Build Thread: A heated cab from scratch

[tempforce]

thats a nice looking cab.
i'm thinking of borrowing your design for my l3200. of course having a backhoe attachment makes things challenging. i don't need the heat option, but i need the a/c option in my cab. also thinking of making the roof wider (sun shade) and taper the sides so i can look down at the work surface easier.

 

[BAP]

tcrote5516, How is that cab working out for you? You certainly picked a good year to have one. I froze my a** off yesterday, actually my face, as I plowed snow in 5 degree weather with 20mph winds. Cab build is in my future.

 

[rob82]

Yes. A cab is in my future too after yesterday. 60mph winds 8 degs. blowing snow =no fun

 

[bearbait]

tcrote5516, How is that cab working out for you? You certainly picked a good year to have one. I froze my a** off yesterday, actually my face, as I plowed snow in 5 degree weather with 20mph winds. Cab build is in my future.

Once you go to a cab you will always have a cab. Even though I'm back to a rear mount blower because I couldn't afford the front mount it's worth it to have a cab.

 

[tcrote5516]

I'm typing this poolside in Florida sorry but the cab is working perfect. No problems at all, plenty of heat, no icing issues on the glass it's all good. We have had record snowfall here this year so it's been well tested!

I did change out my windshield wiper blade and went up a couple sizes for better coverage, otherwise it has requiered nothing but provide me so much comfort.

 

[t33jetman]

tcrote5516

Wow! what an awesome job.
Congratulations, and welcome to the BX got a Cab club. ( Dues are $50)

 

[koja]

Great job ! Looks very nice .

 

[ipz2222]

c,mon skeets,, noone believes that " the checks in the mail " line anymore!!!

 

[skeets]

Hey it was worth a shot,,lol

 

[tcrote5516]

Well I'm headed into the second winter with my homemade cab and I wanted to make a couple upgrades. First off, I had used foam for many of the seals which was quick and easy to do (was in a time crunch at the time) but not built to last. I hit up the local auto salvage yard and pulled out a bunch of nice rubber door and hatch seals that I was able to modify to fit my cab. Seals up tight as a drum now.

The second issue I wanted to address was the tuning fork issue of the ROPS. The trans was just too loud. I drilled two 1/8" holes near the base of each pillar (You can see them in the picts below, I have little cap's that will be covering them) and one at the very top. Taking a full can of expanding foam I squirted half the can in the bottom of each pillar. Over the next 4 hours it began to come out the top hole at the top of the rops filling the whole thing. HUGE difference in sound. I know not everyone would drill their ROPS but the way I figure it, if 3, 1/8" holes will cause a failure it was going to fail anyway. Not to mention the foam can only help the structure by preventing the inward collapse of the form when stressed. Much more quiet now.

So quiet in fact, that it was time to add a stereo to the cab. I had this equipment kicking around for the last 10 years. I put a 300 watt car amp behind the seat and two speakers mounted to the ceiling. In the front of the cab I put a universal mount that holds my phone or iPod or whatever I want to use as a source. This thing CRANKS!

 

[forceten]

So the ROPS is why I can't hear myself thing without hearing protection in my cab?

Were you wearing hearing protection before filling them? Once you did that to your rops - are you able to drive around without that high pitch?

 

[tcrote5516]

I was the same way and used noise cancelling headphones. If I ran it without hearing protection before my ears would ring for hours. Now it's by no means "quiet" but it's a night and day difference from before. The high pitch whine is gone but the noise coming up from the floor and below the seat area is still loud. I have a foam seal under the seat and I think my next move will be to get that adheasive backed insulation they sell at home depot and seal that area up a bit better from a sound standpoint.

 

[forceten]

I just took my rops off this afternoon to test it. And yes much quieter. I think I will still be wearing hearing protection (headset) or ear plugs. But a night and day difference. I'm gonna try to soundproof the floorboard and under the seat and see how that does.

In the winter its only a snowblower in the front and salt spreader in the back. Flat driveway. So rops can be taken off, no inclines no lifting heavy loads up high or digging.

I'm thinking to foam fill the rops like you did for the summer time and put them back on for protection whiling digging. Hope its as quiet foam filled as with them gone. But in the summer the cab is gonna be opened up (doors off, back off and maybe front windshield off. So the noise wont be as bad

 

[tcrote5516]

I'm betting foam filled isn't much different sound wise then ROPS off. It's the hollow portion that transfers the sound. Once that space is filled the sound has no where to travel.

Let me know what you use/figure out for soundproofing the floorboard/under seat I'd love to steal your ideas!

In the summer I take off the doors and back window and that helps. I've also carpeted the interior to cut down on the noises reflecting. Seems to help.

 

[MadMax31]

Always nice to see a update after a build is complete. Do you have any pics of where the cab mounts down low near FEL? Or does it bolt to floorboard?

Looking to start my cab a little later in the year than I wanted...

 

[tcrote5516]

Been wanting to do this for a couple of years but never got around to it until today. I use my backblade for snow removal and some dirt grading. I needed to grid down some rust and give it a repaint anyway so I figured now would be a good time. It's always angled when pushing or pulling and I end up with a little trail of leftovers that run off the edge and cause me to make another pass to pickup. My driveway is 500 feet long so that's time consuming in low gear.

I had some 1/8" plate kicking around so I welded up a small wing on the outward side of the blade. I would have liked 1/4" but since I already had this I figured I'd give it a shot. There's a slight arch to the plate so once it was welded up the structure is very solid. Shouldn't see much force anyway when in use.

We havent had snow yet so I'm not sure how effective it will be but it can't hurt.

 

[skeets]

Thats pretty cool but in MHO it might be a little more secure, if you get in to some hard stuff, that you put a gusset on the top,, might never need it but who knows

 

[tcrote5516]

Thats pretty cool but in MHO it might be a little more secure, if you get in to some hard stuff, that you put a gusset on the top,, might never need it but who knows

In typical fashion, I had the same thought just AFTER I painted it So....at that point I figured I'll just run it this season and see how it does. If I bend it up, I bend it up and will need to gusset it but I'm going to give it a shot since it's all done at this point.

 

[socapots]

Now i want a cab too. Lol
Thanks for sharing.

 

[Quarencia]

Researching to build a cab and would like to see your build, but all the original pictures appear to be gone. Is this an issue with my browser, or are they really gone? If so, any chance you could repost them?