Cell phone holder?

[Signa]

I've been pretty amazed at some of the ingenious solutions I've seen on here - everything from tool boxes to homemade backhoes and everything in between. So I thought I see what ideas people had on this one....

I'm trying to figure out where/how to attach my cell phone somewhere around the dash so that I can see when I'm receiving a call. I obviously can't hear it ring and even with it in my pocket, I can't feel it vibrate when the tractor's running.

I'm sure many will say don't worry about it, but I'm working with the tractor at a lot away from my current residence. We're in the process of building a house, so there are plenty of times when my wife tries to get ahold of me or I'm waiting for a call from one of the many contractors... Any ideas?

 

[kennyd]

At most auto parts stores and even Wal-Mart they have generic holders to do exactly what you need.

 

[emmy71]

I made this one so that my phone would be out of the way but still near by. Mine can play music so I use headphoness with it. When someone calls the the ringer cuts the music. I also have a portable weatherband radio I mount there.

Terry

 

[CurlyDave]

I got one at Wal-Mart for ~$15 that sat in the cup holder and held the phone on about a 10" flexible shaft.

It did not survive the transition to my little green sports car, where I left it on the seat and then sat on it it.

Since most newer cell phones have a speaker phone option I am going to get a bean bag mount of some sort to hold my phone in the car. This might also work on a tractor, but since I can feel the vibration of the phone on a tractor I don't really need one there.

 

[dillo99]

There are a lot of ATV phone mounts that are made for this purpose and built to handle vibration and rugged use. Just google ATV phone mount. I don't have a picture but I purchased one of them and mounted it on the loader frame bar that runs just in front of the dash.

 

[Deadman]

Why can't you put it in yout pocket on vibrate?
I own a business that relies on the phone, and I do this all the time, and never miss a call. Its hard to get out the phone, and rip off the ear muffs, and shut down the tractor tho, so you gotta be quick!

 

[PeterK]

I purchased an ipod arm mount, the kind that you wear around your bicep, for $5 onlne. It's padded and has a wide velcro strap which I use to mount it to the ROPS. I use it for MP3 but you could also use it for cell with a bluetooth earset while you tractor.

I use a 12V adapter to hook up my mp3 player to the acc outlet on the tractor so battery life is never a worry.

Works for me ...

 

[fast1]

At most auto parts stores and even Wal-Mart they have generic holders to do exactly what you need.

just to double up on this. wal-mart has got good variations, check it out.

 

[Signa]

Thanks for the replies. I have tried it in my pocket and just didn't notice the vibration while I was on the tractor.

I'll check out Walmart and maybe try an earpiece - seems like that might be the best notification.

 

[Opti-Mist]

Thanks for the replies. I have tried it in my pocket and just didn't notice the vibration while I was on the tractor.

I'll check out Walmart and maybe try an earpiece - seems like that might be the best notification.

The earpiece is the only way that I can hear my phone when I'm running equipment. The vibrate setting is overwhelmed by the vibration of the tractor, chainsaw, etc. The earpiece is usable even with earmuffs on.

 

[ragkar]

Hook and loop velcro tape will work.

 

[wvpolekat]

I am HARD on cell phones, scratched screens, busted screens, you name it. When I got my Ipaq 910 last month, I bought an aluminum armor case for it from boxwave. Like this: Armor Case - iPAQ 910 Metal Case / HP iPAQ 910 Metal Case / iPAQ 910 Aluminum Case / HP iPAQ 910 Aluminum Case

The doodad that goes on the back for the belt clip goes into a machine thread boss on the back, so it could easily be adapted to another type of mount. The phone is SUPER well protected as well. It is an impressive case that protects the phone from people like me who just jam it in their pocket or chuck it in the car with them.

That being said, the best option is a bluetooth headset or earbuds. Then it doesn't matter where the phone is and there is no wire to fuss with if you have to get off the tractor. If you get the earbud type, they would easily fit under over the ear muffs style hearing protection.

I use my phone as a computer, phone, mp3 player, movie player. I have used it while running the tractor, waiting on my son at baseball practice, mowing the yard, it goes everywhere with me and I have both the earbud style headphones and over the ear bluetooth headphones depending on where I am.

While I know a lot of people hate cell phones and how they are a "leash", it does the exact opposite for me. It buys me the freedom to do the things I want, more or less when I want instead of being chained to a desk or office.

 

[Signa]

Thanks for the suggestions. I couldn't find anything at Walmart that looked helpful, and since I already had an earpiece, I didn't look too much farther. The earpiece does the job very well. However, I had to change the phone settings from auto-answer so that I had enough time to turn off the tractor or move away before answering the call.