mirror on tractor

mkey · Sep 15, 2001

hello everyone. After spending some time working with my tractor I usually have a stiff neck afterwards from looking behind me while backing. I was wondering if anyone has installed a mirror on their tractor to help with working in reverse? I have seen mirrors on cab models but none on an open tractor. I want to know if any aftermarket company makes mirrors for this purpose. If not I would like to attach a bracket midway on the ROPS extended out over the operator station with a rectangular mirror. Things that look good on paper may not work in the real world. Thanks!

scruffy · Sep 15, 2001

mkey, sounds doable....so long as the bracket extended out over the operator is a canopy!! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Take your oportunities when they arise!/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

mkey · Sep 15, 2001

Thanks Scruffy! That is a great idea! That will take care of the mounting and provide comfort. As I think more about it I will need two mirrors, one in the front of the operator station and one behind and hopefully I can get proper angle to see the implement's operation. I am thinking about two rearviews like from a bus? I will start on this and hope it helps. Now to find a canopy! Thanks all for the great information on this board!

scruffy · Sep 15, 2001

mkey, take a look at 'Tractor Canopies' in this forum. Bird posts about the one he bought from:
Wells Ag Company
617 S. McLennan Drive
Elm Mott, TX 76640
(254) 829-2822
NOTE: Bird said the manufacturer (Wells) only sells to dealers, so you would have to have your dealer contact them.
Sounded pretty good, others have also posted about their canopies. don't know of anyone who made a successful purchase from the 'Bernie' character though. Good info in the thread though. good luck with your 'mirror bracket'!

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by scruffy on 09/15/01 08:31 PM (server time).</FONT></P>

MikeBurr · Sep 16, 2001

Tried a mirror on my canape and on the FEL support arms - the vibration was was so bad that they were useless.

TC33D

MarkV · Sep 16, 2001

mkey- Maybe Bird will jump in here, he has a mirror on his tractor.

Bird · Sep 16, 2001

MarkV, I put the mirror on my canopy primarily for use when I drive the tractor on the road. I want to know whether anything is coming behind me without constantly turning to look back. It serves that purpose, but it's a round, convex or wide angle mirror that lets me see if I'm actually mowing behind me, but not nearly as well as I'd like. I'm going to be looking for a different mirror to replace the one I now have. However, I do not have a problem with vibration on my canopy (and I actually suspected that I would have before I put the mirror on there). In a few minutes I'm going to post a picture in the photo forum in which you might be able to see the mirror on the right front of the canopy.

Bird

JRP · Sep 22, 2001

I have wanted to go to a wrecking yard and get a winshied mount rear view mirror to add to my canopy for driving on the road. They have a metal part that glues on. I'll bolt instead of glue, however.

I built a canopy like a wells, but used thicker (0.125") aluminum instead of the 0.060 used by wells. The cost of the metal was about $210.

A canopy is an easy project if you have a welder. No critical tolerances, no moving parts.

banjobj · Sep 29, 2001

I mounted a mirror on my TC 21 D, but I'm not quite satisfied with the results so far. May need more engineering!!!!

Bird · Nov 6, 2001

When I originally bought a rear view mirror to put on my canopy, I looked at K-mart and Wal-mart without finding anything, then could only find that 5" diameter convex mirror at AutoZone, so I've been using it, but yesterday I was in a Tractor Supply Co. store and found a 5" x 7" flat mirror ($6.99) that I think will be much better, so I installed it a few minutes ago and made a picture of it.