dead seat belt!

[orangebluegreen]

N80 (or anyone).

Just had a thought. On an automobile the retractable belts loosen if you move around and only grip to hold under a particular force.

On my tractor once they pull tighter they stay tighter and keep getting tighter with each bump that compresses the seat allowing slack to pull the belt in. I’m wondering if this is common operation on other Kubota retractable belts, or do your belts loosen if there is no sudden force applied? Hadn’t thought of it but perhaps mine aren’t operating as they should, that is loosening if not needed.

 

[N80]

Mine is the basic retractable type. If it constricts, it stays there. However, mine is not overly sensitive so I don't really have any trouble with it. The belts in modern cars are inertial, they only grab if they are being pulled on suddenly or if you hit a bump. It would be easy to get a set out of an old car and install them on the tractor but I have no idea if the inertia 'settings' would be appropriate or effective in typical tractor applications. I think the easiest solution would be to install a set of basic adjustable ones. You set the length and it stays that length. It will just be important that you keep it tight enough to keep you in the tractor. I suspect that even in a slow roll the centrifugal forces on the body are pretty significant.

For those with belts that don't work, pull it off, pull the rubber cover off and the problem will probably be obvious. If not, take it in.

Riding in a car is indeed dangerous, but you still have to balance that with the necessity of driving and the odds of injury compared to time in the car. Most of us spend huge amounts of time in our cars without injury. We spend much less time on our tractors and I'd bet the injury/hour of use/ number of tractors in use would be pretty close to the injury/hour of use/ number of cars in use.

 

[glennmac]

I had the same problem as the OP for a year. The lack of a seat belt caused me to avoid exciting tractoring, such a mowing all my cliff edges.

So I came back to TBN after almost a six year absence and read this thread, which motivated me to look for my puny old toolbox in the garage-from-hades.

I unbolted the retractor thing and pulled off the rubber cover. Didn't see any dirt or debris. I did see rust on the metal parts.

I don't have an air compressor. So I blew hard on the reluctant creature. Nothing happened. Now, like it, I'm stuck ... don't know what to do.

Well, how about prying off the little blue cap that says "Do Not Open", so I can see what's inside. Even though I can barely spell t-o-o-l, surely I will understand the secret mechanism if I pry open Pandora's box.

SPROING ... OING ... OING!

As soon at the blue cap opens, out like a jack-in-the-box jumps a rapidly uncoiling band spring ... immediately and hopelessly pretzled into a zillion twists.

Bye, bye, seat belt retractor.

Off to the dealer. Kubota makes me buy the female half of the seat belt even though that is a separate thing on the other side of the seat. $108. No thanks.

Bought a $15 manual lap belt (like on an airplane seat) at an auto parts store. Spent an hour installing it, mostly trying to figure out how to weave the belt ends through the slider grip.

Works just fine. Had fun driving hills and brush hogging 100 yards of cliff edges. (Well, they're actually creek banks, which I mow by backing the cutter over the edge.)

Now I've gotten rid of the pesky retractor forever and I've saved $93. Just enough to buy a gallon of Kubota Super UDT transmission oil.