2520 suspension seat?????

[Deadman]

Ok, I have some springs under the rear of my seat on my JD2520, but its still a bit rough. Its much better than it was, and thanks to this board I did the springs mod.

Has anyone successfully installed a suspension system on their seat?
I have disks screwed-up in my lower back, and I just don't want to keep beating it up with this rough ride. Its perfectly normal, but my back issues just make me look for a much better ride.
Anyone have pic, or write-up?
Thanks in advance!

[thatguy]

I remember reading a post (or posts) about ppl replacing the rubber 'springs' on the 2320 with metal springs that made a great improvement in comfort.. Not sure if that would help you or not.. It could be a cheap attempt before dropping the $ for a real suspension seat

good luck
brian

[Runner]

Deadman,

I remembered seeing this quasi-suspension seat on the Northern Tool web site: Northern Industrial Polyurethane Cushioned Tractor Seat | Seats | Northern Tool + Equipment

Not sure if it would work for you, but might be better than what's on there now.

[Deadman]

I already have the "spring" mod.

I'll look into that suspension seat, and see if it might work.
thanks

[ccsial]

The suspension seat on my 748 is very nice. It is made by Michigan seat company. You can buy the seat from them but you will have to adapt it.

Northern tool also sells it.
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...8424_200268424

[Deadman]

now that seat looks like what I'll be buying!!!! Thanks!

[JD25201965]

Hi All,

I recently purchased the Michigan seat in the link above for my JD2520. Fabricating an adapter plate was required for it to fit, but it was WELL worth the effort.

I am VERY impressed with this seat from a quality and adjustability standpoint. It is very heavy, close to 33 lbs but it is like sitting in a lazy boy while mowing (OK maybe not that nice) but a HUGE improvement over the factory. It has adjustments for lumber, backrest tilt and weight dial and the arms fold up if necessary.


I tried to take as many pictures of the procedure here. If you have any questions feel free to ask. I will try to get a PDF of a dwg for anyone who needs it.

This is my first post and I just realized embedding pictures is not as easy as I had hoped. I had planned to post step by step photos of making the plate and the installation. Here are just a couple pics....PM me and I can email you many pics or a Word document that outlines the steps for this.

At any rate I am very pleased with the seat, how it fits and how comfortable it is. The original height VS the new height are very close and the access to all the controls are equally good. With the plate I made fore and aft positioning of the seat are real good too. Another nice thing is you retain the factory seat belt mounts and the seat comes with a seat switch built in.

I hope this helps anyone deciding on upgrading to a new seat.

[JD25201965]

Just posting a couple more pics. The large hole in the center is to run the seat switch cable up through. I also drilled three holes at each corner of the plate to give me a little more flexibility in locating the seat fore and aft once I placed it on the tractor. I found the center holes worked best for me.

[kennyd]

Welcome to TBN JD

That is one awesome upgrade you did there! I love that seat, just wish you could get them in yellow like the stock seat.

I also drilled three holes at each corner of the plate to give me a little more flexibility in locating the seat fore and aft once I placed it on the tractor. I found the center holes worked best for me.

Is that the only adjustability or did the stock slide remain intact?

[JD25201965]

Thank you...I just mowed tonite for a couple hours and am very pleased with the comfort. The seat is a little pricey, but worth every penny for the comfort it provides. I would have gladly given an extra $350 in the price of the tractor upfront for this.

The original slide for the stock setup was removed, however the new seat has a slide which bolts to the plate I made. The three holes were simply to give me a little more latitude on the initial placement of the seat. I did not want to get it all installed, run out of travel and wish I had moved the seat forward or back just an inch.

Essentially the steps involved in this mod are:

1. Remove original seat

2. Remove the upper bracket that the seat belts bolt to. (This bracket bolts to the top of the seat slides.

3. Remove the seat slides.

4. Mount the original upper bracket where the slides were previously mounted. This requires drilling two additional holes.

5. Make the new seat plate.

6. Bolt the bracket from the original seat to the new plate. This is the bracket that the seat pivots on to tip forward. Attach the new plate and seat bracket to the upper bracket from step 4.

7. At the point you have a nice flat platform that pivots forward and this is what you attach the new seat to. The new seat has slides, so it is adjustable forward and backward.