Deere 5020 Equipped With Minneapolis Moline Cab

Deere 5020 equipped with Minneapolis Moline Cab TRACTORS Made-It-Myself 13-3-9 Larry Lee, Blackfolds, Alberta, replaced the cab on his 1966 Deere 5020 tractor with an old Minneapolis Moline cab, saving about $3,000 over the cost of a new aftermarket cab. Lee made the cab change when he installed new, taller rear tires on his tractor. "The original 24.5 by 32 tires were worn out and would have cost over $2,000 to replace. I solved the problem by buying two used 20.8 by 38 radials at our local tire shop. However, the new tires had a higher profile and wouldn't fit under the tractor fenders on the old cab. I modified the fenders on the new cab so the tires would fit under them." According to Lee, the 5020's cab was tinny, noisy and shook whenever he drove the tractor. "All that cab did was keep the rain off me. It was bolted to the tractor's fenders and transmission case and didn't have its own floor. I didn't replace the original cab with a Sound Gard cab because they're expensive and don't fit a 5020, which has a wider differential than most Deere tractors. We began measuring all makes of tractor cabs and chose one from an early 1970's Minneapolis Moline 1050. This cab has the same general shape and measurements as older Deere cabs, but is somewhat sturdier since it's all-welded and doesn't have any bolt-on panels. It has its own floor which is rubber mounted on front and on the wheel axle housing to eliminate a lot of noise." Lee's first step was to strip off the 5020's old cab, fenders, floor boards, tool box and battery box. He used the "U" bolts to clamp a plate on the rear axle for the rear mounts on the new cab. He removed the front mounts from the engine's side frame and had a tray formed for the batteries, using the old battery box brackets to mount it. The only other change he made to the tractor was to remount the brake accumulator and run a flexible line to it. "The accumulator was mounted in the side tool box and was connected by a steel line that broke about once a year." Total cost to purchase the cab, do the metal work, and replace some windows was about $1,000. "A new aftermarket cab would have cost about $3,500," notes Lee. "If I could do it over again, the only thing I'd do differently would be to in-stall a cab with built-in air conditioning rather than an add-on unit." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Larry Lee, Box 599, Blackfolds, Alberta, Canada TOM OJO (ph 403 885-5423).

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