New Seat Finally

[3RRL]

I got my new seat in already. Bought it from Agri-Supply on special email sale for $69.99. Man, is it ever nice or what?
Here's a side shot and some photos if any one is interested.



Notice the nice thick padding and the separated back and arm rests. I wanted a separated back because with all the pivoting I do inside the seat to look over my shoulder. I was getting a sore spot on the back of my spine where my belt loops are from the thinly padded stock seat which is a bucket seat type like the one Ken shows in his thread. Now there is a gap there, and the back height rest is adjustable up or down.



It also has a reflector on the back and an adjustment for body weight, which is tied in with a little air shock for a super comfortable ride. At least I think it's an air shock....sure looks like one to me. The weight range on the back says it's from 110 to 264 lbs. Says it's made in Turkey by Deger?



Here is the little cylinder which is tied in to the springs and weight adjustment for the spring seat/air cushion action.



And a view from the top of the seat showing the springs behind the back rest. The rod in the center belongs to the little air shock and whole assembly is tied together.



It also has a sliding base for fore and aft movement engaged by that chrome lever. Loretta will love that because the stock seat was adjustable too ... by bolts. So she always "reached" for the pedals.




All in all a pretty good deal for the sale price. Packed with big money features but priced for a pauper like me. I'll take it up this weekend ... maybe install it if I have time. My brand new retractable seat belt will go good with the seat too. I'm going to mount it without adding a swivel base first, to see it it's OK that way. But I'm planning to make it swivel at least 40° in each direction and also lock into the straight forward position.

 

[IslandTractor]

Great start on this thread. How about some followup posts on installation and then comfort once you get some time on the tractor with your new seat?

 

[whodat90]

I put much the same seat on my tractor, picked it up at TSC for ~$90. Much better than the stocker, but it took some doing (and will take more) to get it mounted correctly. Since the back sticks out so far, it limits how far I can move it, and since it's rest position is fully extended, it makes it a bit of a pain to squeeze between it and the steering wheel. Once you're in it's fine, since the seat settles down into the middle of it's travel.
whodat

 

[3RRL]

It will take some doing indeed, as I found out...
I took some photos of my seat project, thinking I might get it done last weekend. LOL .... NOT!!!! There's more too it once I started thinking about it.

Anyway, this first photo is of my old stock Kama seat. It pivoted forward to allow easy access to the hydraulic box and gets out of the way when hooking up the hydraulics for my 3pt equipment.



My friend Ken gave me his old seat that had a pivot on it. I brought the seat Ken gave me thinking I could do all the mods I wanted at camp. His seat is a lot better than mine ... not the padding or shape, but it has a pivot and a slider bar on it. The pivot has a big ø3/4" pin going through it to lock it in the forward position. So his seat was pretty cool as is.



My plan was to steal the pivot base and mount it to my new Deger seat, since the new seat has a really slick sliding attachment on it. I wanted to limit the amount of pivot sideways each way so I can get in easily and pivot the other way when doing box blade work, looking over my right shoulder.

 

[3RRL]

Naturally, when I took the pivot base off Ken's seat and took the slider base off the Deger seat, none of the holes lined up. But I was able to drill one plate to match the other at camp.



Then I put the seat onto the Kama for fitting and placement purposes. BTW, the new Deger seat has a really good air shock suspension on it. When you sit in it, the seat and back ... the whole thing moves up and down comfortably ... like those cushioned air seats in big rigs. The height is adjustable too via two knobs on the back sides. And the slider forward/aft bar works slick and smooth. It is way better than I thought! What a deal!
Here it is from the back view.

 

[3RRL]

Here are a couple more photos from the front.
This one is with it pivoted towards my rear remote valve, just like I was talking about. I'm thinking of making it partially pivot and then also able to lock straight forward. I will need to have some sort of stop when in pivot mode, and then a locking position via pin or lever.



When I got in the tractor, I immediately noticed how much higher the seat was. A great view up front and back. But it had to be too close to the steering wheel in order to reach the pedals comfortably. I have not operated the tractor with it yet, but you can see the armrest do not interfere or get in the way of operating the remote valve. As a matter of fact, they are very comfortable.
Here is a shot of it pointing straight forward. Looks pretty good though.



I could pivot the seat towards me when getting in, but then I had a problem swinging my big feet over/around all the levers. So I brought the pivot mount and base home with me to shorten it up a bit. Maybe about 3" is all. After all, the seat was already in it's lowest position. The seat will adjust upwards another 2" at least, so I can play with it when I get it back to the property. Another thing is that it was in the middle of the slide range. So if I set it properly, I could always slide the seat back to get out and in, then slide it to the work position and up. This will give me the extra height I wanted for better views too. My new retractable seat belt will not need to be moved either, since it is bolted to the hydraulic box in the right spot already.

I thought you guys would want to know about this seat, because the price was so low compared to the $300 ones I was eyeballing. They were way out of my price range. The 69 bucks set me back already. I'll have to save a couple weeks allowance to pay for it as it is. Anyway, this one has great features and is super comfortable. When I'm done, it will do everything I want including full or limited pivot ability in addition to the adjustable height, adjustable air shock action, adjustable forward and aft.

 

[PBinWA]

How tall are you Rob? I've been thinking of getting a new seat but was worried about the added height and reaching the controls.

I'm 6 ft so I think a few inches won't make that much difference on my CUT. It's already a little tight.

PB

 

[3RRL]

PB,
I'm also 6' tall, but my cab has (probably) a little more room than yours? Biggest concern is that with the added height, you are farther from the pedals (mine is a clutch gear drive). So I ended up putting the base as low as I could to the top of the hydraulic box, which it sits over. I wanted the extra height for a better view and got it with adding the pivot. It turned out pretty clean and the operator position is very good now.. Here is the rest of my story.

Well, I'm working on the rotating part of the seat now. As most things go, it is not as easy as it should be. There's always something that pops up to make your day.
I pried the pivoting base apart to shorten it up. It "popped" apart and a bunch of ball bearings spilled out. Seems like they used some kind of Chinese goop to seal it or keep it together?



I tried a gear puller to get the bearings out, still thinking I can save them and re-use. I couldn't budge the races so I decided to cut it off. Might be able to pound it or press it out that way?



Another weird clamping set up in order to do the sawing.



But it sawed perfectly square. I will use this part and maybe weld it to the Gerber sliding base, eliminating the plate with the tube welded on it altogether.



Then I will do the same for the other part. If I can't save the roller bearing, I'll get a new one and fit it myself. It may not be worth saving after all?

 

[3RRL]

First, I cut off the tall swivel and made that short as you saw. Then I welded the part cut off right to the bottom of the Deger seat mount that slides.
I wanted to limit the pivot to about 40° each way and needed to make 2 stops on bottom plate. I also wanted to lock the seat into front position, so I made a screw in lock.



Then on the Deger plate I made the other half of the stop. When the Deger plate is placed on top of the bottom plate, those two pieces will hit the stops on the bottom plate when swiveled sideways. They are also spread apart so that the screw in stop will securely hold the seat facing frontwards.



BTW, remember that if you do not want a swivel, all of this extra stuff will not apply. Installing the seat by itself would be a snap.

 

[3RRL]

I also made a tapped receptacle welded to the Deger plate and a large washer with a socket head cap screw in it that will hold the two pieces together once the bearings are put in place. The bearing kind of "snap" together anyway, but I wanted a positive retainer to keep the seat together when I jam on the brakes just before going over the edge of a cliff or something.



After all that, I had to make my side brackets which will fit the ones on the Kama. I will weld them onto the bottom plate after measuring the width of the Kama brackets. I have plenty of adjustment available here. I had intended to make them so they go in between the Kama brackets, but I made them to go the over them instead, that is why they are so tall. That also gives me the latitude to use the upper or lower row without hitting the top of the hydraulic box.