Tractor dash cam

[Beefsmith]

After two very near misses this last week with cars overtaking on blind bends into oncoming traffic I think it’s time we protect ourselves. I want something that will start recording when the tractors ignition is turned on and then stop when it’s turned off. It just needs to keep overwriting itself also say every 24 hours. Then if there’s an incident I just want to plug it into a pc to copy the footage. It’ll have to be clear enough for number plate recognition as well. Any ideas please?

 

[TripleSix]

I'm a fan of the Nextbase cameras
Good quality.

You can even add a wireless rear camera on the new ones

 

[quavers]

just fitted up a nextbase camera today in my truck , easy to set up and use , you can save an incident and down load it later to your phone or its kept in a cloud for a month before being deleted , special offer from Costco this week 65 plus vat for the 412 gw also show the speed your travelling , the time and coordinates of where you are , as mentioned above you can add a extra camera foe rear facing to the main unit .

 

[fermerboy]

Ive a Nextbase 312GW in my pickup.
Hard wired to an ignition feed, records as soon as you fire up and then a bit after youve switched off too.
Spot on, nice clear video, records in 5 minute sections which overwrite once the card is full.
Gps gives speed and location.
Be aware it records sound unless switched otherwise, which could be interesting/libellous having recordings of some of my singing, and phone calls.

 

[Cowabunga]

Forget the old style dash cams with screens facing the driver. They are a distraction and are needlessly big.

Have a look at the cylindrical dash cams like DDPai and Goluk that are obviously fitted with SD cards for storage but also can transmit by wi-fi directly to a phone or tablet. They are small, relatively cheap, have super-capacitors rather than batteries inside to end copying of files when the current is turned off [ignition switch off].
Fit them with at least 32Gig SD cards.

Both those brands come as standard with a wi-fi button that you stick somewhere really convenient. Press the button and a segment of video six seconds either side of the press is saved as a protected file and will not be overwritten.

Whatever you get, switch the bump sensitivity off for tractor use, otherwise the card will soon fill up with protected files. Switch the sound off.

Don't bother paying for GPS and speed measuring. You will know where you are if anything happens and there will be visible footage of it.

Do position the camera within the wiper's swept area and remember that a filthy screen or lens will significantly degrade footage quality.

Format the card every few months, but remember to download/copy any protected files of interest before then, because formatting gets rid of even protected files.

Remember that if something happens and you do not protect the file, you need to copy/download the section or file with the relevant footage before it is overwritten. That is where 64gig storage card is important. It gives you plenty of time after the incident before the footage is overwritten and lost forever. 32gig may not be enough storage for 1080P HD video.

Another big point for a tractor is that you really don't want the cam attached to the screen by a suction cup, because it will inevitably fall off the screen regularly. The cameras I mention are securely held by quality 3M sticky pads.

mini Dash Cam-DDPAI social camera,Image My World

en.ddpai.com

 

[deleted user 837354]

Biggest problem with a camera is the possibility of self-incrimination. After all, none of you ever exceed the speed limit with a tractor, use a mobile in the cab or travel on the road without first doing up your seatbelt, do you?

 

[Cowabunga]

Biggest problem with a camera is the possibility of self-incrimination. After all, none of you ever exceed the speed limit with a tractor, use a mobile in the cab or travel on the road without first doing up your seatbelt, do you?

Indeed. Which is why you should not have sound or sat-nav linkage on your dashcam. Its not particularly advisable to have sat-nav data on ones fitted in cars either.

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Biggest problem with a camera is the possibility of self-incrimination. After all, none of you ever exceed the speed limit with a tractor, use a mobile in the cab or travel on the road without first doing up your seatbelt, do you?

Seatbelt

None of ours were ever fitted with them....

As for speeding ours top out at 24mph and, when I have driven a borrowed 50K machine, I set the limiter to 40k. Smug speeding tractor drivers are a bugbear of mine

 

[Cowabunga]

I should mention that no dashcam works on 12V. They are 5V I think. That excludes them from being wired directly to the ignition switch or to the cab wiring anywhere without a transformer. They are supplied by default with auxiliary [cigarette lighter] socket transformers but it is far better to fit a direct wiring kit to them, so they can then be wired to the 12V and switch off with the ignition, which many auxiliary sockets don't.

There are dozens of such kits available. Just search for 'dashcam hard wire kits' on Amazon or eBay. Plenty at £10 or so. Some dashcam sellers will offer a kit with the camera as an option.

 

[Suckndiesel]

I should mention that no dashcam works on 12V. They are 5V I think. That excludes them from being wired directly to the ignition switch or to the cab wiring anywhere without a transformer. They are supplied by default with auxiliary [cigarette lighter] socket transformers but it is far better to fit a direct wiring kit to them, so they can then be wired to the 12V and switch off with the ignition, which many auxiliary sockets don't.

There are dozens of such kits available. Just search for 'dashcam hard wire kits' on Amazon or eBay. Plenty at £10 or so. Some dashcam sellers will offer a kit with the camera as an option.

I found out about them being 5v by doing away with the cigarette lighter end and wiring one directly to the 12v which fried the camera

 

[Cowabunga]

I found out about them being 5v by doing away with the cigarette lighter end and wiring one directly to the 12v which fried the camera

Ouch!

Should have read my previous posts about this

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

local firm had them in lorries, to get cheaper insurance, but the insurance company said they had all had to be changed as they did not record the speed, however after they were changed they go 25% off the premium, but was an excess of £750 on top if not video footage of accident

 

[Cowabunga]

If cheaper insurance and possibly incriminating your drivers was a priority, by all means fit ones with positioning and speed data.
Indeed if you employ drivers, it might well incentivise them to drive very properly, which is a 'good thing' all round.
I doubt whether it would save any significant insurance premium on farm tractors though.