Neil from Messick's here to talk through with you on the top five tractor accessories. Tractors are both tools and toys for a lot of us, and there's nothing more fun than accessorizing your toys. The stock lighting packages on most tractors are usually pretty inadequate, and you're going to find that if you have a loader on your machine, the headlights don't help that at all because when you bring your loader up, the loader is going to cover the headlights. Some kind of work light is a good idea on a lot of tractors.
Now cab machines are often going to come through with work lights; are standard up on the cab, but some of your economy models or your Rob's machines aren't going to have any kind of auxiliary lighting. The factories are usually going to offer light kits for the machines, their priced pretty well, and usually have some convenience switches on them. A lot of guys choose to work up their own as well, so our parts department is going to stock a whole line of aftermarket light bars and stuff where you could put some real high intensity lighting options onto your tractor.
If you go to do that yourself, you're usually going to find that you got pigtails in order to plug those work lights in under the fender back behind the machine. If you check back where your taillights are at, you should find some empty wires back there where those work lights are intended to plug right in. If you're in a hot southern climate, or if you're spending hours on a machine outside, adding a canopy to your roll bar can help keep the sun and the elements off of you. These are going to come in a lot of different flavors. The manufacturers tend to offer some good canopies from a company called Firebird Fiberglass, big heavy things with impregnated wood cores and fiberglass outsides.
Those are really nice canopies. They're going to hold up to wind loads and stuff if you're trailering a machine up and down the highway. You're also going to have some convenient less expensive options as well for machines like this zero-turn mower. This is one here from a little company called Tough Top. It's a pretty inexpensive thing that you can hook right onto a roll bar here and take on and off easily with some nuts. That'd be a canopy in order to keep the elements off of you on your machine. Equipping your tractor with additional hydraulic outlets can make it more flexible and able to accept a wider range of implements.
You're going to notice this machine that I'm on right here has a set of front hydraulics on the loader. These would be called third function kits. Third functions can be used to operate a whole range of grapples or post augers or functions out on your front loader that are going to require that additional hydraulic option to operate cylinders or motors. You can also put hydraulics on the rear of your tractor. On small tractors, that's not frequently used; on larger utility machines, it is. Generally, you're going to get between one and three pairs of additional hydraulic outlets in order to operate, say, cylinders on blades, or transport wheels. The whole host of other hydraulic options that are needed on your implements.
You can never have enough good storage solutions on your tractor. You need that to carry around tools and extra three-point hitch Hardware, all kinds of bits and pieces that you need to work while you're out away from your property. The factory options for toolboxes are rarely adequate, let's say it that way. Often, you're going to end up with some little bit more inexpensive plastic toolboxes. I see you online, a lot of guys coming up with some really cool ways to find additional storage options on your machine. Oftentimes, that's with places to put ammo cans or on the ROPS. I've seen guys use hose clamps and PVC pipe to put some neat tube type solutions under the ROPS of a small tractor.
Additional storage options wherever they're going come from, you'll find to be a huge benefit. If you're out working on your tractor for a long day, having music to listen to just helps the time pass by or just adds to the experience and the relaxation that you can have. Unfortunately, in most tractors, radios are not standard equipment. Sometimes we order them in already installed, but it is an option in most machines. They're fairly easy to put in. You're going to find tractors generally have a standard din radio slot that that radio is going to slide right into, and you need a harness in order to tie it into the tractor.
We've got a whole lot of options for tractor radios anywhere from about $89 and up. Just simple options that get you started or real deluxe ones with leather band and Bluetooth. You can take your tractor, and give it some of those features that you'd expect from your SUV anymore, and enjoy those tunes while you're out working. Those are five worthwhile accessories for your tractor. If you're going through the buying process for a machine, or if you have parts of service needs for a machine you've already got, give us a call at Messick's. We're available at 800-222-3373 or online at messicks.com.
