What holds the lapbar up on a 743?

MalcolmV8 · Mar 17, 2024

Hey Guys,

I have a 743, new to me, and the lapbar won't stay up which makes it really painful getting in and out of. As I push the bar up there's two triangle pieces of metal on each side with a spring and when it passes that you hear a loud click. At that point it should stay up but it doesn't. I'm not sure if the sharp edge on the end of the triangle has worn down and no longer supporting the bar of the springs have fatigued over time.

I did some searching and read that newer models use a gas shock similar to what holds the hood or trunk of a car open. That sounds great. I can weld and fab and would be interested in making one fit. I imagine someone's done this? Any pics or ideas of how it would go to work? Or am I better off just getting new springs or brackets on my current setup?

Thanks
Malcolm

Tazza · Mar 18, 2024

You need new springs, the old ones loose tension over time, you can put gas struts on, but the springs work just fine.

MalcolmV8 · Mar 18, 2024

Thanks did some searching and found the springs are part # 6503387 which are somewhat hard to find. After chatting to allskidsteers.com they told me the part number was replaced with 6704453 and that number comes up plentiful when searching. Apparently the exact same spring. Just FYI for anyone searching for those springs.

Hopefully this fixes it. Looking at the brackets they lock up against they're worn and rounded on the edges too. I'll probably take a grinder and square them up again. Between those two items I should hopefully be back in shape

Scott Cee · Mar 18, 2024

Mine does this too, can you update us on if it fixed it properly?

MalcolmV8 · Mar 18, 2024

Scott Cee said:
Mine does this too, can you update us on if it fixed it properly?

Sure, they'll be here in a few days and I'll get the repair going and report back.

Chessie · Mar 19, 2024

MalcolmV8 said:
Hey Guys,

I have a 743, new to me, and the lapbar won't stay up which makes it really painful getting in and out of. As I push the bar up there's two triangle pieces of metal on each side with a spring and when it passes that you hear a loud click. At that point it should stay up but it doesn't. I'm not sure if the sharp edge on the end of the triangle has worn down and no longer supporting the bar of the springs have fatigued over time.

I did some searching and read that newer models use a gas shock similar to what holds the hood or trunk of a car open. That sounds great. I can weld and fab and would be interested in making one fit. I imagine someone's done this? Any pics or ideas of how it would go to work? Or am I better off just getting new springs or brackets on my current setup?

Thanks
Malcolm

Hey Malcom, if you find a good source for those springs, please post... I'm in the same boat! Thanks!

haymaker · Mar 19, 2024

years ago when I got my 743B it had way to much grease on the triangles, like it had been binding. I would raise it and it would slip out of the pocket and fall down. I cleaned all the grease off of it and never had an issue again.
That said I know springs get weaker over time but I just wanted to share what my experiance was.

Markle · Mar 19, 2024

I've also had the same problem on 743 and 753. Where the lap bar tube meets the triangles gets pretty worn. I've had to weld more metal on the lap bar twice now to prevent it from wearing through. Something to consider.

MalcolmV8 · Mar 19, 2024

Chessie said:
Hey Malcom, if you find a good source for those springs, please post... I'm in the same boat! Thanks!

I found replacement springs over here

Lap Bar Spring for Bobcat® Skid Steers | Replaces OEM # 6503387

Lap Bar Spring for Bobcat® Skid Steers - 6704453

stores.allskidsteers.com

The same company sells them on eBay but it's just a little more on eBay. Likely to cover their ebay fees so I just got it directly off their website.

Chessie · Mar 19, 2024

Chessie said:
Hey Malcom, if you find a good source for those springs, please post... I'm in the same boat! Thanks!

haymaker said:
years ago when I got my 743B it had way to much grease on the triangles, like it had been binding. I would raise it and it would slip out of the pocket and fall down. I cleaned all the grease off of it and never had an issue again.
That said I know springs get weaker over time but I just wanted to share what my experiance was.

Yeah, silly me, when I got the machine, I greased that area... I really should clean it off with a solvent or Diesel.. I wiped it off some when I first made that mistake... perhaps I should make it more "rough" than smooth.... I don't usually think about it until it has slipped down and I go to get in it and then find myself reaching in and pulling that bar up.. awkwardly... tnx..

MalcolmV8 · Mar 19, 2024

haymaker said:
years ago when I got my 743B it had way to much grease on the triangles, like it had been binding. I would raise it and it would slip out of the pocket and fall down. I cleaned all the grease off of it and never had an issue again.
That said I know springs get weaker over time but I just wanted to share what my experiance was.

That is a good point. Initially when we picked up the 743 the lapbar would sort of stay up because there was so much rust on those brackets it was binding up. Making a lot of terrible noises too. So we put some WD40 on the spring setup and that was the end of that lol. No longer stayed up. We tried spraying everything down with carb cleaner to "undo" the WD40 but it still falls down. I think the springs are just shot and the brackets are worn.

Chessie · Mar 19, 2024

MalcolmV8 said:
I found replacement springs over here

Lap Bar Spring for Bobcat® Skid Steers | Replaces OEM # 6503387

Lap Bar Spring for Bobcat® Skid Steers - 6704453

stores.allskidsteers.com

The same company sells them on eBay but it's just a little more on eBay. Likely to cover their ebay fees so I just got it directly off their website.

(BTW, thank you much for the link!)

MalcolmV8 · Mar 19, 2024

Markle said:
I've also had the same problem on 743 and 753. Where the lap bar tube meets the triangles gets pretty worn. I've had to weld more metal on the lap bar twice now to prevent it from wearing through. Something to consider.

Thanks I'll take a look at it closer when we pull it apart. I had considered welding on the bracket too as it looks worn but I haven't inspected the lap bar itself. Mine actually looks really new, I think my lap bar was replaced in recently by someone so it may be good.

wateka · Mar 19, 2024

Will anyone who has the spring lift versions please post some pictures so I can see how that version of the lift operates? I have seen it in my parts manual, but the drawings are not clear enough.

My 853 lap bar was loose and not connected to the cab when I bought it. No springs, no mounting plate(s), no gas spring lift cylinder, nada.

I did buy a gas spring and fabbed up a mount, but it only lifts it up half way. [Insert your favorite Viagra joke here]

Chessie · Mar 19, 2024

wateka said:
Will anyone who has the spring lift versions please post some pictures so I can see how that version of the lift operates? I have seen it in my parts manual, but the drawings are not clear enough.

My 853 lap bar was loose and not connected to the cab when I bought it. No springs, no mounting plate(s), no gas spring lift cylinder, nada.

I did buy a gas spring and fabbed up a mount, but it only lifts it up half way. [Insert your favorite Viagra joke here]

How's this?

reaperman · Mar 19, 2024

The quick and dirty way is to just use a bungee strap to hold it up, that's pretty much what everyone does.

wateka · Mar 19, 2024

Chessie said:
How's this?

Many thanks!

That must have been what mine came with since there were no tabs/brackets attached to my seat bar.

I cannot visualize how it works from your picture and the drawings but will get the parts and figure it out. My part #15 looks like C-channel, and your pic show what looks like an L bracket.

brdgbldr · Mar 19, 2024

On my 742B, when the lap bar started to not stay up, I just tighten the bolts slightly to compress the springs a little more and then it worked perfectly.

Atilathehun99 · Mar 19, 2024

Second the bungee. Takes just a few seconds to secure/release.

MalcolmV8 · Mar 19, 2024

reaperman said:
The quick and dirty way is to just use a bungee strap to hold it up, that's pretty much what everyone does.

I get it, but I like fixing things

bungee strap would bug me.

What holds the lapbar up on a 743?

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