Shortened Joystick to Ease Getting Off-BX

[BotaBigot]

Pretend your Kubota is a horse...

 

[LBrown59]

I'm glad you like the idea. To answer some questions:

The knob is just pressed on, no threads.
The only thing you will notice is that due to less leverage, the force required on the lever is greater. But not a problem at all.
The reach is fine, still feels comfortable. I have just bought a TIG welder, so I figured if I didn't like it, I'd just weld the piece back on.
But I like it, so no welding needed.
JD

How do ya like you like your BX1500?
I love both of mine.

 

[bxonthelake]

I normally do get off the left side, but there are times when you must get off the right. Now I can do either equally well.

I love my BX1500, it continues to amaze me every time I use it.
I drag large logs and sometimes whole trees up hills to my woodshed for splitting. It just won't quit.
It has never given me any trouble at all.

JD

 

[ericher69]

How much could I expect to spend for a bx1500 with loader tiller(kubota) and ballast box...approx. 200hrs don't know year but older grill

ericher69

 

[/pine]

I try to avoid getting off the tractor on the right because of the gear shift...possibility of catching etc...

I would however like to modify the straight joystick simply because I think a shorter one would "look better"...! what I was thinking about was bending an offset in the rod to give it some "style" which would also shorten the appearance...

 

[bill1]

I'm no help on shortening your lever, but I've found that entering and exiting the left side is the best, even though it can be a bit inconvienent at times.

I have a B21 and also a Simplicity lawn mower with a 54" deck. They both seem to set up for left side mounting. I try to park and operate so that I can get off and on from the "easy" side, lol, and have caught my clothes on handles when getting on or off from the wrong side...

On another subject, with my B21 backhoe, I always seem to dump dirt on my boots when lifting the outriggers, lol... Yeah, I know L should lift them up more slowly.... hehehe.

 

[Kerton]

I felt the same, so I searched for this thread to see if anyone else had trouble with the lever. Now, I *prefer* to mount and dismount from the left, but sometimes there is an obstruction, and sometimes the thing I need to do is on the right. So why should my tractor dictate which side I board, especially for no good reason.

So, today I combined some of the best ideas here, for a great solution on my BX2670. I heated, bent, and cut the lever.

I removed the lever, heated it just above the factory bend, then I bent it inwards and upwards, or left and up from the driver's perspective. I got it out of the silly OEM location, and closer to the throttle lever, at about 2 oclock on the steering wheel, and close enough so that it hits its left (tip up) limit about 1" from the wheel. Then, I cut about 2.5" from it.

It's beautiful. With only 2.5" removed, I still have fine control and easy motion. I can still reach it very easily with the seat all the way back. If you can reach the whole steering wheel, you could probably reach my lever. And the path on and off from the right is clean and easy, as well. For the record, I am 6'1" 215lb.

I didn't get any "before" photos, but I'll post some "after" photos later.

 

[skyhook]

I felt the same, so I searched for this thread to see if anyone else had trouble with the lever. Now, I *prefer* to mount and dismount from the left, but sometimes there is an obstruction, and sometimes the thing I need to do is on the right. So why should my tractor dictate which side I board, especially for no good reason.

So, today I combined some of the best ideas here, for a great solution on my BX2670. I heated, bent, and cut the lever.

I removed the lever, heated it just above the factory bend, then I bent it inwards and upwards, or left and up from the driver's perspective. I got it out of the silly OEM location, and closer to the throttle lever, at about 2 oclock on the steering wheel, and close enough so that it hits its left (tip up) limit about 1" from the wheel. Then, I cut about 2.5" from it.

It's beautiful. With only 2.5" removed, I still have fine control and easy motion. I can still reach it very easily with the seat all the way back. If you can reach the whole steering wheel, you could probably reach my lever. And the path on and off from the right is clean and easy, as well. For the record, I am 6'1" 215lb.

I didn't get any "before" photos, but I'll post some "after" photos later.

You shouldn't be allowed to post "without" any pictures...lol
To the OP, Nice work and a good idea.

 

[Kerton]

I love my new lever location.
OK, here are the photos I promised. It turns out I DO have before photos, since I took all-round pictures of my Kubota when I brought it home. I just took photos from the same angles today to match up. The best ones to see the difference are the "from top" ones.

Here are the "before" stock photos.
From RHS
From Rear
From Loader
From top

Here are the "after" photos:
From RHS
From Rear
From Loader
From Top

 

[zenosan]

I love my new lever location.
OK, here are the photos I promised. It turns out I DO have before photos, since I took all-round pictures of my Kubota when I brought it home. I just took photos from the same angles today to match up. The best ones to see the difference are the "from top" ones.

Here are the "before" stock photos.
From RHS View attachment 371203
From Rear View attachment 371205
From Loader View attachment 371206
From top View attachment 371207

Here are the "after" photos:
From RHS View attachment 371208
From Rear View attachment 371209
From Loader View attachment 371210
From Top View attachment 371211

Thanks for posting the photos. Cool idea. Glad to see I am not the only one who is politically incporrect by leaving the folding portion of my way too tall folding ROPS off. I have the BX24TLB and I suppose they made it that tall for the backhoe operation. Just a PITA for me.

Zenosan