Home Built Cab For Kubota

[blksn8k]

I finally decided to add a cab on my 1996 L2900 [AFFILIATE=1, nofollow=true, newwindow=true, title="Kubota"]Kubota[/AFFILIATE] tractor. Getting tired of dealing with nasty winter weather when plowing my 1/4 mile long lane. I did look at pre-fab'd canopies and soft cab enclosures that drape over a canopy but decided to build my own. Not only were those pre-fab'd parts expensive but they also would not fit over the rollcage I added several years ago.

Instead I bought three 4x8 sheets of clear .118" thick shatterproof polycarbonate, several 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" x 6 ft long perforated steel angles and a crap load of 1/4-20 nuts, washers and bolts.

I decided because the plastic sheets are clear that it might make more sense to paint the inside surface rather than the outside. This is a work vehicle and I have been known to drive under low hanging tree limbs while brush hogging around the edges of fields and I didn't want those tree limbs to scrape all that pretty orange paint off. BTW, the paint is there mostly to provide shade in the summertime which also explains why I extended it down so far on the side and rear panels.

I'll probably add a 12V heater and I have an LED light bar that I added above the windshield.

I was a little concerned about putting a bend in the middle of the windshield but it is surprisingly distortion free. The front section of the rollcage was made from discarded 2" tubing that was originally part of a cage I bought for my '75 Bronco. It already had bends where it fit behind the Bronco windshield and I decided to make the cab for the tractor fit the same contour. The tractor came from the factory with the rear hoop (ROPS bar), I just added to it.

The doors hinge at the rear. I used stainless steel piano hinges and latches/handles made for shed doors. The latches also have keyed locks.

I also included an extension of the roof panel over the windshield to try and keep at least some of the crap from the weather off and also to provide a little extra shade. The frame for that also serves as a mounting surface for the light bar. I don't plan on taking it to Bonneville so I'm perry sure the aerodynamics will be fine.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Nice job! Should definitely help with keeping the elements out!

 

[Thomas]

Nicely done.

 

[scootr]

Dam that looks good - Looks professional. That must have taken alot of thought and work. I hope it serves you well

 

[blksn8k]

Dam that looks good - Looks professional. That must have taken alot of thought and work. I hope it serves you well

Thanks. I'm a retired technical designer. The office space and loft inside the building were some of my other DIY projects.

 

[scootr]

Thanks. I'm a retired technical designer. The office space and loft inside the building were some of my other DIY projects.

That's a very nice work space you made there. I'm jealous

 

[Gordon Gould]

Very nice !! Looks like that would fit right onto my L3010


Did you have to heat that poly carb for the windshield bend or is it that flexible.


gg

 

[ddbackhoe]

Replacement parts, if ever needed, should be easy to source. Nice

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

very well done, looks professional and like original equipment.

What did you use to mount the framework to the tractor?

 

[blksn8k]

Very nice !! Looks like that would fit right onto my L3010


Did you have to heat that poly carb for the windshield bend or is it that flexible.


gg

It's that flexible. I also had to add braces on the door panels because of the flexibility but also to aide in bending those in at the bottom to better align with the floor pan on each side. The internal bracing also gave me a place to solidly attach a u-bolt to use as a grab handle when closing the doors from the inside.

Also because of the flexibility, I added rubber weather stripping around the perimeter of each door panel as well as on the door opening frame. That not only helps to keep things dry inside but also cuts down on the doors banging against the body.

Speaking of the doors, I probably won't use the one on the right side much if at all because of the position of the loader control handle. However, I didn't think it would be safe to have only one door. If I am ever stupid enough to roll the thing on its side or get it wedged up against a tree or something and if it had only one door and landed on that side you would have no escape hatch.

I also had to fabricate a spacer block out of aluminum to move the loader control valve 1" closer toward the center of the tractor which prevents the handle from hitting the right side door when tilting the bucket forward.

To keep the wind and exhaust fumes from entering around the bottom I also fabricated closure panels from galvanized sheet metal that fit beside the engine cover on each side and behind the seat. Then I added some sound deadener on the inside of those to cut down on the amount of diesel rattle inside the cab. Even with all that I still wear ear protection.

We haven't had much snow yet this winter so I haven't had a chance to try it yet with the rear mounted snow blower that runs off the rear PTO. It's six feet wide and I used to get covered with snow when using that thing no matter which way I aimed the chute. This should solve that problem as well.

 

[blksn8k]

very well done, looks professional and like original equipment.

What did you use to mount the framework to the tractor?

Thanks.

The framework is bolted to the ROPS and the tops of the rear fenders in back and to the homemade roll cage in the front. The cage is also bolted to the top of the loader frame. Using steel angle for the framework and bolting all of that together also adds its own level of rigidity.

 

[Hoot Owl]

Very nice. Looks factory from the outside. I did something like this with a skid loader once.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Thanks for the additional info and pics. You did a super job !!

gg

 

[kTran]

I finally decided to add a cab on my 1996 L2900 [AFFILIATE=1, nofollow=true, newwindow=true, title="Kubota"]Kubota[/AFFILIATE] tractor. Getting tired of dealing with nasty winter weather when plowing my 1/4 mile long lane. I did look at pre-fab'd canopies and soft cab enclosures that drape over a canopy but decided to build my own. Not only were those pre-fab'd parts expensive but they also would not fit over the rollcage I added several years ago.

Instead I bought three 4x8 sheets of clear .118" thick shatterproof polycarbonate, several 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" x 6 ft long perforated steel angles and a crap load of 1/4-20 nuts, washers and bolts.

I decided because the plastic sheets are clear that it might make more sense to paint the inside surface rather than the outside. This is a work vehicle and I have been known to drive under low hanging tree limbs while brush hogging around the edges of fields and I didn't want those tree limbs to scrape all that pretty orange paint off. BTW, the paint is there mostly to provide shade in the summertime which also explains why I extended it down so far on the side and rear panels.

I'll probably add a 12V heater and I have an LED light bar that I added above the windshield.

I was a little concerned about putting a bend in the middle of the windshield but it is surprisingly distortion free. The front section of the rollcage was made from discarded 2" tubing that was originally part of a cage I bought for my '75 Bronco. It already had bends where it fit behind the Bronco windshield and I decided to make the cab for the tractor fit the same contour. The tractor came from the factory with the rear hoop (ROPS bar), I just added to it.

The doors hinge at the rear. I used stainless steel piano hinges and latches/handles made for shed doors. The latches also have keyed locks.

I also included an extension of the roof panel over the windshield to try and keep at least some of the crap from the weather off and also to provide a little extra shade. The frame for that also serves as a mounting surface for the light bar. I don't plan on taking it to Bonneville so I'm perry sure the aerodynamics will be fine.

Awesome job. How do you mount the roll cage to the tractor?

 

[blksn8k]

Awesome job. How do you mount the roll cage to the tractor?

Thanks!

At the front of the cage there is a plate on the top of the factory loader frame on each side with a hole in the center. Those plates are what the original cross brace for the loader frame was bolted to. I welded a 1/4" thick plate, that aligns with the those existing loader frame plates, on the bottoms of the front pipes of the cage. I drilled and taped those new plates for 1/2-13 threads and ran the same size grade 8 bolts up from the bottom and into the new plates on the bottom of the cage. The cage already had a cross bar at the bottom front so eliminating the original loader cross bar was not an issue. I should also add that the cage was originally designed to bolt to the floor of a Bronco's cab which meant that I had to cut several inches off the bottom of the pipes at the front of the cage. I also had to remove 18" from the width of the cage.

At the rear, I welded vertical plates to the ends of the cage where they meet the top bar of the ROPS and then drilled holes in the new plates for U-bolts that wrap around the ROPS bar and through those holes.

The reason I added the cage in the first place, besides the obvious extra safety aspect, was because I also have a 7 foot reach backhoe attachment that uses the 3-point hitch as well as the fact that these tractors do not have an actual frame under the back half. Several folks, including the local Kubota dealer, told me that the extra forces imparted by the backhoe could crack the transmission bellhousing. I also reinforced the sub-frame plates between the loader frame and rear axle with angle iron. Adding all that, along with the fact that the ROPS bar is factory attached to the rear axle, creates a boxed effect around the rear half of the tractor and will hopefully prevent any damage to the drivetrain. So far, so good.

 

[kTran]

Thanks!

At the front of the cage there is a plate on the top of the factory loader frame on each side with a hole in the center. Those plates are what the original cross brace for the loader frame was bolted to. I welded a 1/4" thick plate, that aligns with the those existing loader frame plates, on the bottoms of the front pipes of the cage. I drilled and taped those new plates for 1/2-13 threads and ran the same size grade 8 bolts up from the bottom and into the new plates on the bottom of the cage. The cage already had a cross bar at the bottom front so eliminating the original loader cross bar was not an issue. I should also add that the cage was originally designed to bolt to the floor of a Bronco's cab which meant that I had to cut several inches off the bottom of the pipes at the front of the cage. I also had to remove 18" from the width of the cage.

At the rear, I welded vertical plates to the ends of the cage where they meet the top bar of the ROPS and then drilled holes in the new plates for U-bolts that wrap around the ROPS bar and through those holes.

The reason I added the cage in the first place, besides the obvious extra safety aspect, was because I also have a 7 foot reach backhoe attachment that uses the 3-point hitch as well as the fact that these tractors do not have an actual frame under the back half. Several folks, including the local Kubota dealer, told me that the extra forces imparted by the backhoe could crack the transmission bellhousing. I also reinforced the sub-frame plates between the loader frame and rear axle with angle iron. Adding all that, along with the fact that the ROPS bar is factory attached to the rear axle, creates a boxed effect around the rear half of the tractor and will hopefully prevent any damage to the drivetrain. So far, so good.

Thanks for such detailed description. Do you mind sharing pictures of the cage mount interface and the bolt plate if it’s still accessible with the cab?

 

[chim]

Nice! You'll love it this Winter.