GC2410 Step pictures or ideas?

[clewis]

Long days of slugging 4' logs into the FEL are getting a bit painful climbing in and out of the tractor. The wife enjoys driving it, but she needs a step stool to get on board. Neither of us are that flexible anymore.

I have a local guy who'll cut/weld something up for me if I give him a plan/pattern, but I was wondering if anybody had any pictures of something suitable or ideas of what to make, and how to attach it? I feel a little queasy drilling holes in the fixed FEL attachment arm, or sandwiching under its mounting bolts.

Thx.

 

[Jim Timber]

Maybe just hang a pipe off a few links of chain?

From the videos, it looks like you have as much ground clearance as a minivan. Maybe a grapple would be a better solution to the mount/dismount problem?

My bottom step is higher than your operators platform.

 

[clewis]

Maybe just hang a pipe off a few links of chain?

From the videos, it looks like you have as much ground clearance as a minivan. Maybe a grapple would be a better solution to the mount/dismount problem?

My bottom step is higher than your operators platform.

I'm sure it is, but I don't have to contend with your equipment ;-)

Like I said, we're not as spry as we used to be. It is higher than most road vehicles, and you can't just slip into the seat. Pipe on a chain would work for me (at the expense of my shins), but not at all for my wife.

 

[Jim Timber]

Having anything hanging there will be a snag hazard. I suggested the chains so it'll move when hit, rather than buckle, or bend what it's attached to. You could easily devise a step with similar attributes.

Out of curiosity, how tall is the wife?

 

[bigtiller]

I added this step to my 2720. I ordered it from my JD dealer. Part number LVU18332.

 

[clewis]

The snagging hazard I was indeed worried about. The chains are a good idea with something like a swing seat for a step, but hanging off the existing step would mean barked shins. I'm thinking of something that might flip up and hook to something. Not a big step, just something solid under one foot. She's 5'6" or thereabouts, but has severe arthritis in her knees that make high steps very difficult even with handholds. At the moment, she's only able to get on it with a very low stool and even that's not easy for her. I don't have a problem with the tractor as is, until I've been in and out a few dozen times, then it gets old fast.

My current thought is something mounted on the FEL fixed arm that goes straight down, and a, say, 5x6" steel step welded step. Tucked in tight behind the left front wheel. Left foot onto the step, right foot onto the tractor "floor", and voila. A simple fold up would solve the snag problem. Just wondering if anybody had built something like this that I could copy.

 

[clewis]

She's 5'6", but she has severe arthritis in her knees that make even a standard staircase step sometimes painful. The chain idea is a good one (as is the issue about snagging), but, even fitted with something that looks like a play swing seat wouldn't be stable enough plus bashed shins. She needs something solid to step on. I was thinking of a bar extending downwards from the FEL fixed arm, with a step welded on the side. Hinged in some way (swing up and hook it with some chain) would solve the snagging problem as long as it was quite solid when deployed. I could make _something_ that might work, but was hoping for someone who had already done one and could tell me the do's and don'ts.

 

[Jim Timber]

As someone with a giant bone spur in both knees, I can certainly appreciate the trouble she's dealing with.

PM me a dimensioned photo of the entry area. I've got an idea.

 

[clewis]

As someone with a giant bone spur in both knees, I can certainly appreciate the trouble she's dealing with.

PM me a dimensioned photo of the entry area. I've got an idea.

I'll post a closeup picture with noted dimensions tomorrow. Thanks.

 

[clewis]

PM me a dimensioned photo of the entry area. I've got an idea.

Hopefully I've figured out how to attach a photo here. PM doesn't seem to allow it at all.

The top of the cab floor is 19.5" from ground. While the cab floor is pretty solid, it's not good enough to hang a fixed step from.

The horizontal grey bar with the two heavy bolts (attaching it to the vertical fixed portion of FEL arm) under the cab floor has 15" clearance from ground.
This bar is very beefy (something like 3/4"x3"), and could serve as a mount point.

The mower deck attachment lever has 9 1/2" clearance from ground.

From the rightmost of the two big bolts, to the beginning of the fender is 20". Looking straight down, the tires extend about 3" farther from the center line than the cab floor. This is important, because we need to keep the overall width as close to what it is now as possible.

She would very much like two steps, making the step height about 6.5". Which would put the top of the step 3" lower than the mower deck attachment point.

It is very unlikely we'll ever put a belly mower on this machine. We have a lawn tractor for mowing.

That's clearly too low for a fixed step.