BX Seat and seatbelt replacements?

[r0GuE]

A lot of people will probably say I shouldn't do this, but I do. When I mow, my son rides on the tractor with me (except for the relativly sloped left front yard. He loves it and I love having him along. The problem is he's getting bigger and the seatbelt isn't fitting as good as it did. also he barely fits on the seat in front of me.
Is there any options to replace the seat with one that has more seat surface? Also, do they have seat belt extenders?
Thanks,

 

[Bird]

Rogue, I'm guessing from what you said that you are putting the one seat belt around the boy and yourself. I think the concensus of opinion (mine, at least /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif) is that it would be safer to simply belt youself in and not have the same belt around two people. In the event of an accident, your weight would do more damage to the child than would be done if he weren't belted on.

And unfortunately, I don't know of any better seat with a second belt.

 

[r0GuE]

Hmmm...
Maybe I will belt myself in and make a high quality belt system to hook him to my belt.

Really there is almost no possibility of upseting the tractor though. My reason for belting him in is that it is hard to hold him and drive the tractor. He is three and since there isn't much seat, I need to hold him up there.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Having just heard a news report about a young lad being killed by a tractor/mower...I can only say that the nice orange machine is not the place to be for a young child when the mower blades are in use. "Stuff" happens...

 

[gobbler]

<font color="blue"> "Stuff" happens... </font>

Ditto... but if you're so inclined, Kubota does offer a belt extension.

 

[Rick Jay]

rogue,

My "quick" answer is that he shouldn't be riding on the tractor at all!

Now, my more practical answer is this. Do not have him anywhere near the tractor while you are actually doing work with it: mowing, using the loader, etc. After the job is done, if you wish to give him a ride, then belt yourself in, hold onto him tightly, and then cautiously give him a ride.

I say this for several reasons: First of all, young children have much more sensitive hearing then us older folk, and I don't think exposing him to the continuing drone of the mower is doing him any good. (Heck, I wear hearing protection myself while mowing!) Second, if you're busy watching the ground while mowing, you can't devote full attention to your son. An accident only takes a second. Third, if he does squirm out of your grasp into the path of the tractor, at least the mower blades aren't spinning.

Personally, I don't let my kids anywhere near the "big tractor" (B2910) when it's running. They can sit on it when it's safely parked in the garage, but they stay clear if it's running. I do give them tractor rides on my small Honda lawn tractor (600 lbs. or so) AFTER I'm done mowing, for the reasons mentioned above. Our property only has a slight slope so the chance of a rollover is just about nil. However, even if it should happen, I'm reasonably confident I could handle it due to it's low weight. I don't know if I'd be so confident with a 1500-2000 lb. tractor.

Just my opinions, but after reading about many of the accidents posted under the "Safety" group, I feel a comfortable level of safety with my approach. It's an individual decision, you just have to be ready to live with the consequences. These things are not toys. Treat 'em with respect and you should be fine.

~Rick

 

[r0GuE]

Yeah... I guess.. NO I'm sure you guys are right. And since I realize that there are times when caution is more important than fun, I think I will do my chores wiythout him, and then do a ride after (with the seatbelt extention). In that case the seatbelt would be to restrain him from hopping away etc rather than a rollover, since I wouldn't be giving rides on the slope. The noise comment did me in /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif. I hadn't thought of that.

 

[FamilyFarm]

Rogue,

You aren't the first to do it - you are probably one of the few that will tell it! Maybe your post will help others to realize the dangers.
I am blessed (and I really do mean BLESSED! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif) to have 7 children. You can bet they all want to ride the tractor. They have all been taught to stay away when work is going on and in fact, they rarely ask anymore to ride. I make it a point to offer it to them after the work is done, but otherwise, they younger ones stay far away (usually inside the house) when I am working the tractor in any way - the older ones keep the proper distance while working outside with me.
Thanks again for posting about this - a great reminder that we have to be the ones responsible as the little ones simply cannot comprehend the danger! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
Terry

 

[r0GuE]

Well, I mowed yesterday alone.. As a side note it was getting ready to rain so I left the bucket on. I just want to afirm that it probably took me longer leaving the bucket on than if I'd have taken the thing off and mowed without. Anyway... We did a ride after at idle or slightly above. It's more fun that way anyhow since we can talk. We keep riding by the neighbors cherry tree and monitoring the progress!! They are just slightly smaller than a marble and still green.