buy or build a cab?

[lilranch2001]

yeah I thought it was just a litttle on the salty side as well

 

[PILOON]

Well, some 8-10 years back I made my cab for my MT180D and it has stood up really well to the test of time.
Used 1.5 x 1.5 sq tubing for the frame, roofed with 16g galvanised and made frt and rear windows with 16g as well.
I went to a scrap yard and got 2 of the larger rear school bus windows along with the rubber gaskets for almost free as yards really do not want glass.
Also the bus donated a rear 'under the seat' heater for the project.
Mt roof and front and rear pannels are fastened using 1/4" sheet metal screws to the frame as I did not want ugly welds that would rust.
Galvanised sheet was chosed for no rust reasons as well as we all know that branches do cause nicks and scratches.
My sides are HD transparent plastic stock as used in convertable rear windows as I wanted full side vision.
Glass frt and rear was a must as I wanted wipers for snow removal work and plastics I knew would smear and scratch eventually.
After all this time of usage, there is very little that I would change from the origional design.
I did provide possibilities of remouving rear window for summer usage but have never done so.
Instead I made access door remouvable and added 2 fans to keep me cool.
Fans also sort of blow the bugs out of the cab and in winter keep windows defrosted.
While the bus heater is just fine, I needed to install rugs on the floor as the many slits, slots and anti skid holes just let in too muck cool drafty air.

My total cost was about $250. at that time.

Yes it is indeed doable, and I'd do it again.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Looks like a nice cab but I don't think my customers are going to be willing to shell out $5,000 on a non heated non ac cab!

Aint that the truth..."Back in the day" we used to be happy to...I know when we bought the L2900 the Laurin cab we bought at the same time was not much cheaper...BUT we had no factory option. The realm of factory cabbed CUT's changed everything.

 

[trouble007]

just wondering if you have any pics of the process or the final product. im about to attempt a similair project on a JD 4200 and am looking for ideas.

thanks

Ryan

 

[4bangdan]

just wondering if you have any pics of the process or the final product. im about to attempt a similair project on a JD 4200 and am looking for ideas.

thanks

Ryan

i am about 75 percent done and have a ton of build pics. i will post pics as soon as i can. i used some great ideas from pics a guy on here 'DEON' had posted a while back. the link is a few posts behind this one. best ideas i like are weld a frame out of square tubing, build it twice as strong as needed, and make the mounting points 5 times stronger than you think it needs to be. i mounted it to the fel bracket and to the rops bracket after removing it. 3|8'' steel plates and 14mm bolts. then welded 16g sheet metal all over then cut out the windows. suicide door with cylinder and john deere latch and hande. stainless comercial ball bearing door hinges also. gray tinted safety glass all around. grinding and fiberglassing all welds and painting with ppg base cear paint. bobcat charcoal gray with a white roof.

 

[Gittyup]

Can't wait to see it.

 

[trouble007]

agreed this sounds like its going to be appsolutly amazing and thanks i found the link for the other cab it looks nice.

 

[4bangdan]

here ia a few pics of cab build. will post all on build it yourself forum.

 

[4bangdan]

tried again here.

 

[4bangdan]

more pics.