants. Funny color light but the tomatoes thought it was great.... amazing and much better then flouresent.

This is a link for leds. They have multiple listings for the 1156 as well a wide variety of other leds. They also have a lot of technical info regarding wiring applications and adapters

good luck.

No reason to find a bulb-shape. One of those 12v LED shop light bars with 30 LEDs should work.

I'm guessing if he wired a cluster of three (13.5v), he would be getting slightly less bright lights at 12v, but with improved LED lifespan. The Achille's Heel of LEDs is heat dissipation, and overdriven LEDs get hot - you can bet that his $4 flashlight does not have a well-designed heatsink and the LEDs won't last too long anyway. There are good reasons why a durable high-efficiency LED flashlight will cost you a C-note or more (or half that price if mfr'd in China)...

I don't actually do that much mowing at night, but when I do use the headlights it's mostly just to finish up some area after sunset. The existing headlight setup on this Wards is susceptable to collecting dirt and dust behind that big wraparound lens up front, which reduces the light output. It will put out a little 'pool' of light on the ground immediately in front of the mower, just enough to barely see where you're mowing, but not always enough to reliably see hazards the grass. Just once I'd like to enjoy some really decent light out there, for those rare occasions I mow in the dark.

Look for a floody light. As a jumping off point, Fenix and Zebralight both offer some very efficient flashlights.