Project Title:  STX Auxiliary Light Kit

Team Members:  Mike Hanson, Kyle Sueltz and Scott Woizeschke

Department:  Mechanical Engineering

Faculty Advisor:  Mike Twedt

Sponsor:  Hillcrest Manufacturing

Several manufacturers produce dozer blades for farm tractors that are used to move silage, wood pulp, soil, snow and many other types of material.  This type of blade is also used in a construction application in conjunction with pull behind scrapers.  Hillcrest Manufacturing of Clark, South Dakota is supporting the project. 

Our primary focus will be the Case STX series of articulating tractors.  Their low factory light position renders the lights ineffective while operating with a dozer blade.  This presents safety and operational issues at night or during low light conditions that will be alleviated by our design.

Our objective is to design and build a production ready auxiliary lighting system that meets or exceeds the performance of the factory lighting system when the blade is installed.  Our system will include four work lights, consisting of two trapezoid and two floods attached to the blade. 

The final version of our design will include the lights, all of the necessary brackets, wiring, and in-cab controls required to make this kit a simple bolt-on option. The modeling of this system will be completed in SolidWorks 2007, and the prototype will be installed and tested so that comparisons between factory lighting and aftermarket lighting can be made. 

Our design will be marketed as a new blade option as well as an aftermarket retrofit kit for other blade models where effective lighting is a concern.  The design may also be adapted to other applications where factory lighting is insufficient.

Performance testing was completed with our first prototype.  In the work area in front of the tractor the intensity of our system was six times greater than the factory configuration.  Therefore our design successfully met our goals of outperforming the original system.  To prove the reliability and functionality of our light kit a 6-8 week endurance test will be conducted. 

The second semester midterm status of our project is as follows.  The prototype light kit was installed on a tractor in Mellette, South Dakota.  The tractor is used to maintain a feedlot, push snow, and remove stumps.  This location was chosen based on the operating conditions the tractor is subjected to.  The conditions include night-time and low light conditions and a high level of general abuse.

The final bill of materials and cost analysis has been performed.  After the prototype has been retrieved from the feedlot any necessary modifications will be made and the final version of the product manufactured.