User story: Connix LED lighting system finds many friends in farming industry

ROAD lights are optional on many implements – little point paying for them if you never use public roads. But when are they needed?

Independent transport consultant Mike Sumner, of Widnes-based One Ash Training, says: “If you are travelling on public roads, all trailed appliances need their own lights and any mounted implement which projects more than two metres from the tractor’s rear lights needs its own lights too.

"And those rear lights must be fitted within 400mm of the edge of the implement.

He says: “There will be times when you cannot mount the lights right at the back, perhaps because of a crumbler roller.

“In these instances, lights need to be as close to the rear as is practically possible.

“And any implement which obscures the tractor’s rear lights will need to be equipped with road lights which can be seen, regardless of its length,” he says.

He adds any implement projecting beyond 305mm from the side of the tractor also needs front-facing white lights and marker boards. Number plates must also be visible and be capable of being illuminated.

LANCASHIRE grower Andrew Webster holds a similarly positive view, having also invested in a set.

“They are a brilliant idea,” he says.

“When we go ploughing, we have always had to store a lighting board somewhere. But there is nowhere to keep it safe when it is not in use. With Connix, you pull the lights off the plough and put them on charge in the cab.”

Based at Hollin House Green Farm, Ormskirk, Lancashire, Mr Webster is now looking to add a front set of Connix lights for use with a front-mounted furrow press.

“When a product is this easy to fit and use, then there is no excuse. And the best bit is, there are no wires to get tangled or trapped when a mounted machine is folded.

Cultivator

He has used the lights with a 12-row Stanhay folding drill, five-furrow reversible plough, four-metre cultivator and countless trailers.

“You can guarantee that when we are wrapping up a day’s potato lifting, the last trailer load of the night is the one which will catch you out,” he says.

“I know tractor drivers who have bought them for that reason and they keep them in the tool box, ready to be used.”

He says the only big drawback is there is no notification the lights are working.

“When you plug in a wired lighting system, an extra light flashes on the tractor dashboard as reassurance. This system does not work like that, so you need to get out of the cab and check them.

Option

“I would also like to see the Connix kit extended to include an orange side-marker option too. This would be handy on longer trailed implements or trailers,” he adds.

“Whether you need to fit them or not, it all helps you to be seen.”