BKBrown
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aftermarket seat on frontmount?
- Thread starter Jinzo Ningen
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Jinzo Ningen
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I looked at the Premier Suspension Seat that GH sells, but regardless of price, (and I'm sure it isn't cheap), it's got a vinyl / polypropylene cover material, and that = a smokin' hot backside on sunny days. Cordura is more forgiving about temps, breathes, and with the seat I'm getting the covering can be zipped off and washed, (although you have to unbolt the mounting rails to get the bottom section off).
Black Bart
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I was looking at a new GH last week with a fancy seat on it but the dealer wanted over $800.00 for it.
That is more than some pay for the whole mower.:laughing:
The vette has a built small block 406 that is Supercharged with Nitrous Oxide coupled to a manual 6 speed.
Modified suspension wider wheels and soft sticky tires and a set of killer brakes.
I usually just drive it on the street but do some track days, LOADS of fun to drive.
173abn
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wow,double wow!That is some serious money for a seat.I had no idea they were that much.My first car when I got back from Nam was a 69 SS convertable Camaro,white with orange racing stripes.I built the little 350 to about 500hp.I sure wish I still had that car,your vett. sounds really nice. russ
Jinzo Ningen
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I've decided to go ahead and swap out the standard stock GH seat with the aftermarket Kodiac suspension seat that I currently have mounted in my AATV. I removed both yesterday afternoon. I'll have to pick up some new, shorter bolts to mount the Kodiac's adjustable slider brackets on the GH seat pan. Also, when I removed the 'Hopper seat I discovered that the area on the mounting pan underneath the seat had lots of corrosion/rusty scale on it. I hit it with rough grit sandpaper to take off the harsh stuff, then swtiched to fine grain to smooth everything out. I'll pick up a little can of Rustoleum satin black and brush on a couple of coats this afternoon, then reassemble everything tomorrow. I have to remove the zip-off cordura seat covering to be sure, but it feels like there's a recess built into in the underside of the Kodiac seat bottom for mounting in a safety operator presence switch. I may have to do some cobbling to get the mounting holes & wiring to make the transition from the GH switch bracket into the Kodiac seat bottom. I'll dig into that this evening and hopefully get it all sorted out before this weekend's over.
I'll post before, during & after pics,- if anyone's interested.
I'll post before, during & after pics,- if anyone's interested.
Last edited:
Jinzo Ningen
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Well, I finished the switch from the stock standard GH seat to my Kodiac high-back aftermarket unit and generally speaking, it went fairly smooth. It certainly has better lumbar support and lateral stability. Overall firmer, but I think that will work to my advantage in the long run.
I hope to have photos and a brief play-by-play put together here in the next day or two for those interested in doing a swap of their own.:thumbsup:
I hope to have photos and a brief play-by-play put together here in the next day or two for those interested in doing a swap of their own.:thumbsup:
Jinzo Ningen
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Well, here's the story...
I first removed the stock GH seat. Pretty simple & straightforward. A few bolts to remove and disconnecting the 2 operator presence safety switch wires. I then removed the OPS switch from the plywood base of the stock seat. The two little bolts that held the OPS switch in the base were pretty scuzzy looking so I replaced them with new stainless steel hardware (1/4" panhead bolts, washers & nylock nuts) from Lowe's.
I put together a small 4 picture collage of the "nut & bolts" of the basic install:
I sanded the base of the seat platform with coarse sandpaper to remove corrosion, rust, etc., then went over it again with a fine grit to smooth everything out. I used 4 coats of Krylon satin black spray paint; 15 min between coats 1 & 2, then let it dry overnight. Rubbed the surface down with "0000" steel wool to give the paint a little bite and then put down coats 3 & 4 with 15 mins between. Let it dry completely (2 days in 90+ temps did a good job. LOL). The upper left photo shows the GH seat mount base after all 4 coats were put on. Turned out pretty nice, but looks wasn't that big a factor since 95% of it will be covered by the seat. Just wanted to remove all rust and protect against future incursion of corrosion or rust.
Upper right pic shows the adjustable slide mounting rails from the Kodiac seat. Kind of a pain to get everything lined up "just so" but it has to be done to prevent the seat from binding when you try to move it back & forth. Mainly the gawd-awful temps were the worst part of the install - I think I sweat off 5 lbs during this project! LOL. After bolting the base rails in place (used grade 8 hardware throughout) I had to remove the top slider rails from the seat bottom and loosen them to line them up to the base rails. Once everything was in line I tightened it all down and set about transferring the GH seat OPS switch to the Kodiac seat base.
Once I got the slider brackets off, the cordura fabric bottom section unzips to allow access to the bottom of the seat mount area. As you can see in the lower left picture, it already had a cut out in the metal base pan made to fit an OPS switch. (Either I got lucky or they are all the same basic size?) I only had to enlarge the mounting bolt holes to 1/4" and it was literally a perfect fit. In the lower right photo you'll see where I took some 16ga wire and made a "jumper" wire harness to connect the OPS switch from my new seat outside to the tractor's OPS wire harness. (I wanted to still be able to completely remove the seat later on if I had to without dis-assembling the seat brackets from the seat base. Now all I have to do is lift the cloth flap and unhook the GH wire harness from my "jumper harness" and it's done; reassembly is done in reverse.) I measured the amount of wire needed to bridge the gap between the seat base and the back of the seat where the two cordura fabric sections join together. Then I took a Sharpie permanent black marker and drew a thick line on one of the wires to give me an easy visual aid for which was positive and which was negative - less confusion when hooking things up! With the switch wired into place and plugged in, I re-fit the slider bracket onto the bottom of the seat and re-attached it.
I brushed some grease onto the base rails to make re-assembly easier and to allow the seat itself to slide back & forth with less effort as well. The seat arms are adjustable also. There are knurled dials recessed under each armrest that you can spin to set the height/angle: high, level, low... whatever you want. The headrest is also adjustable, but unfortunately has no locking mechanism. I adjusted it to my fit the base of my neck comfortably and "locked" it into place by slipping a couple of 3" pieces of 1/2" air hose over the slider posts to keep the headrest from sinking back down to the top of the seat back.
Anyhow, it took maybe a couple of hours TOTAL for all aspects of the install and after the first mowing I can happily state that all that work was well worth it! Much better lateral stability and more lumbar support for my tender lower back. I was able to slide the seat forward far enough that I no longer have to stretch way out to push the steering levers fully forward. I can literally steer now just by nudging the levers with my hands only; no arm movement required! It looks pretty sharp, too. All that's left now is to apply some Scotch Guard to the seat to help prevent grass stains and minimize water soaking.
You'll also notice that I modified the original grass discharge guard mounts to fit a newer style flexible guard. The old steel guard was completely unforgiving (no good for my trees & shrubs and the GF's flower beds) and it weighed about a ton to boot! LOL The new one looks slick and works great!
I first removed the stock GH seat. Pretty simple & straightforward. A few bolts to remove and disconnecting the 2 operator presence safety switch wires. I then removed the OPS switch from the plywood base of the stock seat. The two little bolts that held the OPS switch in the base were pretty scuzzy looking so I replaced them with new stainless steel hardware (1/4" panhead bolts, washers & nylock nuts) from Lowe's.
I put together a small 4 picture collage of the "nut & bolts" of the basic install:
I sanded the base of the seat platform with coarse sandpaper to remove corrosion, rust, etc., then went over it again with a fine grit to smooth everything out. I used 4 coats of Krylon satin black spray paint; 15 min between coats 1 & 2, then let it dry overnight. Rubbed the surface down with "0000" steel wool to give the paint a little bite and then put down coats 3 & 4 with 15 mins between. Let it dry completely (2 days in 90+ temps did a good job. LOL). The upper left photo shows the GH seat mount base after all 4 coats were put on. Turned out pretty nice, but looks wasn't that big a factor since 95% of it will be covered by the seat. Just wanted to remove all rust and protect against future incursion of corrosion or rust.
Upper right pic shows the adjustable slide mounting rails from the Kodiac seat. Kind of a pain to get everything lined up "just so" but it has to be done to prevent the seat from binding when you try to move it back & forth. Mainly the gawd-awful temps were the worst part of the install - I think I sweat off 5 lbs during this project! LOL. After bolting the base rails in place (used grade 8 hardware throughout) I had to remove the top slider rails from the seat bottom and loosen them to line them up to the base rails. Once everything was in line I tightened it all down and set about transferring the GH seat OPS switch to the Kodiac seat base.
Once I got the slider brackets off, the cordura fabric bottom section unzips to allow access to the bottom of the seat mount area. As you can see in the lower left picture, it already had a cut out in the metal base pan made to fit an OPS switch. (Either I got lucky or they are all the same basic size?) I only had to enlarge the mounting bolt holes to 1/4" and it was literally a perfect fit. In the lower right photo you'll see where I took some 16ga wire and made a "jumper" wire harness to connect the OPS switch from my new seat outside to the tractor's OPS wire harness. (I wanted to still be able to completely remove the seat later on if I had to without dis-assembling the seat brackets from the seat base. Now all I have to do is lift the cloth flap and unhook the GH wire harness from my "jumper harness" and it's done; reassembly is done in reverse.) I measured the amount of wire needed to bridge the gap between the seat base and the back of the seat where the two cordura fabric sections join together. Then I took a Sharpie permanent black marker and drew a thick line on one of the wires to give me an easy visual aid for which was positive and which was negative - less confusion when hooking things up! With the switch wired into place and plugged in, I re-fit the slider bracket onto the bottom of the seat and re-attached it.
I brushed some grease onto the base rails to make re-assembly easier and to allow the seat itself to slide back & forth with less effort as well. The seat arms are adjustable also. There are knurled dials recessed under each armrest that you can spin to set the height/angle: high, level, low... whatever you want. The headrest is also adjustable, but unfortunately has no locking mechanism. I adjusted it to my fit the base of my neck comfortably and "locked" it into place by slipping a couple of 3" pieces of 1/2" air hose over the slider posts to keep the headrest from sinking back down to the top of the seat back.
Anyhow, it took maybe a couple of hours TOTAL for all aspects of the install and after the first mowing I can happily state that all that work was well worth it! Much better lateral stability and more lumbar support for my tender lower back. I was able to slide the seat forward far enough that I no longer have to stretch way out to push the steering levers fully forward. I can literally steer now just by nudging the levers with my hands only; no arm movement required! It looks pretty sharp, too. All that's left now is to apply some Scotch Guard to the seat to help prevent grass stains and minimize water soaking.
You'll also notice that I modified the original grass discharge guard mounts to fit a newer style flexible guard. The old steel guard was completely unforgiving (no good for my trees & shrubs and the GF's flower beds) and it weighed about a ton to boot! LOL The new one looks slick and works great!