B7300 seat adjustment problem

[HiPowerOne]

Hi All

I have had my B7300 now for 17+ years, and really have not thought much about seat adjustment, as I am normally the one who uses the tractor. However, today my grandson was here and I wanted to show him some tractor safety. When I went to adjust the seat for him, I realized that I had a problem. My B7300 seat has 5 seat adjustment notches in the rail (I can see and feel), but I can only get the seat into the back two slots. It will not go but maybe a 1/4" past the second notch and will not reach the 3-5 positions.

That further exacerbates the problem, as the rear bolts, for removing the whole seat assembly, are in the tracks and can only be accessed when the seat is further forward, I suspect in the 4-5 positions, way forward.

Has anyone had a like or similar problem, and if so, how did you handle/remedy the situation?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[D2Cat]

HP, I'd suggest giving the slide track a good dose of PB Blaster or a similar product. Try, as you did, continuing to move the slide. There may just be some rust or small twig, or small pebble laying in there causing all your grief. Probably something simple. Be patient and keep messing with it to convince it to slide.

You've got 17 years on non-movement to overcome! Welcome to the forum.

 

[HiPowerOne]

Thanks D2Cat
Other than rust, always stored in building, the twig/pebble was the first thing that I considered...I have tried just about everything, including compressed air, to blow/lube/ force the tracks clean...using a bright light I can see nothing in the tracks..either side...I guess I am going to have to break down and "pay" to have someone look at it.

 

[D2Cat]

I think before I'd "break down" and have a dealer work on it, I'd keep soaking it with a rust solvent like PBblaster and keep tinkering with it. That is all the dealer service dept. is going to do other than replacing the whole bracket!

It just doesn't take much of anything in the slide mechanism to cause it to jam. A bit of rust, just like on an old bolt, will cause a problem you can't imagine.

 

[m.t.hands]

if you can remove the seat and track together from the tilt point if your tractor has that type of assembly???and work on it upside/down perhaps

but as mentioned PB Blaster and add some compressed air may help clear the track

 

[HiPowerOne]

Sort of a catch 22.

Unfortunately, the seat tilt just allows easy access to the seat track assembly, which is firmly mounted to the tractor. To remove the seat track, the two rear bolts must be removed. To access those two rear bolts, the seat, in the track, must slide completely forward. If the seat could 'slide completely forward', to access the two rear bolts, which must be removed to remove the track, I would not have even started this thread.

Again, I have lubed, air blasted, poked, probed, etc. to no avail. I will keep trying, but this has now been nearly a 2 month ordeal. At least this OTT forum yielded a response. I have had no response to another forum post that has been there for nearly 6 weeks.

 

[D2Cat]

Since you now have it lubed pretty good, move the slide release lever to the position the slide should be free to move. Hold that lever as you, or a helper, tap on the slides gently to help determine what is in a bind.

Patience is a virtue, and I can almost guarantee it's something very simple that is bound up in there.

Ever try to pull the trailer hitch out of the receiver after it's been in there a few years? A couple grains of sand can cause a lot of grief!

 

[m.t.hands]

Hipower, I know the frustration, helped a friend that is 6'6" get the seat on a used BX1830 freed up, his was stuck in the second position from the front, and well he had to have some room, we tilted his seat forward, removed the seat and cut the hardware off the tracks with one of those oscillating cutters, soaked the tracks in mineral spirits for 2-3 days and lightly tapped it both directions, while we did get it "freed" up, it was not very smooth, but he is typically the only operator...and he did not want to spend the $ on new tracks (100$ for the set)

not familiar with the design on the 7300, just hopefully throwing out some helpful ideas best of luck

 

[HiPowerOne]

Hi guys
I am still wrestling with this problem. After numerous penetrating oil/lube applications/hammer banging, the seat still refuses to slide forward anymore. I have and will continue to work on this.

However, today I found a YT video that may give a hint at what I am up against. In the video, the operator is replacing his seat. While he does not really need to remove the front two bolts to do this, in his video, at 25-50 seconds, you will see the two front bolts that are in the seat track. The other two rear bolts, are what is holding the seat springs, seen about 24 seconds in the video. As you can see at 1:35 in the video, he has the seat full forward, and has access to the bolt heads on the underside of the slide.

If I could remove the front two bolts, then the slides might move full to the rear, where the rear two bolts could be removed, and then the slide should move full forward. The catch 22 is, if I could get the seat full forward, I would not need to remove the rear bolts or the slide.

 

[PaulL]

Hmm. It's sometimes useful to talk things through, and see if ideas come.

So, there are slides on rails. They obviously slide a bit - you have movement from position 4 to position 5. So they must move back and forth a bit.

But they jam at a certain point. So what is different? It obviously could be rust or debris, but sounds like you've been through that.

Can you see the front of the track where you're trying to run it forward to - is there a bolt head, a bend, a pinch or something that would bind it at that point? Can you slide it all the way back and see what's on the track?

It could be something that's under the slide, but somehow still stopping at a particular point. Is there something hanging down that's binding at a particular point on the track?

Is it possible to tilt the seat forward, then slide it all the way back and off the track (I'm assuming when it's not tilted it'll bang into the ROPs or 3ph or something)?

When it's tilted up, what can you see underneath the tracks? Anything look funny or out of place?

Photos would probably help people to give suggestions - both photos when tilted from underneath, and photos of the front and back of the tracks when it's moved as far as you can move it.

Someone might see something or give an idea.

EDIT: OK, looking at the video. So looks like you can entirely take the seat off, and the rails are still there with the seat mounting, and slide back and forth. Is that also how your seat is? I can see why that's frustrating, there's not much to see there, it should just work!!

Are you able to get the two rails to slide independently like he does at around 11:10? Is only one side binding?

It really seems like once you get to the point where the seat is off, and you've got the two rails sliding independently, you can see pretty much everything that's going on. It must be possible to fix it at that point!! But I'd be looking to see which rail is binding (presumably only one of them), then where and what exactly is causing it to bind. It might be hooking up on something underneath, or any other thing.

 

[Russell King]

I would suggest same as above=remove seat and see if the free side can easily move the full length of the track. If not then you may be able to see it hitting something like a bolt head. Then you may have to pry up on the track to get it to move forward and then remove the bolt at rear.

Removing the seat will allow the divide and conquer method to see which railing is the problem also.

 

[Rusty46]

HiPowerOne - I agree with removing the seat from the slides. On my B7500, that requires removing 4 bolts. Once the seat is off, try checking if the slides are parallel to each other, and level to each other. Also, try loosening the slide bolts enough to move the slides slightly. My seat slides easily when the bolts are loose, but binds when the bolts are tight. Best wishes!

 

[HiPowerOne]

HI Guys.
Thanks for the replies, however, if you look closely at the video, you will see how the seat itself can be removed by removing the cotter pin (seen on the left). However, to remove that cross piece, that he removed, the slide must be full forward, and as noted, that is the issue. I cannot move the slide that far forward, thus I cannot gain access to either bolt head, and thus cannot remove either bolt....the catch 22!

 

[Russell King]

Okay that full forward position wasn’t that obvious in the video that gets those bolts exposed for removal.

Can you rig up a jack somehow to push on the cross member to see if you can get it to move? I would focus on the release mechanism and make sure it is releasing well by seeing if you can move it where the rod attaches (more than the rod moves it).

That is all I have today to suggest.

 

[PaulL]

HI Guys.
Thanks for the replies, however, if you look closely at the video, you will see how the seat itself can be removed by removing the cotter pin (seen on the left). However, to remove that cross piece, that he removed, the slide must be full forward, and as noted, that is the issue. I cannot move the slide that far forward, thus I cannot gain access to either bolt head, and thus cannot remove either bolt....the catch 22!

Ah. I see the problem. You need that only to get to the bolt head though. The nuts are accessible. Do they undo? A couple bolts and nuts aren't too much to sacrifice, you could just drill out the nuts, lift off the cross piece, then see what you have? It seems to me that it's unlikely you'd do too much damage to the slide, and even if it enlarged the holes a bit the world wouldn't end.

 

[Jasper2018]

I had the same problem on my L3130. Tried for days with penetraiting oils.
Could get adjusting lever to open but wouldn't slide.
Finally used a piece of 2x4 against rear of seat and after about 5 hits with maul and it freed up to where it would slide with difficulty and after a while it slid better and now you wouldn't have known it had rusted solid.

 

[HiPowerOne]

PaulL: I think that you now have a better idea about how the seat looks and works. Removing the seat itself has no affect on the base unit travel. No. The base will not move backwards off the track. It appears that disassembly would have the unit move to the front to remove, as seen in the video. The nuts you see on the cross piece are welded to that unit. The bolt heads can be seen but are not accessible without the seat in the full forward position. If I drill out the bolts, and still cannot move the slides, I might be in a world of hurt.

Russell: The seat release works fine and is fully disengaged when moving the seat, so that does not appear to be part of the issue.

I am still wondering how the unit is assembled. It is almost like there is some sort of ball bearing unit that the two tracks travel on. If there is dirt/debris that has/had built up in that slide unit and moisture and rust caused that to solidify, I might never get this solved.

While not critical, I would like at some time to maybe solve this issue. My grandson is growing, but not that fast. Ha ha.

In the mean time, I continue to apply penetrating oils and hammer on

 

[Russell King]

What type of penetrating oil are you using? I have had really good luck with PB Blaster to dissolve rust.

I know some of the mechanisms do have ball bearings but I assume that the seat mechanism is just rail on rail but have never looked at my tractor but will try to remember to look Friday when I am close to it again

 

[PaulL]

The nuts you see on the cross piece are welded to that unit. The bolt heads can be seen but are not accessible without the seat in the full forward position. If I drill out the bolts, and still cannot move the slides, I might be in a world of hurt.

Depends how much you want it fixed, and whether you've tried all other available options.

1. Cannot disassemble as intended when made, as the tracks cover the bolt heads without moving it forward
2. Cannot move it forward, have exhausted all options that involve lubrication or force

So it seems to me that either it's going to stay broken, or one of the following options has to work:
a. You can force it forward. Sounds like that's a no
b. You can remove the bolt somehow without sliding it forward - so something else somewhere disassembles and allows access to the bolt heads. Sounds like that's a no
c. You can disassemble it without access to the bolt head.

If point c. is where we're going, then that means you need to remove the nut instead of the bolt. I hadn't realised they were welded on, I had assumed the bolt was spinning as the reason they couldn't be removed. Welding a new nut on isn't rocket science, and arguably having a nut that isn't welded wouldn't be the end of the world either. It's not a new tractor so it doesn't need to be showroom quality.

You could grind the welds off and undo the nut, or drill out the bolt and remove the nut. Either way you'll be replacing the nuts. But that will let you get at the slides individually.

I guess the other way to think about it is "what will you learn having disassembled it?"

By separating the two slides you'll learn which slide is stuck. If it's the one without the lever, then it must be just jammed. You'll end up forcing it to resolve the issue I'd guess. If it's the one with the lever, then either the lever mechanism is causing the jam, or same thing - it's jammed and you'll end up forcing it.

If the solution is going to be forcing it anyway (but just with knowledge of what/where the jam is), then you could just force it without disassembling it.

Sounds like you've tried forcing it with a hammer, tried lubricating it. Have you tried applying more force - hydraulic force (a jack), some sort of impact driver (maybe an air tool/jack hammer), or something else that can put more force on it than you have? Can you pry up the front end of the slides to make sure they're not somehow digging in to the tracks? How much of the length of the slides can you see to make sure they're not pinched anywhere?

I come back to either leaving it broken, or taking some more risks that might end up wrecking it (but then you can replace it).

 

[HiPowerOne]

Thanks to Russell and Paul
I have used PB Blaster, WD-40, Kroil, and a host of other lubricants, including diesel/kero just for grins. I have used a heavy hammer/mallet/sledge but not a hydraulic unit. I may try that, but again, if something breaks, I might be in worse shape. Who knows.

I had considered grinding/cutting the nut off, but I am not sure that I could still get the bolt out, as there is not much room for play in the track. And if I did get it out, and the problem was not solved, I know that I would not be able to get a full size bolt back in place.

I keep coming back to maybe letting a 'dealer' take a look at the problem, and sucking up on what that might cost.