improving tractor seat
- Thread starter spo307
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Chilly807
Elite Member
I'm not sure, but I think your L4400 has a suspension seat already. However, if it's like 90% of the L3400 seats it's stuck solid. Mine never moved from day one, I finally saw a thread here about suspension seats and looked closely at mine.
If you flip the seat up, look underneath the seat base. There should be a scissors arrangement and springs under there, and a T-handle on the back. The T-handle is supposed to set the spring tension to adjust for your weight.
Mine was stuck firmly in the down position, the only movement was the foam in the seat. Like riding a jackhammer over a rough field, but I haven't got to tell YOU that..
If yours has the scissors, take a prybar and try to raise the seat base. Mine took quite a pry to get it to move the first time, then the dam* thing wouldn't go back down ! The wife arrived home about this time, noticed me jumping up and down on the seat base like Wile E. Coyote on the catapult cartoon, and asked, "Honey, I'm pretty sure there's a reason you're doing that, but just what it might be escapes me..?"
I made a muttered comment about Japanese engineers and suspension seats and her ears perked. " We have a suspension seat?"
I replied "Maybe."
Anyway, after about a dozen up and down cycles of prying and leaping on the base, mixed with spraying lubricant in there on the pivot pins, it started to move more freely. Now it actually works the way it's supposed to, the spring tension is set properly, and I bounce up and down a couple times every time I get on to make sure it's still free. Must be funny to watch.
Feels odd going across a rough field and feeling the seat move. Short of having an air-ride seat, or a shock absorber, it's not bad at all.
Now, after I've typed all this, your L4400 probably doesn't have the same kind of seat. Both tractors are 09's, so I'm guessing they're the same, but I've been wrong before. Today even.
Good luck.
Sean
If you flip the seat up, look underneath the seat base. There should be a scissors arrangement and springs under there, and a T-handle on the back. The T-handle is supposed to set the spring tension to adjust for your weight.
Mine was stuck firmly in the down position, the only movement was the foam in the seat. Like riding a jackhammer over a rough field, but I haven't got to tell YOU that..
If yours has the scissors, take a prybar and try to raise the seat base. Mine took quite a pry to get it to move the first time, then the dam* thing wouldn't go back down ! The wife arrived home about this time, noticed me jumping up and down on the seat base like Wile E. Coyote on the catapult cartoon, and asked, "Honey, I'm pretty sure there's a reason you're doing that, but just what it might be escapes me..?"
I made a muttered comment about Japanese engineers and suspension seats and her ears perked. " We have a suspension seat?"
I replied "Maybe."
Anyway, after about a dozen up and down cycles of prying and leaping on the base, mixed with spraying lubricant in there on the pivot pins, it started to move more freely. Now it actually works the way it's supposed to, the spring tension is set properly, and I bounce up and down a couple times every time I get on to make sure it's still free. Must be funny to watch.
Feels odd going across a rough field and feeling the seat move. Short of having an air-ride seat, or a shock absorber, it's not bad at all.
Now, after I've typed all this, your L4400 probably doesn't have the same kind of seat. Both tractors are 09's, so I'm guessing they're the same, but I've been wrong before. Today even.
Good luck.
Sean
GuglioLS
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2005
- Messages
- 1,155
- Location
- Edgewood, NM USA
- Tractor
- Jinma 354, 1953 Ford NAA Golden Jubilee, Komatsu Bulldozer
twarr1
Bronze Member
My Deere has a spring dampened seat. But when you reach the end of the spring compression... it's like someone hitting you in the back with a sledge hammer 
Chilly807
Elite Member
I'm willing to bet (not much though
) that yours has the same arrangement mine does. I have the two springs sticking up as well, they are there to raise the seat enough to open (or close ?) the operator presence switch. The bits you're looking for are underneath the base that has the two small vertical springs. If you have the T-handle sticking out the back and two fairly heavy springs running at an angle up under the seat base you have the suspension seat. Whether it's working or not is a 90/10 chance, 90 being the odds of it not working.. yet.
I'll take a pic of mine when I get home tonight, it's one of the few things I've fiddled with that I have no pics of, and one of the most rewarding to get right. I was plowing our garden yesterday, and having it working makes a big difference in the way my back feels when I'm done doing any field work.
I think when they plowed and re-seeded the fields I have, the guy running the harrow took the last day off.
Sean
Chilly807
Elite Member
Have a look at these. If your seat base looks like this from the back, you have the suspension seat. This is in the fully raised position with no weight in the seat.
Sean
Sean
czechsonofagun
Elite Member
That is an excellent example of Prokop's first law: Every crazy action has at least one perfectly valid explanations.
Ford tractor
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2010
- Messages
- 975
Never heard that one before! Sounds valid -- at least around here.
MBDiagMan
Gold Member
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2004
- Messages
- 416
- Location
- Sumner, Texas
- Tractor
- John Deere 5045D, Grasshopper 61" with PowerVac,Gator 825i, Cub Cadet 2145
I bought a really nice seat and mount off ebay for $85 plus shipping a few weeks ago. Although I put it on a Ford 3000, the mount has a zillion different mounting possibilities so I expect it would fit your Orange tractor as well.
It is very comfortable with arms and a weight adjustment. Just search ebay for "tractor seat."
It is very comfortable with arms and a weight adjustment. Just search ebay for "tractor seat."
czechsonofagun
Elite Member
Yeah, I always explain it on a guy chased by a yellow jacket while you see it from a distance. You could think that guy just snapped - and instead he is under attack
Chilly807
Elite Member
She's used to seeing unusual approaches to problems from me, like welding up and then re-cutting U-bolt threads instead of buying new ones. I like the challenge of repairing things. Watching the antics with the seat must have had her wondering though.
Sean
Sean
genusCastor
Silver Member
I was recently shopping for a tractor (ended up buying a 2003 Mahindra 3510), and cheesy seats were a common item on a lot of the tractors I looked at. I had been borrowing my Dad's little Deere 4010, and the ride on that thing was awful. Without offering TMI, let me just say that on one occasion, after a day of tractoring on that Deere, I though I did some serious damage to my kidneys.spo307 said:
The seat on this 3510 was like sitting on the frame. It had to go. I bought an aftermarket suspension seat at TSC (this universal tractor seat) for $100. Just installed it yesterday, and the difference in ride is [not surprisingly] so much better with this suspension seat.
Every tractor should have a suspension seat. There's no reason for a manufacturer to use those spring-mounted seats, I haven't seen one of them yet that is decent. It wouldn't add that much more to the cost of a tractor to install a good suspension seat.
- djb
Mike Costello
Gold Member
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2008
- Messages
- 423
- Location
- Dunnegan, Missouri
- Tractor
- Kubota L4400HST, R4 tires, L2228 Quick-attach setup
I'm glad I read this thread. My Kubota L4400 is an 08 model and it has the suspension seat. I honestly never knew it was there and wondered why I was getting such a harsh ride, especially when mowing the pasture. It wasn't frozen, but the T handle was so loosely adjusted it was ineffective. So I made the proper adjustments and what a difference in the ride. Just one of those things that gets overlooked when you're figuring out all the features and benefits of your tractor. TBN to the rescue!
I was recently shopping for a tractor (ended up buying a 2003 Mahindra 3510), and cheesy seats were a common item on a lot of the tractors I looked at. I had been borrowing my Dad's little Deere 4010, and the ride on that thing was awful. Without offering TMI, let me just say that on one occasion, after a day of tractoring on that Deere, I though I did some serious damage to my kidneys.
The seat on this 3510 was like sitting on the frame. It had to go. I bought an aftermarket suspension seat at TSC (this universal tractor seat) for $100. Just installed it yesterday, and the difference in ride is [not surprisingly] so much better with this suspension seat.
Every tractor should have a suspension seat. There's no reason for a manufacturer to use those spring-mounted seats, I haven't seen one of them yet that is decent. It wouldn't add that much more to the cost of a tractor to install a good suspension seat.
- djb
I did the same on my NH. Had to bypass the seat interlock though. Maybe the seat interlock is the reason they use the cheap seats.
Chilly807
Elite Member
Once the stock seat is freed up and moving a bit, it'll stay that way if you use the tractor regularly. Mine has been fine since I got it moving.
Sean
Sean
it's a suspension seat but no arm rests .The cushioning is is sort of hard but still a big improvement over the standard NH seat for not a lot of money.
