Open cab to Homemade Enclosure

Just wondering if anyone has made their own cab enclosure on their skid steer. Maybe added heat etc, a few pictures would be nice or thread link's, I did a search but came up empty.

I build three so far. These are on the Case 420, the side panels attach on the outside of the frame. Red oak frames and a 25000 btu heater. I used these as a pattern for the one on my 440CT. The heater is mounted to the rear glass. I made sliding glass windows in the 440 mounted on the inside of the cab.

I built one for my 1845c. Put a heater on the back shelf. Sides are just plexiglass bolted in.
Welded up a door for the front, with a channel, so you can slide a sheet of plexi into place.
Even not being completely sealed, it was still very toasty inside while plowing snow.

I didn't go full cab but did install plexiglass side windows in our New Holland LS160. The side windows helped to cut down on any wind blowing through the cab and the side windows were left on year round. I secured them using pieces of rubber cut from an inner tube and zip ties.

It certainly helped on the cold or windy days. We eventually upgraded to a CAT 242B with full cab and heat.

A front door is an obstacle if you need to get in and out of the cab with the bucket / forks off of the ground, so your really have to plan your work ... or take the door off to perform the work with the boom raised. So an easy to remove door can be a must for many operations.

Great info, on my to do list for sure. Especially the heat, gets pretty cold around here.

1845c front door made from 1/2” lexan. Hinges made from spare parts. Nh ls170/180 interior door latch, outer latch ace hardware. 12v Heater from eBay.

Ls160 NH heater install. They’ve been $150 shipped from eBay for the past ten years. Prob more now.

Old Bobcat 642, radiator is on top.
simple plywood box, sch 10 4" plastic pipe & fittings.
All held in place with rubber bungees....and Duct Tape...

Hookedondiesel I believe we have the same machine. This is what I did on my 1835c. Built a door frame from angle iron and used 1/2" lexan for door. Used 4" weld on bullet hinges so it's easily removable. Unfortunately due to the location on the ignition switch it needed to be relocated. Side, top, and back window are 1/4" plexiglass I had laying around. Used u nuts on rear window so it is also easily removable. Heater was was purchased from skid steer solutions.

Thanks Joe, looks good, I like that light bar you have. I assume you put a piece of plexi on top for the roof section. is your's a diesel?

Joe Mahlik said:

Used u nuts on rear window so it is also easily removable.

Click to expand...

Joe touches on an important feature that should be included in any home built cab ... that being an easily removable front or rear escape window in the event you get caught with your loader arms up preventing the front door being opened.

Most / all (?) factory cabs have a push out rear window for emergency escape from the cab. I guess that another option would be to kick out the front window (if possible) as an emergency escape exit.

Not sure if you can kick through a 1/2" lexan door in the event your skid steer catches fire and your loader arms are blocking your door. Kicking out a back window would be pretty hard too unless it was designed as an emergency escape window. I'm pretty sure that I could kick though my factory 3 piece safety glass front door on my 242B ... but I have not tested that yet ... but it does have a push out rear window.

Any other thoughts on emergency escape from a skid steer cab?

Good point CW, I see you also have chains on your machine front and back. How is it in the snow with the chains?

ThreeCW said:

Joe touches on an important feature that should be included in any home built cab ... that being an easily removable front or rear escape window in the event you get caught with your loader arms up preventing the front door being opened.
Any other thoughts on emergency escape from a skid steer cab?

Click to expand...

Both my front and rear windows had frames with channels that the lexan slide into.
The lexan (1/4 in) had enough flex that a simple push with a foot would have popped them out of the channels.
That gave me 2 outs.

The Case machines I own have the rear window held in with metal plates and two knobe on the inside of the cab. Unscrew the knobs and push the rear window out.

hookedondiesel said:

I see you also have chains on your machine front and back. How is it in the snow with the chains?

Click to expand...

One of the primary uses of our skid steer is snow removal on our small farm. The front and back chains work great for this use ... we have some hilly terrain and it can ice up as well, so chains are a must. You can get a lot of information about chains in the following thread:

https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/threads/skid-steer-in-snow.70022/