Tallbald's L185 "Orange Crush" project fix-up

[billrigsby]

I would have thought yours and mine had the same seat Mine was 120$ with shipping. Does your seat mounts the same as mine? If it does, I'll check the measurement on the brackets tomorrow.

Do not know, mine did not have the stock brackets or seat,
had some mickey mouse thing....



The front brackets do not seem to be stock,
the holes are not drilled / spaced evenly where the seat connected,
the rear bracket seems the same as yours.

The L175 parts book shows both a LH and RH bracket

 

[Daren Todd]

Do not know, mine did not have the stock brackets or seat,
had some mickey mouse thing....

View attachment 21649

The front brackets do not seem to be stock,
the holes are not drilled / spaced evenly where the seat connected,
the rear bracket seems the same as yours.

The L175 parts book shows both a LH and RH bracket

Your right. Looks like the originals were broke at some point and someone fabbed up some mounts for it. Looks like the back is original, just missing the rubber bump stops. Looks like my seat would work. And at 40$ less then what your getting from overseas. The one you posted the link for will fit mine as well.

The joys of one part number not being the same for the other model. Even though they take the same part

 

[Tallbald]

New fix-up questions. The radiator hoses on my 1980 L185 appear original. Would it be wasteful or wise, at this age, to replace the upper and lower hoses preventively? I feel no bulges or soft spots at room temperature.
Any other hoses I should consider changing because of age?
Thanks as always. Don

 

[Daren Todd]

New fix-up questions. The radiator hoses on my 1980 L185 appear original. Would it be wasteful or wise, at this age, to replace the upper and lower hoses preventively? I feel no bulges or soft spots at room temperature.
Any other hoses I should consider changing because of age?
Thanks as always. Don

It would be wise to replace them. I did mine a couple years back. You can take the hoses to the local auto parts store. I was able to find one hose that had both bends that I needed for the two hoses. Then I just cut them to fit

 

[Tallbald]

Hadn't thought of that. Great idea. We have Advance Auto, Autozone, Riley's Auto Parts and NAPA here in Bowling Green thinking right off hand. I can only hope they will let me root through their stock supply for a match I can cut in two. Tractor Supply is here too. That may be an option also.
While on the topic of saving hard earned money, Tractor Supply has spray cans of Majic brand "Kubota" orange paint on sale for $3.49 a can. I want orange, and realize that there's a couple of shades used on Kubota products, but I'm not going to be showing my tractor in restoration shows so perfectly accurate coloration would only be a preference issue in my case. Has anyone used this particular brand and color of orange paint on their Kubotas? Description says it's an oil based alkyd enamel "specially formulated for excellent adhesion and resistance to weathering and corrosion". Reading here on the forums, actual Kubota spray paint runs like $10 a can. A small price difference to pay after many hours of preparation, but I have to wonder if the Majic product would be fine too. Six cans of savings would be great----if it really does the job.Thoughts sure appreciated.
Don

 

[billrigsby]

Looks like my seat would work. And at 40$ less then what your getting from overseas. The one you posted the link for will fit mine as well.

The joys of one part number not being the same for the other model. Even though they take the same part

I will have to get the correct brackets, and then measure between them to confirm,
got to say the 185 seat mount looks pretty involved compared to the 175

 

[Daren Todd]

Tallbald's L185 "Orange Crush" project fix-up

I will have to get the correct brackets, and then measure between them to confirm,

got to say the 185 seat mount looks pretty involved compared to the 175



View attachment 21659 View attachment 21660

Tallbald's l185 has the optional suspension for his seat. Mines just a solid bracket. Has the two pieces like what's on the front of yours with a long tube welded in between. Has a long rod that goes through the tube, and a couple nylon bushings.



Put a nylon bushing inside each end of the tube. Slide your seat into place. Run the rod all the way through the eye hole on the seat bracket, nylon bushing and tube. Drop in a couple cotter pins to keep the rod in place.

 

[Tallbald]

Each of you thanks for the rusted out and cracked seat help and offers. Coleman's was very pleasant to work with, and I ordered the seat Monday, with scheduled arrival Wednesday the 13th. Price was as good or better than several I saw on the online auction site, and shipping was only around $13. I look forward to once again being able to back the girl out of my little shop.
Also hope to remove the hood and begin knocking out the bent leading edge. Likely won't be perfect when I get done but I expect to be satisfied. I'll fab some hardwood shaping forms to help with contouring.
What I most dread is trying to repair the bent front bumper. I don't have a torch for heating, nor a hydraulic press. Likely will get it as good as I can with what I have, and do as some here on the forum have done using a section of 4 inch (?) angle iron to make a bumper which bolts onto the bent factory bumper. Don

 

[billrigsby]

Re: Tallbald's L185 "Orange Crush" project fix-up

Tallbald's l185 has the optional suspension for his seat. Mines just a solid bracket.

Darren, I priced out the correct L175 brackets around $100.00 for both

Can you give me this dimensions for your seat mount.....


And I could not find this part in my L185 parts manual, any idea of the part number?

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Don,

The Majic paint has had pretty bad reviews lately. The old supplier was a much better paint but the new stuff fades badly. Orange is the hardest paint color when it comes time to stand up to UV over longer periods. You don't want to have to hold an umbrella over your machine when out of the garage.

Kubota rattle cans are about $10 apiece and do an average spraying job, but the paint is a very high-solids orange that will last for years. Yours is the KUBOTA I color. If you like the newer redder-orange, go KUBOTA II.

I bought quarts at my dealer for $45 apiece for future touch-ups. In the world of automotive paint, $45 a quart is a killer price. (Automotive two-part paint is three times that amount!) This is a one-step paint with no clear coat. If you have a small compressor, you can spray really nicely with a Harbor Freight touch-up gun (on sale all the time for $10) and get a better finish than rattle cans. The clean-up is the only hassle but if you set up and do it all in one day, you are going to be way ahead for not much spendola.

If you are doing the whole machine, two quarts should cover everything. You can start with one and see how far it goes. Use white or very light grey primer if you have to use any. And be sure to ket it up good with a Scotchbrite pad before final spray, wipe the parts down with mineral spirits and a tack rag.

Good Luck.

Ray

 

[Daren Todd]

Re: Tallbald's L185 "Orange Crush" project fix-up

Darren, I priced out the correct L175 brackets around $100.00 for both

Can you give me this dimensions for your seat mount.....
View attachment 21953

And I could not find this part in my L185 parts manual, any idea of the part number?
View attachment 21954

With mine being an l1501, it does share quite a bit of parts with the l185. It also has it's differences. The seat bracket may be one of those differences. I'll get measurements for you tonight.

 

[billrigsby]

Re: Tallbald's L185 "Orange Crush" project fix-up

With mine being an l1501, it does share quite a bit of parts with the l185.

Sorry for some reason I had you associated with a L185,
forgot you had a L1501.
But if you do have the part number for that bracket it may help.

 

[Daren Todd]

Tallbald's L185 "Orange Crush" project fix-up

Darren, I priced out the correct L175 brackets around $100.00 for both



Can you give me this dimensions for your seat mount.....

View attachment 21953



And I could not find this part in my L185 parts manual, any idea of the part number?

View attachment 21954

Good Timing



Bill, you could probably make the bracket for about $10 in material if you have access to a welder



Bracket width is 3 1/4" for the two upright pieces. Bolt holes are also 3 1/4" center to center of the hole.

Bracket material is 1/8" thick.


Width of the part that has the bolt holes is 1"



Lengh of the pieces from back to the tube is 2"



Tube is 1"od. Not sure of inside diameter.



Brackets are 1 1/2" tall where they tie into the tubing..



From base of brackets where they mount to the top of the tubing is 1 3/4"



Tubing length is 5 5/8" long



Bushing out side diameter is 1" x 1/8" where it buts against the tubing. There is about 3/4" of rubber that inserts inside the tubing.



Rubber bushing also has a 1/4" hole centered for the dowel rod that the seat mounts on.



Dowel rod is 7" long by 1/4" thick and is drilled on each end to except a cotter pin.

Total material to make yourself.

1 piece of 1" tubing. 5 5/8" in Lengh

1 piece of 1 1/2" angle iron 1/8 thick. 4" long.

1 piece of round stock 1/4" thick by 7" long.

2 cotter pins,

2 bushings.

Currently looking to see if I can find a part number for the bushings

 

[billrigsby]

True I probably could make it pretty easily but sometimes if the cost versus time outweighs the time then it's easier just to buy it.
Like over $100 for the two brackets that mine is missing, that's why am looking at alternatives. Right now I'm in the middle of re-creating a battery tray that I can't find anywhere.

Thanks for the info once I'm not on my phone a look at this more closely.

 

[Daren Todd]

True I probably could make it pretty easily but sometimes if the cost versus time outweighs the time then it's easier just to buy it.
Like over $100 for the two brackets that mine is missing, that's why am looking at alternatives. Right now I'm in the middle of re-creating a battery tray that I can't find anywhere.

Thanks for the info once I'm not on my phone a look at this more closely.

You could probably do a better job recreating the brackets that are on it with just a couple pieces of angle iron. Weld a thin piece of tubing in between the brackets to keep them from twisting and call it good.

I know, that's what I probably would do

 

[Tallbald]

Rustoleum Nite Tide paint has arrived form Home Depot at about $23 for a six pack. Light gray primer in here too, and soon I hope to begin chasis painting.
Now the battery tray. When I bought my tractor in 05 it had several heavy bungee cords holding the battery down into the tray. I've seen this done on other equipment and yes it works, but I want to return to better methods of battery retention.
I have gone to the Kubota factory website and looked up the clamping mechanism but as has happened before, the downloaded file will not let me center the illustration in my screen while enlarging it so I can see distinct parts and part numbers. It appears that there are two rods, threaded I would imagine, that clamp a retaining bar across the front of the battery. Am I correct? Having trouble too seeing if there's a plastic tray meant to be uder the battery as provided by the factory. Would be a good idea if I can come up with something to fit. I apologize for the blurred battery photo. I cannot bend over to hold the camera still at that angle.
Does anyone have a suggestion for an aftermarket part I could substitute at a reduced cost? Worse case scenario I go back to bungee cords but I'd sure like the more secure method.
Oh. My new replacement seat is installed which looks and feels great.
Thanks as always. Don

 

[billrigsby]

I have gone to the Kubota factory website and looked up the clamping mechanism but as has happened before, the downloaded file will not let me center the illustration in my screen while enlarging it so I can see distinct parts and part numbers. It appears that there are two rods, threaded I would imagine, that clamp a retaining bar across the front of the battery. Am I correct? Having trouble too seeing if there's a plastic tray meant to be uder the battery as provided by the factory.

Try this...............





Standard looking battery support items, probably available at local auto store.
I do not think there is a plastic tray, but mine will have one when I am done building it.

 

[Tallbald]

Excellent and thank you. I believe I can fab that myself from some mild steel rod, a die set and some steel angle iron. Don

 

[Russell King]

Tallbald's L185 "Orange Crush" project fix-up

The part across the battery is simply a small angle iron with holes drilled through for the rods to get through. The rods a re bent and fit into holes in the tray. You can probably get similar rods at auto store. All of this is available from dealership.

There is no plastic in bottom, just a couple of rubber strips about 1/8 thick called cushion in parts list item 12


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Tallbald]

Thank you. I hope to work on it today after church. A plastic tray should be fairly straightforward to make from a large rectangular cooking oil bottle stored in our garage. Don