jmc
Elite Member
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2003
- Messages
- 2,974
- Location
- SW Indiana
- Tractor
- Ford 1920 4x4 (traded in on Kubota). Case 480F TLB w/4 in 1 bucket, 4x4. Gehl CTL60 tracked loader, Kubota L4330 GST
Hello,
This thread is about a seat modification to address:
1) the seat is too flat, front to back, for much comfort.
2) the seat doesn't slide back far enough to accommodate my 34 inch inseam. My knees hit the dashboard when I'm turned to watch behind the tractor.
The tractor is a Grand L 4330 but the other Grand L models may have similiar seats, or other series of Kubota's for that matter. The seat is hinged in front and rests on springs in the rear. Those rear springs are effectively weight sensors to shut the tractor down in certain conditions if they aren't compressed by the operator. The tractor shuts down when the seat is slightly elevated but if the seat is elevated by a lot, as in hinged fully forward, the tractor will continue to run. In other words, with the seat all the way up, that safety feature is overridden, presumably so you can run PTO driven stationary attachments without being in the seat. I'd read of this before on TBN but didn't know if it pertained to my particuliar model.
The modification consists of mounting a left and right bracket to elevate the front hinge points by 1.3 inches straight up. My first attempt was raising them by 1.7 inches and that was very comfortable when sitting still but while bouncing around and using the footfeet, it was too much pressure behind the knees. The 1.3 inches is very comfortable while sitting and operating.
It seems that those brackets would also offer a good opportunity to move the hinge points rearward as well for more leg room but a half inch or so would interfer with opening the tool box behind the seat. As it turns out, just raising the front results in more knee room either because it changes the angle of my legs or the rearward tilt keeps me from sliding forward.
The first picture is of the seat base without the seat. The brackets are visible at the front of the base. Note the vertical spacing between the new hinge hole and the old hinge hole in the base, directly below it. The pivot pins themselves are left and right shoulder bolts with an 8MM x 1.25MM thread.
The second picture is with the seat mounted and tilted fully up such that you are seeing the bottom of the seat. Note the white lever protruding from the seat base that shuts down the tractor depending on the seat position. With the seat front in it's new elevation, the lever does not engage the seat properly. To solve this, a .3 inch spacer is screwed to the seat bottom where the lever formerly contacted. It's hard to see in the picture because it's gray like the seat bottom.
This has been a worthwhile modification for me.
John
This thread is about a seat modification to address:
1) the seat is too flat, front to back, for much comfort.
2) the seat doesn't slide back far enough to accommodate my 34 inch inseam. My knees hit the dashboard when I'm turned to watch behind the tractor.
The tractor is a Grand L 4330 but the other Grand L models may have similiar seats, or other series of Kubota's for that matter. The seat is hinged in front and rests on springs in the rear. Those rear springs are effectively weight sensors to shut the tractor down in certain conditions if they aren't compressed by the operator. The tractor shuts down when the seat is slightly elevated but if the seat is elevated by a lot, as in hinged fully forward, the tractor will continue to run. In other words, with the seat all the way up, that safety feature is overridden, presumably so you can run PTO driven stationary attachments without being in the seat. I'd read of this before on TBN but didn't know if it pertained to my particuliar model.
The modification consists of mounting a left and right bracket to elevate the front hinge points by 1.3 inches straight up. My first attempt was raising them by 1.7 inches and that was very comfortable when sitting still but while bouncing around and using the footfeet, it was too much pressure behind the knees. The 1.3 inches is very comfortable while sitting and operating.
It seems that those brackets would also offer a good opportunity to move the hinge points rearward as well for more leg room but a half inch or so would interfer with opening the tool box behind the seat. As it turns out, just raising the front results in more knee room either because it changes the angle of my legs or the rearward tilt keeps me from sliding forward.
The first picture is of the seat base without the seat. The brackets are visible at the front of the base. Note the vertical spacing between the new hinge hole and the old hinge hole in the base, directly below it. The pivot pins themselves are left and right shoulder bolts with an 8MM x 1.25MM thread.
The second picture is with the seat mounted and tilted fully up such that you are seeing the bottom of the seat. Note the white lever protruding from the seat base that shuts down the tractor depending on the seat position. With the seat front in it's new elevation, the lever does not engage the seat properly. To solve this, a .3 inch spacer is screwed to the seat bottom where the lever formerly contacted. It's hard to see in the picture because it's gray like the seat bottom.
This has been a worthwhile modification for me.
John
