montidale

Member
I pulled in a couple of tractors in the shop to work on this winter and get ready to paint next spring,hopefully. I have a '45 RTU that's pretty much all complete and ready to prep for paint. The only thing I'm wondering is what was the proper head lights used on the tractor? The head lights on it now are flat looking where as the light on the back is teardrop shaped. If that makes any sense. Also the lite on the back is quite a bit larger than the head light. Did the '45 RTU's come with the flat lights?
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The rear light is the original style. The headlights are not. The original headlights mounted with a single stud on a "Z" shaped bracket that bolts to the side of the cowling with two bolts.
 
Well that clears things up as clear as mud. I like the looks of the teardrop style lights. But now there is some doubt as to which style is the correct lite. I wonder if there is a parts book out there for
the year 1945 that would show a pic of the headlights.
 

What's not clear? As stated above, the teardrop style (like your tail light) is the correct one. Those lights use a 7" flat lens.
Here is a picture of my '45 R.

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The only lights available from the factory until late 1950 were the 7" ones made by the Guide Division of GM & were also used by others, notably Oliver (with a different electrical connection). Headlights were not necessarily standard and may have been dealer installed, or a kit could be
purchased by the owner. Sealed beam units were not listed in the parts book until 1954. If you like the looks of another light, go for it like so many others have. Just sayin'.
 
Ohhh.... now I understand. The the headlights are the same as the one on the rear of the tractor. Hopefully it shouldn't be to hard to track down a pair of head lights.
 

You should be able to find some at swap meets or tractor salvage places. Steiner's has all the parts to refurbish them. They also have complete units, but they are zinc plated and not black.
 
As others have stated the lights were all the same until about mid 1951 when they were changed to a smaller light (5 3/4") instead of the 7" They were still a reflector style like the previous ones but had curved lenses. The two headlights and the rear light were all the same up until 1951. From when they started using lights they used a separate red tail light as a rear warning light up until mid 1951. After that they used a combination flood / red tail light.
 
Originally were black. I believe some applications might have been painted prairie gold but all of the agricultural ones were black.
 
The rear light doesn't have a on/off switch. It kinda looks like a fuse connector where the wire comes out of the back of the light.
 
I may be interested in some lights if you find them. It sounds like the light in the back of the tractor is a front light as it has no on/off switch.
 
Lots of good info on lights.Thanks for all the input. I'm sure more questions will pop up this spring when I start prepping for paint. I'm having a fuel issue, but that will be for another topic over at the Tractor Talk Forum.
 
The original headlight connecting wire used a spring loaded, bayonet style terminal similar to the bulb terminal, just push in and turn. Quick & easy. Looks like your wiring bypassed that system.
 
I think this was a bayonet style fitting. Some one must have removed some of the parts and ran a wire and connected it to the light bulb pigtail with a wire nut.
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