kebo
Elite Member
- Joined
- May 16, 2006
- Messages
- 2,928
- Location
- Lexington, SC
- Tractor
- 2001 John Deere 790 4x4, bar tires
Mounting an ammo box on a fender is nothing new, but I added a little twist to mine. I upholstered the top for a "plush arm rest" to help sooth the bumps from a long day of bushhogging or plowing!! :thumbsup: Like most compacts, there isn't much room to add anything (is that why they are called compacts?) but I wanted a tool box for the small stuff so I picked up a standard size ammo box at the local flea market for $5. Painted it JD green to start with. Then, I got a small piece of 3/8" thick plywood and cut it to size. Picked up some foam and a piece of black vinyl from a local upholstery shop and went to it. This is only about the third time I have tried to cover something so go easy on me lol. 
On the 790, the left fender has the factory hand grad and a step to mount the tractor, so there wasn't but one choice for location, and that was the right fender, where the cupholder is. This is the before picture:
The cupholder is simply stuck on with double sided foam tape so it popped right off. Then, I unplugged the two holes where an optional handgrab rail could be mounted. These are the holes by which I will mount the tool box. That seat belt bracket will have to move too.
After I placed the ammo box and got my holes marked, I drilled two holes in the bottom of the box and mounted it to the fender. To relocate the seat belt bracket, I drilled a hole in the side of the ammo box and reattached it there with a 1/4" nut and bolt. I used bolts bigger than that for the ammo box itself, but not really sure what size, maybe 5/16"?? Here it is mounted and ready to fill up with "stuff"!! I took the yellow JD seat cover off to get the full effect of the matching black on black vinyl seat & armrest!! The finishing touch was to stick on the TBN bumper sticker they mailed me a long time ago, finally found a great place for it! Hey mod's, do I score some brownie points for advertising TBN??? :laughing:
Here you can see where I relocated the bracket to hold the seatbelt bucklet when not in use.
The neat thing about this, and it just worked out this way by pure luck, when you open the lid the armrest is help up by the ROPS so it doesn't flop all the way back.
There are two drawbacks to doing this..... the flashing caution light just behind the box will be blocked (from the front) by the tool box. I'm thinking of maybe trying to add another set of caution lights on the front somewhere, if I can find a good place for them. Also, don't lay your bare arm on the black armrest if the tractor has been sitting in the HOT SC sun for about 2 hours! You can get 2nd degree burns that way lol! Anyway, I hope you like it, I know I do!! :thumbsup:
On the 790, the left fender has the factory hand grad and a step to mount the tractor, so there wasn't but one choice for location, and that was the right fender, where the cupholder is. This is the before picture:
The cupholder is simply stuck on with double sided foam tape so it popped right off. Then, I unplugged the two holes where an optional handgrab rail could be mounted. These are the holes by which I will mount the tool box. That seat belt bracket will have to move too.
After I placed the ammo box and got my holes marked, I drilled two holes in the bottom of the box and mounted it to the fender. To relocate the seat belt bracket, I drilled a hole in the side of the ammo box and reattached it there with a 1/4" nut and bolt. I used bolts bigger than that for the ammo box itself, but not really sure what size, maybe 5/16"?? Here it is mounted and ready to fill up with "stuff"!! I took the yellow JD seat cover off to get the full effect of the matching black on black vinyl seat & armrest!! The finishing touch was to stick on the TBN bumper sticker they mailed me a long time ago, finally found a great place for it! Hey mod's, do I score some brownie points for advertising TBN??? :laughing:
Here you can see where I relocated the bracket to hold the seatbelt bucklet when not in use.
The neat thing about this, and it just worked out this way by pure luck, when you open the lid the armrest is help up by the ROPS so it doesn't flop all the way back.
There are two drawbacks to doing this..... the flashing caution light just behind the box will be blocked (from the front) by the tool box. I'm thinking of maybe trying to add another set of caution lights on the front somewhere, if I can find a good place for them. Also, don't lay your bare arm on the black armrest if the tractor has been sitting in the HOT SC sun for about 2 hours! You can get 2nd degree burns that way lol! Anyway, I hope you like it, I know I do!! :thumbsup:
