Subscribed....
I was told by the dealer "...there is no way to put a joystick on the left side of the cab."
Obviously, there are ways. There are just no "ways" that don't require some original thought and planning--which I commend you for! :thumbsup: (And those assisting you, too!)
Jim--you are deeper into this than I'll be able to get, before my purchase. So I'm pinnin' my hopes on you, brotha!" LOL
I wanted to operate the grapple with one hand, and the FEL with another. It seems silly to put all that work load (two joy sticks) on one hand, and none for the left.
I hadn't thought about foot control--but I would have assumed cockpit floor real estate was too hard to come by. So I'm interested in your explorations in that dept., as well.
My Hoe
So here's my plan. I'll try to describe it as best I can - bear in mind - this is a B3200 - with no cab.
First - I'm going to use a Fasse valve or similar ( I actually got one of the diverter valves from Surplus Center last week - but I don't believe I'm going to use it - it's pressure limit is 2500 psi - and I believe the Fasse valves are 3000+ - so I'm probably going to go with one of those - the Fasse valve that is). I'm going to mount the diverter valve right near where the pressure ports are coming out of rear "pumpkin" under the tractor seat. I have a backhoe on my tractor - so what I'm going to do is tap into those lines and use that hydraulic flow to route it forward.
I will have to make ( or get made) - some custom hydraulic lines to make this work - but I've looked very carefully and there is enough space to mount the diverter valve right in that area (right hand side under the seat) . Plus - I took the backhoe off for the first time yesterday - what a pain in the you know what. I think the routing of the backhoe QA fittings could be made better with some work so I can do that too.
I will then send to lines forward - to the LEFT side - right under the floorboard. I've got to figure that one out a little - the routing is going to be tight - there doesn't appear to be a huge amount of space to send lines forward and across the tractor but I'll figure it out.
So under the left hand side floorboard - there is a decent amount of space. I plan on making up some sort of mounting setup - probably boxed in to protect the valve - and use a Prince "SV" style stackable valve setup with three sections. One section will be for the "grapple" , one section for another cylinder - and the last section will be for a "motor". I've looked at the Prince SV literature and it looks like they have all of those options available. To control all three valves - I am going to use a combination of a joystick - and a foot pedal. I already purchased a joystick from Surplus Center - with a switch on the handle (to control the diverter valve) - and that joystick will be mounted on some sort of mount I will have to weld up - and will be located right next to the dashboard on the left hand side (looking forward from the seat). The joystick will control TWO of the valves thru cables - that will be relatively short. I will have to find somebody to custom make the cables for me. The shortest ones I can find out there commonly available are 36" long - and I need something shorter than that.
The joystick will control one of the cylinder valves ( I am thinking of this cylinder valve as the side to side cylinder or side shift cylinder) - and the other axis on the joystick will be used to control the motor - pull it all the way to one side for one direction - to the other side for the other direction.
The last valve will be controlled by a footpedal - this is the valve I am thinking of as the "grapple" valve - to control a grapple cylinder. I will have to custom make a footpedal somehow but I think this is do-able - I just need to come up with setup that will actuate the valve in both directions - probably thru some linkages.
I will run quick connects forward to right around the same position on the left side - as the hydraulic QD's are for the loader on the right side.
I plan on running two feeds (the "grapple" and the "side shift" feeds) to the loader itself by running hard lines under the loader arm similarly to the way the hard lines are run for the loader itself. The "motor" feed will go forward and have a couple of QD connections right near the front of the tractor frame somewhere.
I'm going to have to get a tube bender to make the hard lines. None of the tube benders I currently have are really appropriate for the task of bending hydraulic lines.
This is probably going to take me a while to make it come together. I've got too many projects already - including finishing off my barn and getting all the construction material cleared out to make some space for the tractor. Once I can get that project more settled - then I'll have some space to work on the tractor better. In the meantime I'm going to accumulate the parts and continue to think the thing out. I find that once I start tossing ideas around in my head I can usually think something out pretty fully before churning out physical parts.
I'll keep the thread updated!
