Equip Your Older Tractor With A Cab

Equip your older tractor with a cab MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 12-6-9 "Equipping older tractors with cabs is easier than you might think," says Floyd Caron, owner of Caron's Service Center, Faribault, Minn. Caron "retooled" a junked "All Sea-son" cab to fit his old Massey Harris 44 Special tractor, and feels most other older tractors would be just as easy to "modernize" with a low-cost used cab. "Salvage yards carry them and they're cheap," says Caron, who also has rebuilt used cabs to fit Deere 730 and Allis Chalmers D-17 tractors. The cab, originally 50 in. wide and 64 in. long, was equipped with 2 side doors and 6 plexiglass windows - 2 on each side, and 1 each on the front and rear. However, Caron's tractor is designed for rear, not side, entry, and is equipped with a New Idea loader which interfered with the cab. Both features made it necessary to modify the cab. Caron began the modification process by using a "cherry picker" to lower the cab over the tractor's seat and steering wheel. To allow rear entry access, he cut out the cab's rear braces and lower panel, then bolted both sides of the cab to the tractor's axles and to a cross arm just in front of the rear hitch. To make room for the loader arms, which were set wider than the braces, Caron cut 5 in. off each side on the bottom half of the cab, reducing lower cab width by 10 in. overall. To make room for the braces on the top half of the cab, he cut 3 in. off each side, reducing upper cab width by 6 in. overall. He also moved the loader's hydraulic control valves, originally mounted on one of the loader posts, inside the cab. Caron says he plans to add a canvas enclosure, in front of the cab, to funnel heat from the engine into the cab. Contact FARM SHOW Followup, Caron's Service Center, 4222 Crystal Lake Trail, Faribault, Minn. 55021 (ph 507 334-4222).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.