Frozen seat...

nikdfish · Feb 15, 2016

Went out, uncovered and started the 3038e this morning getting ready to remove the small layer of snow and ice from the driveway. The seat felt, literally, like a block of ice so I wasn't really surprised to have it die when put in gear, but resume running when quickly put back in neutral. Bouncing on the seat did not help - had to jumper the seat interlock with a paper clip to let me get the job done.

My bunns felt pretty numb when I finished. If I need to do any more (like the private road to the county road) I'll have to add some insulation!

Nick

oosik · Feb 15, 2016

You may have had accumulated moisture in the seat foam that froze. I've been out when its been really cold -15F to -20F and while the seat is hard & stiff, it quickly warms and become pliable. I would never say my seat was soft - even in the hottest summer wx.

Thank goodness, my new Kubota does not have a seat safety switch. I had one on the riding lawn mower and finally had to completely bypass it.

jenkinsph · Feb 15, 2016

Might try a heating pad or use your buns to warmer it up. Thankful that I have cloth seats in my 4520.

Looking4new · Feb 15, 2016

Back in the day I used to run dozers in winter. They never had a seat safety switch so when I shut them down I would take the cushion off and turn it upside down. Next time I started it I would take the cushion and hold it near the exhaust and let that warm up the cushion before I sat on it. That worked good for me.

skyhook · Feb 17, 2016

While sitting on the seat,,try giving your index finger a few pulls, my dad use to do this.:laughing:

nikdfish · Feb 17, 2016

Even though things have warmed up, I went ahead and picked up a SPST switch and .25" spade fittings to plug it in between seat switch and harness connector. It will let me over-ride the seat switch when running the chipper but keep the seat interlock functional during normal use (when not frozen

)...

Nick