Modifying seat on a BX ?

[thirdroc17]

In my case with the BX1880 and the original small R1 tires, the ride was not good. Not a direct shock to my spine but the ride was rough and on concrete the front tires felt like if they were square. I replaced the tires with "off road tread tires" in the BX2380 sizes to try to revive my grass that was pretty much destroyed by the R1's. The ride improved a lot and even though the rear tires are 6 ply rating, the ride is much, much better. Even with my cheaper BX1880 seat, the springs never bottom out and I feel no jolts in the up and down direction. However, like he said, the side to side motion and the swaying can be annoying but not painful, so I slow down for that.

Slow down? Could you explain to me what this phenomenon is?

I've ran R1 tires, and found they tore up the grass less than turfs. How could this be? I had hills, (which I don't now), turfs would spin, lug tires wouldn't. In fact, I'd have R1's now as they would be useful for tasks other than mowing, but they don't come in the size I'm running. As I've said many times, what works for some, will not work for all.

 

[thirdroc17]

I replaced the seat on my BX with a much better and more comfortable seat I got on sale at Rural King. I had to fab an adapter out of some 2" X 1/4" strap and some bar stock, and I made the seat set level instead of tilted up in the back. Is way more comfortable than the original seat. It also has adjustable armrests that aren't shown in the picture.
One of the best mods I made to my BX.
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That looks like an earlier BX. It's my understanding the earlier versions had really crappy seats compared to the **70 Series and up. If I had one of those, I'd probably make some sort of change as well.

Nice job, looks like a real nice seat too.

 

[dlsmith]

That looks like an earlier BX. It's my understanding the earlier versions had really crappy seats compared to the **70 Series and up. If I had one of those, I'd probably make some sort of change as well.

Nice job, looks like a real nice seat too.

Thanks.
Yes, it's a BX2230. It's a really nice seat and it's like riding in my F150 now. I still want to take the adapter off and paint it or get it powder coated ROPS gray. It was a quick and dirty job one Saturday afternoon when the grass was getting really high and I didn't take the time to smooth up some edges and corners and paint it.

 

[skeets]

I think you guys are over thinking this,, I added a couple old valve springs

 

[Trimley]

I may...if it comes to that. I like to build stuff, but don't necessarily like to reinvent the wheel, hence my original question:
Has anyone put an air bladder or shock absorber(s) under the seat in a Bx?

Tnx

I had one under the seat on my x739, and it worked pretty well. When I upgraded, I kept it. I plan to try it on my new BX when it arrives.

The Air Wedge I have, I made a cover from HEAVY Felt. I put the air bag inside and sewed it closed. To resist abrasion. The hose and the bulb sticks out, and my Butt Burrito can be attached to the seat base with wide Zip Ties. I used it for 5 years prior without any issues.

 

[William1]

My solution was.... to fill in the holes and dice off the high spots, making it nice and smooth. I keep a pile of soil and if I hit a low spot (most likely where a tree used to be 25 years ago...) I peel back the turf, toss in a 5 gallon buck of soil, flip the sod back.

 

[armylifer]

I think you guys are over thinking this,, I added a couple old valve springs

I tried your suggestion today and the difference it made is amazing. For me it was free because I had some old valve springs from my Model T on hand. Great suggestion, thanks!

 

[Trimley]

I tried your suggestion today and the difference it made is amazing. For me it was free because I had some old valve springs from my Model T on hand. Great suggestion, thanks!

You might also look into the air wedge. The one I have is about 4" × 10". They work real well.

 

[skeets]

I used springs from an old pan head

 

[Trimley]

I used springs from an old pan head

Due to a hand injury, my 23s doubles as the Harley I planned to be riding across the countryside at this time in my life.

 

[skeets]

Yes Sir somehow I can relate to that, my F L H is living out in Ca, the S I L law took her home when they came in for Xmas,, My Iron Butts are done now on the BX or the B,, and I still wave to the bikes when they go by

 

[pipelineman]

I think it's only my 2nd post here and I have not yet rec'd my BX2380....waiting on a couple implements to complete the deal....snowblower, mower and rear scraper blade. I didn't buy the loader yet. Ran out of nickels. Maybe next year.

Anyways....I mow 2 acres of old farm field (ie: not a 'real' lawn, but what passes for my lawn) and for a couple years I used a Murray ride-on. Killed my back...and that was 15+ years ago when I was younger. For the past 15yrs, I've been using a Kubota TG1860 (diesel) and not only do I use less fuel, which is real nice not having to fuel up 2/3 of the way through but the ride is smoother. It's not perfect of course, but the Murry/Murray only had the 2 springs in the seat and I swear my spine and kidneys were gonna explode.

The TG1860 has springs, but also the entire rear 1/3 of the mower is on kindof a clamshell suspended on 2 (what look like) mini-bike or mountain bike shock absorbers.

Fast forward to today (or soon).....when I mow my lumpy/bumpy 2 acres I fear I am going to be back into my Murray days.

So..finally, I get to my question.

Has anyone put an air bladder or shock absorber(s) under the seat in a Bx?

I can keep mowing with my TG1860 for now, but it's long in the tooth and not w/o it's problems....hence the '2380 purchase

No way in HE-double hockey sticks I am paying $1200 for an air ride seat. (or even $650 for a spring suspension seat-lol)

Ideas? I haven't seen much on the internet or youtube, but I know a lot of fabricators keep to themselves and don't feel a need to post all their stuff online.

Not looking for plans. Just whether you've ever done it, seen it or common pitfalls.

Thanks fellas !

I hope the BX2380 arrives soon. Been about a month now, but implements are hard to get here in NB Canada

-Mike in NB

Maybe off subject......but just installed this suspension seat on my L2501. Night and day difference in comfort. Bought the suspension on Ebay like new for $200!!

 

[DustyRusty]

When the BX23 came out, the seat was so terrible that Kubota did a factory recall on the original seat, and they were even replacing some seats on the BX22. Unfortunately, I didn't make the timeline cut and was stuck with a crappy seat until about a year before I sold it. I located a NOS (new old stock) seat at a local Kubota dealer and I replaced my crappy one that had the stuffing falling out of it. I am not that enthused with the quality of the BX23S seat either, and the replacement that they were selling for the BX23 is/was a lot better than the seat in the BX23S. Personally, I think that Kubota doesn't care much about operator comfort when it comes to seating, and the tractors still sell well enough with the crappy seats.