Cab for the Kubota

[fatjay]

Chim, that's a nice cab. Mine comes to hte edge of the fenders, but I kept the sides and front/rear strait, to give me extra head room. Not like I'm going to be able to store it any easier by having the top a bit more narrow. Also will give me options for over-head storage

I'm running rubber between the cab mounts and fenders, the bolts will have rubber donut washers to isolate them, but provide isolation. My last tractor I did it's all bolted to the frame, and it's quite noisy. I was hoping to elimininate that this time around. Or at least reduce it.

The interior is 42" wide side to side, and 36" from the seat up, so it should be fairly roomy. What I'm not sure about is covering the holes under hte tractor and to the rear by the 3pt. I'm looking to get dual heaters for it that would mount by the feet that tie in to the coolant system. When I go out to do snow I'm out there for 3-4 hours easily. I'd rather have some heat while I'm out there, but that'll be pointless if I don't cover the holes on the under side.

 

[GPintheMitten]

To cover holes on the underside, consider rubber mats. You can remove the seat temporarily to.make it easier. Semi truck mud flaps would do the trick. Cut to shape.

Also you.might only need one heater. It's a small space.

 

[chim]

...................... What I'm not sure about is covering the holes under hte tractor and to the rear by the 3pt. I'm looking to get dual heaters for it that would mount by the feet that tie in to the coolant system. When I go out to do snow I'm out there for 3-4 hours easily. I'd rather have some heat while I'm out there, but that'll be pointless if I don't cover the holes on the under side.

A piece of cow mat from Tractor Supply is what I used. It was not easy to work with but it created a floor strong enough to carry a couple tool bags and the chute unclogger for the snow blower. A cardboard template was first fitted then used for a pattern.

One heater is more than I need. It makes 20,000 BTUs worth of warmth.

EDIT TO ADD PIC:

 

[fatjay]

I'm glad someone else has the heater. Can you explain how you hooked it up? I understand the principals, but do you just cut the hose before the radiator, then put a return afterwards? Any pictures would be great.

This evening I finished the other front support and went around the fender. Put in the cross support for the roof so it'll be pitched. I must say I'm really jealous of the larger garages. It's on my list to build one, just haven't gotten there yet. Little kerosene heater with a fan did a decent job at heating the garage though.

 

[chim]

Here are some pictures of my heater and connections. The first is taken looking down at the engine. The hose marked A is a factory hose used as the bypass. It must always have flow, so the heater is plumbed with valves that direct flow either through the heater core or bypass it. The hose is roughly in the shape of a 90 degree bend and has different diameters at each end. The larger diameter is 5/8" IIRC. That allowed me to disconnect the hose and rotate it by loosening the bottom connection. An internal type of coupling was then used to connect water through valves to the one side of the heater. The fitting where the factory 90 degree hose was connected was then used to connect the other heater hose (B).

The second photo is of the heater and valves. I bought the heater on line for around $150 late in 2012. The third photo is looking into the area where the connections were made to the bypass.

 

[fatjay]

Thanks for the pictures. I found the hose on mine, have to take the alternator off to do it though. Seems the price is still $150, gonna have to work hard to sell that one to the wife. She's not convinced I need the tractor, let alone the cab, and we just got a bill for $5400 from the emergency room AFTER the insurance...

Today, I tackled a different issue. With the cab on, I couldn't open the hood. So I had to move the cab back an inch. Problem with that is then the steering wheel would be into the windshield. So I had to come up with a different solution. I decided to make the hood open front instead of backwards. Marked and cut the hood right by the front of the gas tank, then permanently mounted the rear piece over the gas tank. Put reinforcing steel under and used two door hinges. I'm going to get some hood struts to put in there, and put a latch on the front. Overall I'm happy with how it came out, gives me a LOT of room to work, too. I'll rewire the lights tomorrow so the travel along the inside of the hood, since the wire comes from the dash anyway.

 

[GPintheMitten]

Even without a heater, you'll like the cabin to keep the wind and snow off you.

 

[fatjay]

Picked up remote start for the tractor. Chinese 2 channel wireless relay for $7 and 2x 50a starter relays for $5 each. One button primes the glow plugs and the second bumps the starter. The relay is press and release with buttons so as soon as I release it stops. Will post pictures of the wiring when they come in. Also picked one up for accessories.

 

[fatjay]

Bought a 4'x8' sheet of 1/4" aluminum for the panels and roof. Bought flasher relay and 9 amber side markers, 2 red tail lights, 3 flood lights, 12v switches, car radio and overhead mount, speakers, wire, plastic E channel(not sure I'll use this for what I want, we'll see).

3 day weekend, hopefully I can get a lot done. Need to get an aluminum cutting blade for the table saw. Roof dimensions are 44"x50".

 

[Bentru]

That 1/4" aluminum and the associated vibration is going to overpower about any radio I can think of. My cab runs about 89 dB inside during operation. If you turn your radio up loud enough to hear it, you are going to be damaging your ears. I use plugs and muffs together and enjoy the quietness.

 

[KennyG]

After seeing this thread drift into hood modifications and remote start, I am in awe of your ambition, sir.

 

[ovrszd]

Me too Kenny!!!! I'm following this build closely.

 

[fatjay]

Well, the aluminum guy is out of town til tuesday, which screws my weekend. Another shop has 1/8" for the same price, but I'm not sure about 1/8".

The cab will be insulated from the frame vibration and the roof will be insulated from the cab frame by a layer of foam and neoprene washers so there's no actual metal on metal contact. Not sure how effective it will be but worth a shot. All the aluminum body plates and roof will have matting on the inside for insulation and sound deadening. My last tractor was a bit on the loud side in the cab, looking to quiet it down quite a bit hopefully.

Also ordered my cab heater!

If I'm satisfied with the 1/8" I should be ready for paint by sunday. Here's hoping.

 

[ovrszd]

Gluing insulation matting on the panels will help a LOT.

 

[fatjay]

I will say this is my second cab build. I'm aware of the shortcomings of my first one, so I'm working to engineer my way around it.

This is an incomplete list, but so far...

$150 for steel. Could have been cheaper if I knew about the steel company in time. By about $100. If your'e doing something like this don't buy your steel from home depot.

$150 for 4'x8' 1/8" sheet aluminum from steel company. This will cover the top, lower part of doors, lower rear panels, and back panels. Will also use for panels inside that will have electrical switches and components behind them.

$5 for hood hardware. This was a stupidly easy modifictaion that eliminates the giant hassle of dealing with a cab on a tractor while not losing access to the engine. My other tractor I have to tilt back the entire cab to get the hood open. Hoods that close front to back also overlap with steering wheels, which means you get to choose being over the hood or being in the steering wheel.

$450 for new wire feed welder. Nuts and bolts are dumb when you want ridigity and stability. Wire feed lincoln on 110v will do 5/16" and is so easy to do, anyone can do it.

$8 for wireless relay. It has a keyfob with 2 buttons and 2 relays. They're only rated at 10a, and are momentary. You press the button and it comes on, you release and it turns off.

$7 for a single channel wireless relay. This one will be used to toggle key ACC on/off. Once the tractor is running, I can press this to activate the alternator, heater, lights, basically everything you get when you turn the key to on. Doesn't need to be high power(i hope).

$5x2 for 12v 50a starter relays. Need these for starter and glow plugs. Press button 1 on keyfob for 10 seconds to prime glow plugs, release and press and hold button 2 to start. When it starts just release.

$14 for single din radio with bluetooth. The market is flooded with these things really cheap, because all the new cars you can't use them.

$10 for overhead single din radio mount.

$15 for 2 4" speakers.

$7 for antenna for stereo.

$150 for 20,000BTU cab heater

$30 for 36"x48" 1/8" pleixiglass for windshield from home depot. Not crazy about the thickness, but we'll see how it works.

$20 for 8' of plastic E-Channel, which will hold the sliding side windows behind the doors. Basically cut to fit and glued in place, I can then insert plexiglass sheets in the channels with overlap, screw in some nobs to open/close the windows, and I'll be good to go.

 

[fatjay]

$120 for 1/16" diamond plate aluminum and $10 for the blade.

 

[fatjay]

Got the frames for the rear and side windows in place, roof cut, and one rear panel.

Whoever said cutting aluminum by table saw was easy should be drawn and quartered. Bought the special blade, worked well, but just didn't work well. Using a hand saw won't make it strait enough. It was a headache, but the big cuts are done.

 

[fatjay]

Radio, antenna, speakers, overhead mounting, and cab heater arrived today.

Cab heater is MUCH larger than I anticipated. Guess I should have measured first. Not sure where I'm going to position it, the dash is pretty much out at it's size. It's also a whole lot deeper than I anticipated. I think I'll mount at the rear, but that means running the water lines from up front all the way to the back, looking at 3' hose length vs about 8', a sizeable difference. I'm not sure if I'll lose heat a measurable amount of heat between running it all the way up.

Radio fit into the ceiling mount nicely. Antenna is bent due to poor packing, so no running strait up the rear of the cab. Not thrilled but it happens. Going to hook it all up to test later.

Another trip to the steel yard, another 4'x8' of 1/16" diamond plate aluminum plus 40 feet of 3/4"x 3/4" 1/8" angle iron.

 

[GPintheMitten]

Have you thought about building a bump out somewhere for the heater?

 

[fatjay]

I've thought about it, but not sure yet. I want to figure out a way that I don't have to take off the alternator to disconnect the heater. That line has water flowing all the time, so it has to remain open. I was thinking of an in line ball valve H to close off and redirect flow to heater, then I can disconnect the heater, open the H valve, close off other valves, and use it without the cab. But adding valves like that feels like adding a point of failure.

I think I'm going to get 20' of hose and put the heater in the top rear of the cab blowing forward. It'd be a bit of a pain to wire and pipe but would be the most unobstructed place I can think of. I can't put the back up against anything because the blower motor protrudes, and I need airflow for it to blow properly.