2305 First Generation Swivel Seat Fix - sort of

[C-Range]

For those stuck with the first generation seat swivel, you might find some relief in these modifications to get your swivel to rotate a bit more smoothly.

I took a good look at the mechanism to see why it gets hung up much of the time when rotating from front to back and vice versa. It turns out that it just needs some chamfers placed in the right spots.

Remove the seat by pulling the single pivot pin, then remove the front Hinge Brackets and grind a chamfer like this on the INSIDE of each one:

While I was at it, I also wanted to reduce the scraping against the seat by the swivel frame:

These things together seem to be a big help in getting the seat to swivel better. You still have to know when to raise and lower the seat during the rotation, but at least it doesn't get hung up and stuck anymore. It just works. Hope this helps.

 

[etcallhome]

Thanks for that info.
Next time I'm using the tractor and I can remember I'll check my seat.

 

[bsh1339]

Hey, they took your pictures away. Any chance you could repost them? I was getting ready to go take it apart and start grinding, and thought I'd take another look.

 

[C-Range]

Oh, so there is life out there. I had thought this thread would generate a lot of interest but instead it got the equivalent of a Hilary Clinton welcoming party on a US military base in Afghanistan. (No offense etcalhome )

I restored the pictures.

 

[Deerelirious]

Ensoll, Thank You for posting the photos of the modifications. I was just outside this morning, wrasslin' with that dad-blamed seat. When I bought the 2305 TLB back in February of '09, I mentioned the seats' stubborn operation to the salesman, and he said "Oh yeah, we know how to take care of that. I'll have the shop guys do the modification before we deliver the unit". Yeah Right... of course it didn't get done.

As a result, I've been cussin' and wrasslin' with that seat ever since. Well, last Saturday, that doggone seat 'bit' the middle finger on my right hand. It took off a narrow strip of my hide, as I was trying to the the seat to swivel back into the forward position. I'm going to put a nice, smooth chamfer across the way top of the lower "slotted' bracket behind the seat, along with rounding it's corners off. The top squared-off edges of that bracket can be 'sharp', if hit just right.

This morning I decided to try and see just what the problem is. After that, I thought that I would check with TBN before modifying anything, and there was your posting with the great photos! I see the exact same problems that you mention in your post. You nailed it!

I'm a bit surprised that John Deere hasn't at least issued a service bulletin on it. I guess that it isn't a 'safety issue', but a PITA issue instead, and that's why there was no recall on the crappy original swivel seat design.

It's time for me to have bite of lunch and head back out there to make the modifications.

 

[C-Range]

Hi Deerelirious,

I'm really glad to hear someone getting some use out of that thread. It made a huge difference in the user friendliness on mine. I had gotten many a blood blister and twitched back muscles trying to rotate it before making the changes. After the changes, it was about 75% better, requiring much less of a struggle.

That whole seat rotator couldn't possibly have been anything more than a backup prototype design that was forced into production because of some project schedule, as hoaky as it is. I would love to see the emails from the engineers at Deere pleading for it not to be used.

 

[Deerelirious]

Hi Ensoll,

Got 'er done, and now the seat operates nicely! It sure beats the heck outta paying $700.00 plus (w/tax) for the newer setup. 'Ya done good!

 

[Deerelirious]

I tried to attach aphoto of what I did, but it didn't work out. Here's the link:

John Deere 2305 TLB; Swivel Seat Mechanism Modification pictures from good times photos on webshots

 

[Deerelirious]

Hi,
Regarding this, I just checked my 260 back hoes' parts manual and they show both the old and the new designs of swivel seat mechanisms in there. Page 20-32 shows the same basic swivel seat mechanism design as my tractor has (with a few minor differences): Instead of the center slot in the rear vertical portion of the base plate, there is a single tab sticking up on center, and the seat platform has a slot in it that drops over that tab to center and secure the seat in the forward position.

Page 20-34 shows the newer version which is quite a bit different than mine. The manual (PC9629) is dated 01/09. My swivel seat mechanism must be an intermediate design that was used in between the two shown in the parts book.



I bought my 2305 TLB in February of '09, and before it was delivered there was a document in with the manuals that showed the tractor's final build/assembly date, and I recall that it was 09/03/2008... at Augusta, GA USA. Sadly, that final point of assembly/date information sheet didn't arrive with my tractor on delivery day.

I immediately contacted John Deere Corporate for a copy of it, and they replied with this:

"Please contact your local John Deere Dealer to see if they still have the sheet and can provide you a copy. The sheet you mentioned, I believe, is the standard pre-delivery inspection sheet used by the dealer to check in the tractor when delivered to the dealership. A copy is not normally given to the purchaser. Information regarding your unit is noted on the product identification tag and in the Operator's Manual."

Contacting the dealer, I was told that they throw them away after completing the pre-delivery inspection and services. That's a real shame! Why not let the purchaser decide what to do with it? Obviously, I would have kept it wih the tractors' paperwork. At that point, all that I could do was to record the final assembly date and the assembly location, from memory.


With this parts catalog being dated (01/09), I suspect that my tractor (having been assembled in late August/ early September of '09), missed getting the new, improved swivel seat assembly by just a few months. There is no one part number shown for the two complete swivel seat assemblies in the parts catalog... only individual part numbers for it's components.

Thanks again to Ensoll for the clear directions/photos on how to address the problems of my tractors' swivel seat mechanisms. It works!

 

[C-Range]

Deerelirious,

You might want to do a little more searching on the forums about that seat. Some people have been successful in getting their seats exchanged, though I believe they were on tractors that were still under warranty.

I'm not aware of any intermediate design, not to say it doesn't exist. I'd be interested in seeing some photos if you have the means to provide them.