Time to Replace My Seat

[Liquidsilver]

I've gained tons of experience in my first year of large (to me) tractor ownership... and thanks in part to people on this forum for the friendly counsel, I've really enjoyed maintaining my own gravel road, clearing off broken trees, re-grading a mess left by a sloppy highlift operator and mowing my 60 - 80 acres of rough Ozark fields.

I love my old (but new to me) girl as much as my motorbikes and guns. :laughing:

It's a '99 M5400 DT

So the seat on this old girl doesn't look too bad, but it's only got one bolt left holding it together... and the seat tray tips forward as it hits bumps. I saw the OEM seat assembly on Messicks and, yikes, $1000... wow.

I've seen the seats at the farm supply stores for 100 bucks and they look a LOT better than what I have... and I'm not afraid to try it for 100 bucks, but it doesn't have a seat belt. I believe in seat belts, especially mowing over the rough holes in the fields... for fear that if I got thrown out of the saddle, it's not far into the path of the drive wheels and mowing deck behind... soooooo...

Question is: should I risk running without the seat belt, or should I try to gerry rig a seat belt in there? I'm not much of a fabricator.

Thanks.

 

[CADplans]

I will trade you a seat,,, and raise you a seat belt,,,,

Check eBay for seats,,, they have LOTS of options, there,,,

Did the bolts just fall out,, or rust out,,,??

If you are not a fabricator,,, the dealer may be your ONLY option.

 

[George2615]

How is your existing seat belt mounted? If fastened to the seat, can't you unbolt it and mount it to the new seat or better yet to the tractor frame.

 

[JRobyn]

I'd have belts. All you'd need is an inexpensive ($15) aftermarket belt and a couple of mounting locations and stout bolts.

 

[Liquidsilver]

I've looked on ebay and it looks like the $100 model is pretty common around... called 'suspension seat' and they don't look too bad in the stores (Tractor Seat Yellow John Deere Farm Tractors Universal Fit Suspension Seat | eBay)

and then there's a $300 job like this 'bog boy' seat... Big Boy Suspension Tractor Seat-Yellow, For John Deere Models | eBay
and it has a seatbelt.

The seatbelt on my current one is mounted to the seat frame assembly and the bolts look like they were pot metal and broken out. I don't think there's any point to just mounting a new seat to the new seat frame.

- -

Wow, I just found the aftermarket seat belt options on ebay. I'll bet I could mount one of those pretty handily. Hmm...

 

[PJSprog]

... the bolts look like they were pot metal and broken out.

That must be a comforting thought.

Your location says STL, but you mentioned mowing Ozark fields. Guessing your tractor is outstate somewhere? There is a thread called Missouri Roll Call - Show Me. You might make yourself known there. It's quite possible that someone else is near enough to perhaps give you a hand with the seatbelt installation.

 

[Liquidsilver]

Thank you, yes. I live and work in STL, but my heart, property and tractor are out near Steelville.

 

[Sysop]

northerntool has a lot of seat options too.

Replacement Seats: Tractor Seats, Forklift Seats + Suspension Seats
| Northern Tool + Equipment

They carry the same seat that shipped on my Mahindra 4035 http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200268424_200268424

and the Bradco backhoe that came with it. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200635440_200635440

 

[PJSprog]

Thank you, yes. I live and work in STL, but my heart, property and tractor are out near Steelville.

Nice. Love that area. One of my favorite motorcycle rides is MO-21 south to Potosi, then west along MO-8 to Steelville, through the northern part of the Mark Twain Forest. Not complete without a stop at Missouri Hick BBQ, either. Beautiful area out there.

 

[bspeedy]

I just bought a seat belt from ebay to replace the rusted out mechanism on my mini excavator. The OEM belt assembly was around 150. I paid about 20 bucks and was a bit surprised that there was a Kubota part number on the seat belt tag. It bolted up with two bolts and replaced the old one nicely. Hopefully you can add one to yours with minimal fiddling.

 

[Liquidsilver]

I found the seat that was on it... Seat Assembly for Kubota Tractor M-Series #QA | eBay
If that's what it looks like new, somebody sure beat the heck out of it.

Thanks for the responses, all. After taking the existing seat off (it sure weighs a ton) I might be able to save the bolt-on seat belt that was on it... maybe I can find an angle iron or something to mount it with.

I'm going to try the universal $100-dollar model at TSC and I'll let you know...

Nice. Love that area. One of my favorite motorcycle rides is MO-21 south to Potosi, then west along MO-8 to Steelville, through the northern part of the Mark Twain Forest. Not complete without a stop at Missouri Hick BBQ, either. Beautiful area out there.

Brother, I leave more motorcycle tire rubber on those roads every Sunday. LOL My favorites are the goat-trails that connect up with those roads.

 

[Liquidsilver]

So I got the cheap Tractor Supply Co seat to fit, but it was far from universal for my M5400.

I didn't have a plate to work with, so I cut slide rails out of the bottom of the OEM seat, and mounted them transversely as a mount for the much smaller base of the new seat.

There was a little bit of puzzle work and drilling in the old rails to get all the pieces to fit, but it came together nicely.

The trick was how to mount the seat belts. I didn't have anything in the barn to work with, without lots of hacksaw (by hand) cutting, so I wandered around the hardware store until I came up with an idea. For some reason, flexible seemed like a good idea to me, so instead of bending hard steel pieces, I ended up with metal shelf brackets that I stacked and drilled. They seem to have the right amount of flex to bend and stay where I put them, but hopefully they won't prove too flimsy.

So, like I said... I'm a pretty crappy and scrappy fabricator, but I'm pretty happy with the way everything came out, so I wanted to share for what it's worth... and the price was right.

I did a little road grading in the new seat, and it sits a little too tall, but otherwise feels pretty good and solid.