Great looking mods! :thumbsup: It's neat how little changes can make such a huge difference in function. Hopefully this thread will turn into a nice library of add-ons and mods for these machines.
Here is a few mods I have done to mine to make it a more ergonomic and useful machine.
Extra lights I added to the FEL mounts. I welded a short section of 1.25" angle to the FEL mounts to attach the lights to. The lamps are Peterson 55w trapezoidal work lights. They light up along side of the tractor and out front, regardless of the FEL position. A must for nighttime snow removal and late-night lawn mowing. I wired them in using a relay triggered off the high beam circuit. When you turn the high beam circuit on, these lights come on too.
More 55w lamps. These are flood beam lights that I mounted by drilling out the bracket hole and attaching them via the ROPS mounting bolts. They hook up to two existing spade connectors on the wire harness that become hot when the marker/parking lamps are turned on.
This is one of my favorites, an extension to the range selector. I took a piece of 1/2" 1144 CRSR and drilled, tapped, and threaded the ends to bring the knob up about 7". I then bent it slightly to clear my leg. This makes range selections much easier as I don't have to go searching for the knob below my thigh, especially when wearing bulky bibs in the winter. It also allows a little more leverage on the handle making it easier to feel positive engagement and thus prevents gear clashing. I'm waiting for warm weather to paint it.
I replaced the horrid factory seat with nicer one I bought at Fleet Farm (it's a common one you can find many places), and a suspension unit I purchased through Belarus Ag Supply. I mounted the suspension unit by cutting about 1.5" of height out of the factory seat riser and re-welding the mounting tabs back on. This leaves the bottom of the plate about 1" above the hydraulic lift assembly. The rear mounting nuts are tough to get on, but the suspension is well worth it. I made a frame to mount the seat to the suspension unit and attach the seat belt. I reused the factory belt for now until I make another Surplus Center order and get a retractable one. You can also see the 3-point lever I modified. I made the lever longer, angled it towards the fender, and angled it rearward more so I don't have to reach so low and forward to operate the 3-point.
I call this modification my "console." I needed remote hydraulics, but didn't like the price or location of the valve controls on the LS kit. This puts the valve levers in a very nice spot for running my snowblower chute and my 3-point dirt scraper. My hydraulic setup uses an 8 gpm Prince 2-spool valve and standard 1/2" Pioneer push/pull couplers so I can plug and play with any equipment on the farm. The second spool will eventually run a T'ed line for a second rear remote and a loader hookup for a grapple.
I used a scrap piece of 11 ga. plate to make the console. It attaches to the ROPS mounting bolts. I'd go heavier or add a light framework for rigidity if I was to do it over, but the 11 ga. plate has minimal flex and only vibrates a little at one certain ground speed in 3rd high. The design should provide the operator with full protection from any hydraulic leaks. The extra room on the plate allowed me a nice spot to put a small toolbox. This summer I am going to add an electric switch box to the console for controlling my sprayer, and a cup-holder for, ahem, refreshments
.
