Winter Tractor Enclosure

   / Winter Tractor Enclosure #1  

timrob

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Joined
Jan 30, 2006
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21
I wanted to buy a softsided cab for my Dad for his birthday, but for the amount of use, the cost was too high. The cheapest I found was $400 for the enclosure and I build my own framework.

I was going to use the idea from one of the following links, but the golf-cart cover was too small.


http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Board/kioti/Number/769180/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/fpart/1
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Board/custom/Number/88976/page/0/view//sb/5/o/all/fpart/1/vc/1
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Board/owning/Number/219134/page/0/view//sb/5/o/all/fpart/all/vc/1

My brother-in-law and decided to build an enclosure instead. The final cost was about $120 (plexi-glass, hinges, locks, brackets, vinyl), but some items were free (wood, lag-bolts, rubber). It took us about 2 days of to finish. The whole unit can be lifted straight up for the summer use. If you don't know already, the enclosure makes things very noisy. You'll need to wear some earplugs. I've attached several pictures. Email me at tim_robertson1@yahoo.com if you have any questions as I don't check this forum too often.

First picture-the rear roof support is attached to the roll bar. Heavy rubber is used to protect the metal.
 

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#2  
Second picture-front right and left supports were attached and protected with heavy rubber.
 

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#3  
Third picture-wooden frame work with front windshield. The windshield had to be attached before finishing the frame. When cutting the plexiglass, tape both sides or the glass won't cut smoothly. The glass is cut out to fit down the right and left sides of the engine. Notice the black rubber protecting the metal on the rollbar and supports.
 

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#4  
The sides were mounted directly to the grab rails on the fenders.
 

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#5  
The right footwell opening was blocked with plexiglass and heavy rubber. The rubber hung several inches below the foot rest to block the wind.

We were going to create a floor mat that would extend all the way from the front plexiglass to the rear, which would almost completely block the wind, but the rubber was too slippery. If we had some other material that wasn't slippery, we could have used it instead. Before cutting the rubber, I created a cardboard template to figure out the odd measurements.
 

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#6  
The door was added. Notice the rubber on the bottom to block the wind. No exterior handle was added as the door was designed to naturally spring open /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Creating the cross beam in the door was more than just for structural support. It allowed us to use the smaller pieces of plexi-glass and not have to buy another big sheet.

The plexi-glass holes were first drilled with a small bit, then a larger bit. Lag bolts with large washers were used to attach the glass to the wood.

If you notice the white between the top of the fender and the bottom of the 2x4 (between the hand rail) is vinyl to block the wind. I'll go into more detail later.
 

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#7  
I forgot to mention earlier, heavy rubber was placed on the bottom of the windshield to protect the hood.

The bottom rear of the tractor was blocked with more of the heavy rubber. Notice the slot for pto arm and the small hole that was cut for the pto arm adjustment.
 

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#8  
With all this hard work we had to add a custom interior! I bought some what matching green vinyl at the fabric store. It was only $1.15 as I grabbed it from the scrap pile. If you can get it cheap, the vinyl works excellent for blocking the wind. If I had thought of it at the time, I would have cut a larger piece and let it extend all the way to the floor and then some. I picked up a grommet kit at Meijer and added some grommets to the vinyl. The left arm rail is stapled to the wood. The vinyl extends over the door when closed to block the gap between the door and the wheel well. Small hooks were screwed into the door.
 

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#9  
A cheap door handle was added to the inside as were 2 locks to keep the door closed. The roof was just a piece of scrap plywood. We didn't use treated wood or wood of any thickness as the tractor is parked in the pole barn.

Attached are the final pictures.
 

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#10  
Screws were used to attach the 2x4's. We had to drill the holes first as the wood was splitting. L-brackets were used in most places to provide additional support. In addition, flat truss brackets were added in certain spots for additional support.
 

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