Guys, anybody who's interested in doing this, I'm gonna post some info to help you out.
Before anything, I do need to tell you that with this new seat of mine, I got rid of the bracket holding the safety cut-off switch. It got in the way in 2 different ways, so had to go, which is no biggie for me since I didn't use the switch anyways (like the previous owner, I had it ziptied in the closed position). But, I'm definitely not telling you to get rid of the safety switch though, just saying that you're gonna need to put in some extra work not outlined here to get all that to function properly. Me, I just bent the bracket back over itself, out of the way. Also that way, if I'll have to put the original seat back and re-install the safety, for resale or whatever, I'll have that option. As for the switch itself, I just shoved that down into the gap that's down there under the seat pan.
Anyways, on to the project. Here's what it looks like when you have the old seat and turn mechanism off the tractor and are ready to get started:
You'll use those screws for the mounts. Actually, you'll just reuse all the screws/nuts, you won't need anything extra except for 2 sets of screws/nuts for the seat pivot brackets (more on that below).
You'll also reuse the slide rails that are on the original seat, but you can't just bolt them on and call it a day. You'll need to fabricate some mounts for them to make this whole thing work. I used steel flat bar, 2" x 3/8", it came in 36" length at home depot for like $25. Here's it set up on my mill:
The top holes are for the rails, bottom holes mount these things on the tractor. This pic was from my first attempt, but when I put everything together, I found myself sitting way too close to the steering wheel, and consequently a little too far from the backhoe even with the seat moved all the way back. So, back on my mill I went and drilled another set of holes to move the rails a little farther back.
I'm 5'7", and I found these dimensions just about right for me:
If you're a taller dude, you might want to decrease that 2.25" dimension. Or really, since you already have it all set up for drilling, you could just drill a couple different hole sets so that you have options where to mount the rails, why not? You could maybe start a set parallel with the bottom set of holes, and then just do a few sets to the right of that. The important thing is that you be 11.250" on center between holes, for both top and bottom rows of holes. Also, on the drawing up there, note that vertical dimension of 1.491", that's the distance between
top row of holes and bottom of bar, not the distance between top and bottom hole rows.
Once all that is done, you take your rails that you got off the original seat, mount them on the rail mounts you just fabbed, and mount the mounts on the tractor.
And then, mount the seat pan on the rails:
Notice how I got the cut-off switch bracket bent back like I mentioned earlier.
Here's the seat I purchased for this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003F01VT6?tag=viglink20660-20. It comes with it's own rails, but you won't use them (they suck anyways). But, you will use the screws they're attached with, though.
Next, you're going to strip the pivot hinges and backplate off the original seat and just mount them on this new seat. The backplate mounts as is. But, the pivot hinges need a little work, you need to drill an extra hole in each one so that they won't move around on you.
. You're also gonna need a drop-in t-nut, like the kind used to connect extruded aluminum profiles.
I already had some lying around from older projects. Just get them on ebay or amazon, or see if they have some at your local home center or ace.
And....that's pretty much it. Mount the seat to the seat pan, and you're good to go!
