Old tractor lights

toolz · Sep 30, 2014

About how many amps will a typical 50s-60s tractor headlight need? The wiring in the old tractor I'm working on was such a mess, that I pulled it all out and started over. I'll have 4 headlights and two rear lights. If 20A will handle it, I'll use one relay. If not, I'll split them for two relays.

4play · Oct 1, 2014

We would need to know the wattage and voltage to approximate the amperage but here are a few typical examples. A lot of tractor flood lamp bulbs are in the 30-35 watt range, most automotive low beam bulbs are 45-55 watt.

2-35w bulbs = 70w
2-55w bulbs = 110w

70w @ 6 volts = 11.6 amps
70w @ 12 volts = 5.8 amps
110w @ 6 volts = 18.3 amps
110w @ 12 volts = 9.16 amps.

A = W / V (amps = watts divided by volts)
W= A x V (watts = amps times volts)

toolz · Oct 1, 2014

Thanks for the reply. I am on 12 volts, and each
circuit on my fuse block has a max of 20A. Looks
like I should probably use two circuits to be
safe. The typical wattage is very helpful- that's
what I didn't know.

4play · Oct 1, 2014

I would separate the circuits anyway, that way you will not only lessen the load on switches, relays and wiring. You could also have more control of your lighting if you were using individual switches to turn each set on.

stevob671 · Oct 1, 2014

Put two headlights with 2 rear lights on 1 breaker or fuse, then put the other 2 headlights only on another. For road use just turn off the one with the rear lights so you're not shining clear lights backwards.

Old tractor lights

toolz

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4play

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toolz

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4play

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stevob671

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