Suspension for zero-turn mower seat

[MoArk Willy]

As advanced as tractors have become it seems like the seat is still the roughest part of the equation.
Has anyone upgraded their seat to a suspension type or added the slim "suspension mechanism" to an existing seat?
I'm curious as to whether or not the difference in ride height is substantial enough to either change the ability to steer the mower effectively or affect the center of gravity enough to make a difference.
I am considering the Ultima series for my bumpy yard and although the new Cub seat looks quite comfy I am thinking I will need to upgrade with one of the two options mentioned above.
Does anyone have experience doing this or perhaps is the Ultima Cub seat actually good enough to not bother to make the change?
Thanks for any insight.

 

[mddorange]

When I got my Z121S it came with the suspension seat. It helps a lot on normal bumps. I haven't noticed any difference in steering if the seat is all the way up or all the way down.

 

[rgr33]

I bought one of the suspension platforms for my Exmark about 5 years ago. I too was concerned about the extra height, but it turned out to be barely noticeable after the first few minutes of mowing.
The platform was easy to install, and helped smooth out the bumpy ride, and I am satisfied with the results, but is not comparable to an air ride or a quality suspension seat. As I recall, the cost was somewhere in the $100 to 150 range.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Kubota wants $300 for the suspension adapter, $550 for new suspension seat for my zt.

 

[4get gto]

I got one of each. This one I put on a Yanmar



And this one on a ZT.



Both required some fab work to attach and height adjustment

 

[MoArk Willy]

I bought one of the suspension platforms for my Exmark about 5 years ago. I too was concerned about the extra height, but it turned out to be barely noticeable after the first few minutes of mowing.
The platform was easy to install, and helped smooth out the bumpy ride, and I am satisfied with the results, but is not comparable to an air ride or a quality suspension seat. As I recall, the cost was somewhere in the $100 to 150 range.

Thank you. That is what I had wondered. I currently. have a little Cub Cadet lawn tractor which I added a suspension seat to. It raised it up considerably. The biggest issue was the slide adjustment. I wound up cutting part of the rear metal off so the seat could slide back far enough for anyone but a "little person" to use.
Since the tractor is about 13 years old I wasn't worried about cutting the metal. I just don't want to do that with a new machine and the platform seemed like a good solution.
Thanks for your input.

 

[Richard001]

I got one of each. This one I put on a Yanmar
View attachment 610276
View attachment 610277

And this one on a ZT.
View attachment 610278
View attachment 610279

Both required some fab work to attach and height adjustment

I like the way you made access to the seat mounting bolts in the last photo. Nice work.

Richard

 

[ChuckT]

I've got a CC XT3 GSX but I'm too cheap to add $300.00 under the seat of a lawn mower. Instead I found a couple rubber bumpers cups on Amazon that helped dampen the worse ruts.

 

[morris lipham]

I've got a CC XT3 GSX but I'm too cheap to add $300.00 under the seat of a lawn mower. Instead I found a couple rubber bumpers cups on Amazon that helped dampen the worse ruts.

I saw on YouTube a redneck air seat, a rubber boat fender, one of the small ones about 4" in diameter. I bought one today at Academy sports for 8 bucks, gonna try it on my zero turn. LOL

 

[ChuckT]

I thought of that, air suspension, but cushion for hemorrhoids came to mind!