B7100 Spinner knob

[6mmbr]

Hi. I was looking to kill some time so thought I would mount a spinner knob on my 94 B7100. Why? because I like spinner knobs. Got one on my JD5310, F350, even my ol dumptruck has a suicide knob. So I got a fancy one from Kubota. Says Kubota on top in that funky script and rubber like a truck tire around it. Cool. And of course I bought it off ebay.

Unfortunately the hole is way to big for the B7100 steering wheel. There was included a rubber strip meant to take up this space and provide secure attachment. That worked great until I had to use it, then the whole thing rotated inward due to the shape of the steering wheel. The rubber strip fell out and the fancy knob was left hanging there upside down swinging on the wheel mocking me.

Hmmm..what to do.
I could have gone and bought inexpensively another style of spinner knob, one that comes in all different colors and bolts on with machine screws and you can find everywhere. But that kubota knob, it was hanging there, just swinging back and forth, mocking me in it's own little way...

So I came up with this semi-permanent mount method I will describe here.

1st I cut some Kydex thermoplastic into 1x5 strip. Heated it up with heat gun and wrapped it around one of the center spokes near the wheel and let it cool into a rough initial shape.

I then took the bottom part of the spinner knob and ground down one side to equal the thickness of the Kydex plastic (that is two thicknesses since I have it wrapped around the spoke.)

Holding it in position I marked and drilled through the Kydex where the hex head bolt goes through and then loosely put in both bolts.

I heated the Kydex up again so it was all flexible and then tightened down the bolts and while holding the knob where I wanted it, "smooshed" down the Kydex so as it cooled it conformed to the shape of the spoke and held the knob in the correct position.

After it was cool and firmed up, I trimmed away the excess Kydex to conform to the knob shape. There is still a large gap between the steering wheel and the knob opening where the rubber strip was supposed to fill. The Kydex alone is not strong enough to hold the knob so I bought some "God Stuff"

"God Stuff" - as in 'god that stuff is great!' Of course I am talking about JB Weld. In this case the JB Weldstick putty.

Cut off an inch or so and with wet fingers kneaded it into the magic color and then wrapped it around the wheel and (working quickly I might add - god doesn't wait on you) bolted the knob in place tight. As the JB oozed out used a screwdriver as a putty knife and filled in gaps or cut away excess to make it look pretty.

12 minutes later, rock solid. Will need air chisel to remove. Next day little spray with some satin paint and will look OEM. (pictures prior to paint):

"Yup, did that"

thanks

 

[Egon]

Nice looking Spinner.

On the Kubota B7100 without power steering it will live up to it's name, "Spinner". While spinning it may take out a thumb or make an ugly "Owie" on other parts of the hand.

Best mount it on a shelf somewhere and admire it there.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[Thomas]

Nice looking fit.

Make sure you got good grip on spinner even more so when useing front loader..knucle buster. ;(

 

[Bird]

Nice looking Spinner.

On the Kubota B7100 without power steering it will live up to it's name, "Spinner". While spinning it may take out a thumb or make an ugly "Owie" on other parts of the hand.

Best mount it on a shelf somewhere and admire it there.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

There is a reason those were known as suicide knobs for cars in the days before power steering became popular. Anyone who has one will get rid of it after the first broken finger or thumb, unless, of course, it actually lives up to its name, in which case his heirs will get rid of it.:laughing::laughing::laughing:

 

[Travelover]

The only reason to own a spinner was when they used to have pictures of semi naked women on them. :laughing:

 

[AStanton]

I bought one too on Flea Bay. I thought that I would install it at eleven o'clock. The thing made me crazy, its position on the wheel kept changing due to the power steering system.
My neighbor has two knobs on his old Ford tractor.

 

[6mmbr]

Ha!
yeah, I found out driving over some brush that the steering wheel can turn into a food processor and that was without the knob on it! Already wondering how I can mount a steering dampener onto the tie rod.

Luckily it don't need a FEL on this guy, since I have one on the JD and the bobcat.

 

[thavil]

I bought one too on Flea Bay. I thought that I would install it at eleven o'clock. The thing made me crazy, its position on the wheel kept changing due to the power steering system.
My neighbor has two knobs on his old Ford tractor.

I mounted two spinner knobs on my tractor for this same reason. One of them will be in a comfortable position at any given time.

 

[dstig1]

Mine came (used) with a spinner already on and I don't see how you could run a tractor without one! Maybe the hydro steering solves the "suicide" issue, but I have never seen the wheel move in any way on its own that would cause it to whack me. Yes it ends up in all positions but I don't worry about it too much. Just find it when I need it. It would be nice if it stayed put, but that's not a big deal to me.

 

[BeezFun]

Nice looking Spinner.

On the Kubota B7100 without power steering it will live up to it's name, "Spinner". While spinning it may take out a thumb or make an ugly "Owie" on other parts of the hand.

Best mount it on a shelf somewhere and admire it there.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Ditto on that. I drove a gravel truck that had a spinner on it, I was young and didn't know any better. Drove over some rough ground on a job site and that thing came around and just about broke my knuckles.

 

[KubotainNH]

I mounted two spinner knobs on my tractor for this same reason. One of them will be in a comfortable position at any given time.

I have that same knob on my B6100 but like 6mmbr mine keeps slipping. I don;t have any thermoplastic to bend around the spoke but I'm sure I can find something to do the job. Thanks for the idea. BTW, one of the best pluses of adding power steering is no more out of control steering wheel spin.

 

[George the Beagle]

Ditto on that. I drove a gravel truck that had a spinner on it, I was young and didn't know any better. Drove over some rough ground on a job site and that thing came around and just about broke my knuckles.

I did the same thing, but the truck didn't have power steering. I can't see any damage being done with a spinner on a power steering equipped Kubota.

 

[Baby Grand]

There is a reason those were known as suicide knobs for cars in the days before power steering became popular. Anyone who has one will get rid of it after the first broken finger or thumb, unless, of course, it actually lives up to its name, in which case his heirs will get rid of it.:laughing::laughing::laughing:

First day driving a Mack for a lumber company one of the veterans comes over, looks at the truck, then at me, then says "keep yer thumbs out", then walks away. When i got to the construction site, the only vehicles that had been up the "road" were the excavators and the cement mixer. It took me about 3 minutes before I understood what he meant.

Have a nice TSC spinner on my 'bota. It's not quite K orange, but it's getting enough grease and sweat on it that you really can't tell anymore. Makes getting around close quarters a lot easier.

 

[masscity]

I've had a spinner on my B7100DT since 1979 and I've never had a problem with it. I mounted it at 6 o'clock.

Now, I would have to be nuts to put one on our 9n though.

 

[phiferpharm]

I have one on my boat and it is a pre-mounted in the wheel. Since the boat doesn't have the wheel change position without input, even when in a turn, I love it. Not so sure it would be as welcomed on the tractor. I never know where the spokes will end up on that.

 

[j t huskins]

That will come in handy if I put the FEL back on mine. I don't have one on my New Holland or Ford but have had many days of work that it would have been nice to have had one.