Swivel seat base

[Gary_in_Indiana]

I just picked up a locking swivel seat base at the marina up the street from my office today. It was only $24.26. I want to mount my tractor seat on it. I'm planning to remove my standard seat & base from the frame, install a couple pieces of heavy C or tube stock there then mount the swivel base on the C/tube stock a little further away from the dash than the stock seat base placement. Then I'll mount the stock seat and seat base on the swivel base. That will give me some more legroom when the seat is in the full back position on its tracks by positioning the seat both higher and further from the dash.

I'm going to use the swivel portion when I operate my backhoe. My plan is to simply eliminate the backhoe seat altogether. When I want to use the backhoe I'll simply swivel my tractor seat around 180 degrees and have a backhoe seat. /w3tcompact/icons/clever.gif

I'm going to have to play around with the seat placement before I permanently mount anything to the bar stock. I need to be able to slide it into a position it so as to be comfortable operating the tractor and be able to swivel it around and postion it so as to be comfortable operatin the backhoe.

I don't know if this is even possible, but I'm hopeful. I think it'll probably be a situation of setting the seat all the way back when operating the tractor and all the way forward when I swivel it around to operate the backhoe.

I'm also going to have to make certain it can be swiveled around without rubbing the fenders. Now, this might not be a challenge for some of you engineering types. Please remember, though, it's a poor social science major who's going to be doing all of this. I'm more than open for any suggestions as to how to make certain this works out OK. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Fly_Rodr]

Gary, I'm not familar with the seat position on your John Deere. You might take a look at the Kubota BX22 as it has a seat that swivels for backhoe use. The seat raises about four or more inches in the backhoe position. Let us know how it turns out, maybe a change I could do also. Good luck!

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

I hadn't planned on adding the 4" rise. I considered it but douldn't come up with a way to do it in one simple move.

Do you know if the Kubota operates on a screw base or exactly how they do get that rise out of it? I'd be curious to know how they do it.

 

[karmakanic]

Gary,

The Kubota seat on my L35 has two ranges of motion. In addition to swiveling it swings back and forth on a frame shaped like a parallelogram. The rear swing stops at a lesser angle then the front, that's what gives you the rise. The swing also moves the seat position back and forth about 6 inches to get you closer to operator controls. The frame is spring assisted to help with the weight of the seat and there is a self engaging metal finger which locks the seat in the fore or aft position.

All in all, a pretty ingenous arrangement, and more complicated then you would first imagine. I could take some pics of the arrangement if you want to build something like it. It could be done if you've got the right fabrication equipment.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Some pictures would be great! Thanks. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I'd love to see how it works and how it looks up and down facing each way. I doubt I can duplicate what they did but I might be able to reasonably replicate it.

 

[Dozernut]

Why not use two pieces of pipe that fit one in each other. Weld a cap on the inner one and a cap on one end of the outer pipe. Then place a weak compression spring in the pipes to raise the seat. You could use compression buttons to lock the pipe in the two positions. Using this method you would not need a swivel.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Dozer,

Would you mind giving a little more detail to help me understand more fully how to make and install something like this? I'm not as clear on everything as I'd like to be. Thanks. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[john4nh]

The old 580ck we got has something very similar to what Dozer is describing. basically the seat swivel and at the same time you pull a lever and (sit-up) and the seat comes up about 6" to get the right height to operate the hoe. You could probally do this more manually. there is a spring assit because one time I (set-up) to hard and the seat and post and greasy spring all came out. did I say it was greasy.

Iam no good at pics but maybe somebody will have a shot for you

 

[Dozernut]

Sorry I didn't reply sooner. I have been mowing the dust, I mean weeds. John4nh hit the nail on the head. I was thinking of the the old cases. To simplify, the next time you change the toilet paper in the bathroom look at the paper holder. You will see a tube in a tube with a spring for tension. I was meaning basically the same thing but bigger and heavier. The spring should be an assist and not push the seat up by itself. Weld plates to the top and bottom for mounting to the tractor and the seat to the column. To simplify a latch or holding mechanism, simply drill a couple of holes in the position you want the seat then use a half inch or 5/8 hitch pins to hold the seat in position. I hope this helps clear up the confusion I caused.

 

[Inspector507]

Gary,
I got to thinking that maybe you'd like the seat a little higher when operating the backhoe. Look at the crude drawing I did. The seat pulls up and hinges back, then swivels.