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Has anyone on here ever had to drive their lawn mower in the dark before???

Took this picture last night of my mower's lights. The light above the main headlights is a bicycle headlight that I temporarily taped on so I could see where the hell I was actually going.

The red dots in the picture is just reflection. Took the pic with my phone.

I guess the question is, how much light do you expect to get out of two 25 watt bulbs, that spreads the light over a large area, instead of being directed into a beam. Headlights on riders are designed as a selling point, not something for actually use.

ILENGINE said:

I guess the question is, how much light do you expect to get out of two 25 watt bulbs, that spreads the light over a large area, instead of being directed into a beam. Headlights on riders are designed as a selling point, not something for actually use.

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Thats what I hate. If their going to take the time to install headlights on it, why the hell won't they make them decent?

yes I have but I try not to if I don't have to ...Most of them when I ride them at night is because I am testing them before I drop them off to a client ...Had a zero turn last night boy was that dark lol no lights at all so it turned on the head lights on my truck to see lol

It's time for some projector headlights and an HID kit.

I have HID on my pickup. Other drivers hate them, but I love them.

briggs said:

yes I have but I try not to if I don't have to...

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Yeah same here, I hate driving it at night. What makes it worse is that I have night blindness, hence the reason why I taped a bicycle headlight to the hood.

If I had the time and money, I would love to rig the lights with legit high/low beams so I wouldn't have a problem driving it at night.

Lawnboy18 said:

It's time for some projector headlights and an HID kit.

I have HID on my pickup. Other drivers hate them, but I love them.

<img src="http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18247"/>

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Those are some nice lights.

X-man said:

Those are some nice lights.

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Thanks! The kit only costed something like 70$ and was easy to install.

I have never mowed in the night time. I have used my garden tractor at night to blow snow which it could of been better. Also I have ran motorcycles, ATV's and snowmobiles at night time. They all have the high/low head lights and all have good lighting. Maybe you could rig something from one of them. One of the things to having good lighting at night time is head light aliment so you might try that on your lawn mower first.

I did once earlier in the season (October). About 7:00pm I started mowing - the neighbors probably thought I was nuts. But I had to test it out. They were OK to dimly see ahead of you but forget any detail type of work on the sides. I took my flashlight out with me and used that as well - 2400 Lumens will light it up like daytime!

I'm thinking of trying some LED's but the circuit is AC so I may have to do some wiring "adjustments".

itguy08 said:

I did once earlier in the season (October). About 7:00pm I started mowing - the neighbors probably thought I was nuts. But I had to test it out. They were OK to dimly see ahead of you but forget any detail type of work on the sides. I took my flashlight out with me and used that as well - 2400 Lumens will light it up like daytime!

I'm thinking of trying some LED's but the circuit is AC so I may have to do some wiring "adjustments".

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I've considered putting projector 1156 bulbs in my tractor but the way the assembly is set up, I can't.

The circuit on mine is DC, I may put LED bulbs in mine. Right now I have Sylvania Silverstar 1156 bulbs in it.

There are actually guys where I live that mow at night. They work 18 hours a day. The guy that runs the string trimmer wears a head lamp. I really don't see the point. When you reach that size work load it's time to add another truck to your fleet.

I love cutting grass at night. Something about it is so relaxing.

Go on E-Bay and look at motorcycle headlights. A lot of different styles and types. All you would need is one headlight and it would have high and low bean.

reynoldston said:

Go on E-Bay and look at motorcycle headlights. A lot of different styles and types. All you would need is one headlight and it would have high and low beam.

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How would I be able to install and wire it? That would be cool if I could do that.

X-man said:

How would I be able to install and wire it? That would be cool if I could do that.

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When I look at them I see that they have a mounting bracket or stud. You would have to just mount it to your hood, As far as wiring go's I would take a guess you would already have a on and off switch. To hook up the HI/LO part you will need a three pole or terminal switch. Which you should be able to buy in any auto parts store. It just basic wiring. The center terminal is what they call common to which you run the wire from your on /off switch to. Then the other two terminals, one wire will go to high and the other wire to low.

reynoldston said:

When I look at them I see that they have a mounting bracket or stud. You would have to just mount it to your hood, As far as wiring go's I would take a guess you would already have a on and off switch. To hook up the HI/LO part you will need a three pole or terminal switch. Which you should be able to buy in any auto parts store. It just basic wiring. The center terminal is what they call common to which you run the wire from your on /off switch to. Then the other two terminals, one wire will go to high and the other wire to low.

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In order to activate the mower's lights I have to turn the key one click counter-clockwise. There is no ON/OFF switch. And the lights dim when I lower the engine throttle.

I can take a picture of the wiring later if you want me too.

I would use a 3 way toggle switch and a relay and run it off the battery. And don't forget the inline fuse.

I've never mowed at night.... moe than enough opportunities for that in the daytime. I always thought the whole purpose of lights on a lawn tractor, was to help keep motorists from running over the lawn rig they may still run us over, but at least they can't use the excuse " I didn't see a lawn mower there".

jerry d said:

I've never mowed at night.... moe than enough opportunities for that in the daytime. I always thought the whole purpose of lights on a lawn tractor, was to help keep motorists from running over the lawn rig they may still run us over, but at least they can't use the excuse " I didn't see a lawn mower there".

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Maybe a mix of both reasons. If you don't want to get hit by a car you could add lights like this....of course the siren is optional! :wink:

Why would there be a car driving on your grass?

Carscw said:

Why would there be a car driving on your grass?

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You never know! :wink: 99.9% of the time it would only be useful only if you mow along the ditch next to a highway or something...but that 0.1% of the time it could be when a car mistakes your lawn for the road.


(http://www.co.delaware.oh.us/engineer/Operations/Photos/mowing_small.JPG)

jerry d said:

I've never mowed at night.... moe than enough opportunities for that in the daytime. I always thought the whole purpose of lights on a lawn tractor, was to help keep motorists from running over the lawn rig they may still run us over, but at least they can't use the excuse " I didn't see a lawn mower there".

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Yeah, I can see the headlights being used for liability.

Carscw said:

Why would there be a car driving on your grass?

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Living/working in a trailer park, I drive my lawn mower on the park's roads. I only use my tractor to mow about 5x/month. I drive it everyday otherwise.
The way I have it set up (I'll take a pic next week), I use my lawn tractor to haul my push mower and weed whacker around in a black cart that I bought at TSC. I also use it to haul yard waste to the park's compost pile. It's not uncommon for me to be driving it in the pitch black around this time of year, hence the reason why I started this thread.

Here are some pictures that I took earlier today of my light's wiring:

X-man said:

Yeah, I can see the headlights being used for liability. Living/working in a trailer park, I drive my lawn mower on the park's roads. I only use my tractor to mow about 5x/month. I drive it everyday otherwise. The way I have it set up (I'll take a pic next week), I use my lawn tractor to haul my push mower and weed whacker around in a black cart that I bought at TSC. I also use it to haul yard waste to the park's compost pile. It's not uncommon for me to be driving it in the pitch black around this time of year, hence the reason why I started this thread.

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Oh now I understand

This is how my ignition switch is set-up. You have to turn the key one click to the left to turn on the headlights.

I always move the hot wire to the battery that way they never dim

Something I just thought of, I'm gonna be doing snow removal this winter so there will probably be a few times where I'll be driving my lawn tractor at 5:30 AM :shocked:

You can buy a fog light kit comes with everything you need to install them.
I would go with amber ones so you don't get glare off the snow

X-man said:

Has anyone on here ever had to drive their lawn mower in the dark before???

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I do it a lot. I mow early mornings now and then so that my day can be free. I added a headlight to my Snapper last year. I bought a wide angle beam instead of a projector, and it works well. I added a single fog light to the rear so that I could see when backing up.

I wired and fused directly to the battery, pretty simple and inexpensive. Only problem I have had is the rear fog light + headlight zap the battery faster than the mower can maintain charge. I have the rear light on a separate switch and only turn on when needed.

Click on my avatar for look at how it's mounted, and click the thumbnail below to see it in action at night.

The illumination at night question has come up multiple times on the forum. Being as my user name is midnite rider, I have some experience in night motoring. I served and was stationed in North Dakota years ago and had to keep my drive and walkways clear of snow. North Dakota's state tree was a telephone pole, so when the moon was out with a blanket of snow I could see just fine and did not need any auxillary lighting. Here in Georgia where the snow is rare and the trees are plentiful you need to have some means of illumination, even under a full moon, whether you are mowing or trailriding at night as I do with my riders. In my opinion LED's are the best choice as they offer a minimal amount of battery drain and have the option of a self contained battery. They also offer many mounting options as well as using your stock bulb sockets. You can get very bright lighting with LED's, it is just according, as usual, to how much you are willing to spend.
Here is some solutions that I have offered previously.

Superbright and pricey bike lights work well.

Here are some 1156 /1157 style bulbs replacements with LED.

Here are some auxillary lights from Surplus center.

Some others from R&P Carriages a fleabay store.

i mow before daylight about once a week.....the places have security lights and i can see well enough to cut......dont do this at any residences....just govt buildings