Treadle to hand control conversion on 1430

[joshlee]

Is there any reason you are coming out on the right, rather then on the left. My Tractor now has the forward/reverse control on the right side, but my controls for the up and down, bucket and such are on the left. Sure you have to take your hands off the wheel, but is good when you are at the end of something you are plowing, or trying to raise with the bucket, as you can slow things down with your right hand, and lift and roll a bucket with your left.

Just a thought. I would like to see what you come up with, and when I get my machine set up I will put some pics out here for others to see, so maybe it will give them some ideas.
Jeff

Thats something I haven't thought of before. I was thinking of working the forward/reverse control and the lift control together with my one hand, since thats how I do it with the Steiner 430 Max. Although, I won't know for sure how well it will work until I pretty much make it. Yeah, I will think about your suggestion and would like to see it after your done.

 

[jfischer]

Hey there Josh, I have been hurt going on 35 years this year. I make a big issue about seat height because as you get older, your arms will wear out, and the higher you have to jump, the more it wears the shoulders out. 31" is higher then I thought, I hope I can drill a hole in the seat mount and bring it down just a hair, and still keep the seat above the hydraulic cap, and so it won't hit when it goes up and down over bumps. My seat on my JD is higher then that now, but the fender is only at 28" and have a stand I jump over to and slide over to the seat now, so not as much of a chance of falling.

On the controls, I would like to have something that stays where I put it, and not spring back to center, all the time like a set of car hand controls. When you are plowing long distance without a way to lock it that could get old, or if you are doing a lot of bucket work, you seem to run out of hands.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
Jeff

 

[joshlee]

I'm starting to feel it in my shoulders more as the years go by. Yeah, I would think it wouldn't be real hard to lower the seat. It would take some cutting and welding probably. Just so you know, the hoods on these machines are heavy. On the PT-1430, I cannot even get it partially lifted up. The one man that works at Power Trac was innovating with me and he said about putting some type of a ratcheting devise, or chain binder type tool on the hitch part on the back. This is what I'm going to do to my PT-425 eventually, even though I can open it, its still pretty heavy.
The hand control returning to center is a bit of a pain, but the reason I'm doing it is because I'm always moving the machines around from sitting in the wheelchair. Especially, when I'm loading it up on the trailer and its much safer more me if the controls return to neutral. Eventually, I would like to put a cruise control on it, which there are numerous ways of doing it.
So, how far do you live from Tazewell, Virginia?O

Hey there Josh, I have been hurt going on 35 years this year. I make a big issue about seat height because as you get older, your arms will wear out, and the higher you have to jump, the more it wears the shoulders out. 31" is higher then I thought, I hope I can drill a hole in the seat mount and bring it down just a hair, and still keep the seat above the hydraulic cap, and so it won't hit when it goes up and down over bumps. My seat on my JD is higher then that now, but the fender is only at 28" and have a stand I jump over to and slide over to the seat now, so not as much of a chance of falling.

On the controls, I would like to have something that stays where I put it, and not spring back to center, all the time like a set of car hand controls. When you are plowing long distance without a way to lock it that could get old, or if you are doing a lot of bucket work, you seem to run out of hands.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
Jeff

 

[jfischer]

Hey Josh, I am thinking that if you drill a hole where the seat flips now on the bolt about 3" lower, or so it won't hit the top of the Hydro Cap that it would lower it down fine. I saw someone else do that when they put a suspension seat on, and it raised things up too high.

Never thought about the hood being so heavy. I guess I am used to the JD's all these years with a fiberglass hood. I wonder if any of the gas cylinders, like on the back windows of cars, would help it with the assist needed in lifting.

How do you get on and off the machine, (to the chair, if you drive it up on the trailer)?

I am just Southwest of Washington D.C., in Northern VA, so I would say about 345 miles or so.
Jeff

 

[MossRoad]

Hey guys, I was thinking of gas struts, too, to assist you with raising the hood. Or, you could do a hydraulic cylinder since the machine is all hydraulic. Only caveat to hydraulics is if the machine doesn't start, you can't open the hood. But if you put the cylinder on the outside of the hood, say on the back of the machine or the side of the machine, and secured it with a linchpin, you could easily disconnect one end of the cylinder to open the hood in case of engine failure. Especially if you used cylinders with ball joints on the end like PT does on the quick attach. For that matter, ask PT if they could adapt the same size cylinder that they use on the quick attach to use to lift the hood and ask about a valve control somewhere. Heck, if you don't mind hoses, you could use the AUX PTO to power the hood. You'd just be connecting and disconnecting hoses fairly often if you didn't have a dedicated circuit. OR, you could ask about an electric diverter valve with the switch on the dash, that would divert the flow of the steering/FEL/AUX PTO circuit to a valve on the back to open the hood. Anyhow, lots of possibilities.

On the use of gas cylinders, if you go that route (much cheaper than hydraulic), be sure to add some sort of locking mechanism to the hood to keep it down. If you offset the heavy hood too much, I could see it popping up in bumpy or sloped terrain.

Good luck guys. I'm interested in your projects. :thumbsup:

 

[woodlandfarms]

Yeah guys, this is fascinating to me as well. Pictures would be great.

so lowering the seat, how does it feel to the dash.

if adventurish, you could put the oil refill cap on the side of the tank on your machine. Drop that seat further. If you have the plastic cap oil dip, the metal one is lower I believe (not sure it crossfits).

 

[MossRoad]

Yeah guys, this is fascinating to me as well. Pictures would be great.

so lowering the seat, how does it feel to the dash.

if adventurish, you could put the oil refill cap on the side of the tank on your machine. Drop that seat further. If you have the plastic cap oil dip, the metal one is lower I believe (not sure it crossfits).

Or you could take the plate off the oil reservoir, measure it, and have a new plate made with a recessed cap. Only problem would be dirt around the cap. For that matter, you could just remove the plate and put on a flat plate with a gasket and put a dipstick tube on the inside of the engine compartment where it would be protected.... like maybe they should have done at the factory??? :laughing:

 

[RegL]

Hey Josh, I am thinking that if you drill a hole where the seat flips now on the bolt about 3" lower, or so it won't hit the top of the Hydro Cap that it would lower it down fine. I saw someone else do that when they put a suspension seat on, and it raised things up too high.

Never thought about the hood being so heavy. I guess I am used to the JD's all these years with a fiberglass hood. I wonder if any of the gas cylinders, like on the back windows of cars, would help it with the assist needed in lifting.

How do you get on and off the machine, (to the chair, if you drive it up on the trailer)?

I am just Southwest of Washington D.C., in Northern VA, so I would say about 345 miles or so.
Jeff

Might be able to cut out some access openings in the hood for day to day maintanence like checking oil and refueling. Cover them with hinged panels if you didn't want to leave them open.

 

[jfischer]

M R, I am going to try it without anything in there. I just thought the gas struts might help, but after looking at the machine today, there is not a lot of room in there to add cylinders or such. Heck, it will keep the arms built up opening it.

I made a suggestion to tell people that seem to have problems with the engines running out of oil, or not checking it. I told them that at the end of the day, I always open my hood, that way when I get on it the next time, it reminds me to check the fluids. They said they might start telling customers to do that.

 

[jfischer]

Yeah guys, this is fascinating to me as well. Pictures would be great.

so lowering the seat, how does it feel to the dash.

if adventurish, you could put the oil refill cap on the side of the tank on your machine. Drop that seat further. If you have the plastic cap oil dip, the metal one is lower I believe (not sure it crossfits).

I don't know as of yet how it is going to feel with the seat lowered. I made that suggestion to save my shoulders with jumping on the machine, but went over to one, and didn't have that hard of a time getting on it.

Think they are going to put one of the older metal style caps, and the neck on top of the tank, so we could lower it as low as it would go. I will be able to tell you in a few days, and hope to have some pictures also.