New spinable seat for Kubota b7100

   / New spinable seat for Kubota b7100 #1  

charlz

Elite Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2006
Messages
2,959
Location
Meridian Idaho
Tractor
Kubota B7100D
The seat on my old b7100 badly needed replacing, it had no cushion/cover, was badly cracked and the mounting was worn so it was really sloppy. My back would be aching after a few hours of seat time. I also have a backhoe for my tractor and the 'seat adapter' interfered with the lift arms so I had to use chains. With chains you can't level implements left to right making things like a back blade a pain. I wanted 1) a new seat 2) to be able to use the solid lift arms 3) keep the ability to spin the seat around for backhoe work.


Here is what the old seat adapter looked like, I never used it to raise the seat for backhoe operation and neither did the previous owner(s) as one of them bent the locking tabs over (the center would lift and the two tabs would be secured by the pin at the rear of the adapter):

image01.jpg

This what was under the seat adapter.

image02.jpg


These are the materials:

3/16" plate 4" x 10.5"
1/4" plate 6" x 6"
1/4" bar 1" x 3.5" (qty 2)
2.5" of 3" OD DOM tube 1/4 wall
2.5" of 2.5 OD DOM tube 1/4 wall

Not pictured are a quick release pin I ordered from Reid Supply, they were half the price of McMaster. The seat is a 'universal fit' I ordered from Tractor Supply.

image03.jpg

The 4" plate was bent so it could bolt to the original location on the hyd block. The 1" pieces were used to make brackets in the rear. I ended up cutting them down quite a bit. The 2.5" tubing I had turned down a few thousandths so it would fit inside the 3" tubing. The idea being the two tubes would provide the pivot. I drilled holes in the tubing and welded on a quick release pin to make pivoting the seat easy. The cross piece that keeps the fenders from bending out was flipped around and moved to a second set of existing holes... worked out perfectly.

Here is a shot of how it looked tacked up on the tractor:

image04.jpg

The 6" x 6" piece was welded under the seat along with the 2.5" tubing for the upper part of the pivot.

The seat ended up being 1 or 2 inches higher than I would have liked but clearance for spinning was required so not much choice. I originally took the sliding mechanism off the seat to save some height but had to put it back on as the seat would be too close to the backhoe for operation after turning it around. Here are a few shots of the finished product:

image05.jpg

image06.jpg

Under the seat shot. The 3pt lever on the right side is what caused most of the clearance problems. I could have re-worked it to make it lower and closer to the fender but since I don't have a bandsaw to cut the two pieces of tubing down I decided to just leave as is and live with the slightly higher seat. I did have to cut about 2 inches off the plate the seat slides on so that it would clear the lever when spun around.

image07.jpg

And here is a shot of the seat spun around and slid back against the steering wheel for maximum leg room when the backhoe is in operation.

image08.jpg

Overall I think I am pretty happy with the results.... time will tell. I did lose the ability to flip the seat but I can also take it off very easily.
 
   / New spinable seat for Kubota b7100 #3  
Yes thanks for posting your work. That is great. I have been thinking about a seat that would spin around--not because I have a BH, but because alot of my work involves looking back--BB, RB, tilling--so that it would be so much less painful if I could turn the seat--even a few degrees would help. It is great to see your solution.:cool:

Thanks,

Mike
 
   / New spinable seat for Kubota b7100 #4  
That looks nice! I have a new seat on my B7100 w/ backhoe but I can't find a seat slider/adjuster. Where can I possibly find one? I bought a new universal seat already and my tractor didn't have a slider on it.
 
   / New spinable seat for Kubota b7100
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Thanks for all the comments! I have been using the tractor the last few days and the new seat feels soooo much more stable. I still notice that it is a little high but I think I will get used to it after a while.

amitysanimal said:
That looks nice! I have a new seat on my B7100 w/ backhoe but I can't find a seat slider/adjuster. Where can I possibly find one? I bought a new universal seat already and my tractor didn't have a slider on it.

I have seen one or two on eBay, I was looking around for materials before starting this project. Trick will be whether or not it will fit the seat you have.
 
   / New spinable seat for Kubota b7100 #6  
charlz,
Thanks for sharing your seat thread. I love to see stuff like that. I did something similar last year and indeed, a new seat is very rewarding. Mine does not spin all the way around since my hoe has it's own seat and sits pretty far back. But I did make mine so it pivots right and left about 40 degrees each way. That comes in handy for looking over your shoulder type work. I also made it so it can be locked straight forward.
Anyway, it's nice to see someone else who appreciates a new seat like I did. You did some nice work there.
 
   / New spinable seat for Kubota b7100
  • Thread Starter
#7  
3RRL said:
charlz,
Thanks for sharing your seat thread. I love to see stuff like that. I did something similar last year and indeed, a new seat is very rewarding. Mine does not spin all the way around since my hoe has it's own seat and sits pretty far back. But I did make mine so it pivots right and left about 40 degrees each way. That comes in handy for looking over your shoulder type work. I also made it so it can be locked straight forward.
Anyway, it's nice to see someone else who appreciates a new seat like I did. You did some nice work there.

Thanks! It was actually your thread that gave me the idea of using round materials for a pivot... didn't think I needed a bearing though. I did think about drilling holes for angling the seat like you did. I will give it some use before I decide if I want to do that, my driveway etc. really isn't that long.

Charles
 
   / New spinable seat for Kubota b7100 #8  
The job you did was 100 times nicer than the hack job i did. I just welded a couple brackets on the rear of my seat so i could pull the pin and turn the seat around.
 
   / New spinable seat for Kubota b7100 #9  
Very professional work. Five stars!:D :D :D :D :D

How does the backhoe on a B7100 preform as I am contemplating getting one?:D
 
   / New spinable seat for Kubota b7100
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Egon said:
Very professional work. Five stars!:D :D :D :D :D

Thanks!

Egon said:
How does the backhoe on a B7100 preform as I am contemplating getting one?:D

It does OK, it came with a 16" bucket and I built a 9" for it. Has dug anything I have asked of it but sometimes it takes a while. The biggest problem I can see with small hoes is the short reach. The hoe will (and has) dug to 6 feet but that is only straight down below the hoe. If you are digging a deep trench you have to move in very small increments... even shallow trenches call for a lot of moving of the tractor. I use the 'lift the stabs, lift the bucket and push forward' technique but eventually you get off track and have to reposition the tractor.

Overall it sure beats a shovel ;)

Charles
 
 
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