I've been planning on enclosing my cab for a while, and found a good donor door from a Cat 257 track machine. It has a wiper motor with washer fluid tank, and door latch. These doors just happen to fit my Bobcat 743 perfectly. For some reason there appears to be a surplus of Cat doors for sale around here, I've seen three go for very cheap.
I had to make a hinge that mounts to the machine for the door. After mocking everything up and taking measurements, I tack welded my hinge to the machine. I've seen cases where people have had to cut off one of their grab handles. I did not want to do this so I had to move the upper hinge a little to clear the grab handle.
After the door was mounted, I welded a 1/2" nut to the side of the cab so I could thread a bolt into it to act as a door strike. My next task was to make a frame to enclose the open area under the door. I used some 1" angle and made a frame to fit the opening.
I then pop riveted sheet metal onto the frame. When installed it fits very close to the cab frame, so all I need is a little weatherstripping to seal it completely. The frame bolts to the cab with 4 bolts and is easily removed.
Its still a work in progress. The doors opens very easily, and fits nicely. I still need to paint everything, wire up the wiper motor (and get a wiper arm), and install the gas strut to hold the door open. Once I'm done with that I can move onto installing my new 12000 BTU cab heater and side panels.
I had to make a hinge that mounts to the machine for the door. After mocking everything up and taking measurements, I tack welded my hinge to the machine. I've seen cases where people have had to cut off one of their grab handles. I did not want to do this so I had to move the upper hinge a little to clear the grab handle.
After the door was mounted, I welded a 1/2" nut to the side of the cab so I could thread a bolt into it to act as a door strike. My next task was to make a frame to enclose the open area under the door. I used some 1" angle and made a frame to fit the opening.
I then pop riveted sheet metal onto the frame. When installed it fits very close to the cab frame, so all I need is a little weatherstripping to seal it completely. The frame bolts to the cab with 4 bolts and is easily removed.
Its still a work in progress. The doors opens very easily, and fits nicely. I still need to paint everything, wire up the wiper motor (and get a wiper arm), and install the gas strut to hold the door open. Once I'm done with that I can move onto installing my new 12000 BTU cab heater and side panels.
