Seat cushions

[INCase]

My tractor has pretty basic seat cushions and I think we can make new ones without much trouble. Does anyone know what "grade" of foam is typically used? In otherwords what hardness/softness rating is used? Also what grade of vinyl? Thanks.

 

[flashback]

Be careful of vinyl. , The are at least three types on the market. Do nnot use vynyl from a Wal Mart or Fabric Store. Buy the good waterproof kind from a boat store. Try Westmarine.com for quality products. Some vinyl has a soft backing that collects moisture and stays wet. The good kind has a sort of netting on the back. The same goes for foam. be sure you get the closed cell foam for the same reason as stated before. My wife and I have had lots of experience in cushions for our boats over the las 40 years. Jack

 

[big fred]

About 6 years ago I did just what you're doing for my IH 300 Utility. I went to Fred Meyer (west coast dept store) and bought a "camping mat", which is a 3 inch thick foam mat. Used two thicknesses for the seat and one for the back. Went to "Fabric Land" (local fabric store) and bought some generic naugahyde in a kinda-Farmall-red. Cut the foam on my table saw, cut some plywood to fit my seat frame, drilled a couple 1 inch holes in the bottom to let air in and out, and glued the foam to the plywood using Elmer's glue. Figured the glue just had to hold while I stapled the naugahyde in place. When I stapled the naugahyde on, I compressed the foam to about 4 inches on the seat and 2 on the back, and it feels pretty good. It's held up great, and the tractor is stored outside, usually under a tarp in winter since it rains steady here from October to May, but sometimes the tarp blows off and it's left exposed until I notice it, maybe a couple weeks. I notice a little rust on the staples, but the fabric is okay.

Total cost was about 4 bucks for the foam and 6 bucks for the naugahyde. The plywood was scrap and I'm not figuring in the staples and glue.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Vinyl is terrible on a hot day..cloth would be better.

 

[Chris in SK]

INCase,
I just did my loader tractor seat – Ford 8700 with cab. The original Bostrom seat vinyl, was bad and held together with duck tape. I decided to go to cloth instead of vinyl, which was ok with the cab, and my wife who is pretty good with the sewing machine thought it would be easier to work with.
Went to the fabric store (Fabric Land) and found a cloth very close to the original cloth used by Ford. They had a small section with upholstery grade fabric, and marine vinyl, so it should be fairly hard wearing. I couldn’t figure out how to attach the cloth to the metal base and back pans, so used ply, with nut inserts so they bolted back as the originals did. Important thing to remember if you are stapling the cloth to the ply is to use stainless steel or copper staples so they don’t rust out.
Luckily my foam was in fairly good shape, so I reused it and just put 1” sheet foam under it for extra padding. The arm rest foam was wrecked, so I brought an off cut strip and cut my own. It now looks great, althought I couldn’t have done it with out my wife on the sewing machine, and cost about $60 inc. cloth, foam, pack of stainless steel staples, upholstery thread, spray glue etc. (NH wanted $175 just for the back rest vinyl cover!!)
Most fabric shops sell the foam in different grades. Just sit on it and get some that is firm and comfortable. They will cut it as well, so could take your old foam as a pattern and get it cut to shape.
Chris

 

[02XLT4X4]

(quoted from post at 23:36:49 03/13/08) Vinyl is terrible on a hot day..cloth would be better.

Cloth + foam would probably be worse on a wet day. At least with vinyl you can wipe it off and it is dry.

 

[JBruce]

I like to use genuine latex foam and cover it with the best quality canvas tarp. sheds rain and dirt and cool to sit on. Last one just bought a small new tarp and cut and sewed to fit.