Unexpected Solution For Your John Deere Riding Mower Seat 

Of all the DIY seat repairs I've seen, this seems to have the potential of being the most durable

These seats have been cracking since they were first developed. You would think John Deere would put a better quality seat on these. Mine cracked at less than 300 hours on a $7000 lawn mower. Good job on video

You can lighten the yellow out some by adding a bit of white plastic dip. By adding small amounts n mixing you can test color match b4 application. This will get you a match that will blend better.

People like this gentleman should have over 100,000 subs. He is showing us a very good and reasonable way to fix seats without breaking the bank. Thank-you sir for sharing your knowledge and know how with us.

After watching your video, I more or less used your technique on a craftsman mower seat (black in color) that I was fixing. I hadn't done this before, so I was hesitant, but was encouraged by your video. The cracks on this seat were larger and the vinyl edges were curled up. I decided to trim the edges down as close as I could to the normal level of the seat and then sanded around like you showed. I cleaned the area as well with a de-greaser. I actually used liquid flex seal instead of plasti dip simply because that was what I could find at the store. I did one crack first to learn from. After repairing the first crack, I changed plans a little. Originally, the first crack was gaped open by about 1/4 of an inch. After the repair was done, the center of the crack was noticeably soft. The rubber was attached well, but I decided I should have put some foam in the crack to fill up the space. I did this on the other cracks and it seemed to work well. In the end, it turned out looking really nice. Since it was a black seat, the color match was almost perfect. I don't know how well it has held up since the mower was given to a family who needed it, but for the 2 weeks or so that I had it after the repair was made, I got on and off the mower almost daily to test it and everything seemed to hold up well in that time. Also, the thin coats while applying the liquid rubber did seem to be the way to go. I tried applying a thicker coat at one point and it definitely increased the time between putting on the next coat. Thanks for the video!

You might try spray painting the entire seat with Rust-Oleum spray paint to make it a uniform color. They have different yellows to match, perhaps Marigold or Sunburst Yellow. It's manufactured for plastics and I've used it on bicycle seats without a problem. Costs less than $5 for a can.

I fixed my cracked john deere seat and my cracked potato chip style hood on my lawnmower permanently by trading the dam thing off for a zero-turn Toro. Best thing I ever did!

Well done. As long as it keeps your backside dry and you didn't have to spend a lot of money, it's well worth doing it like this. I've got an old John Deere with cracks that I'm gonna fill. Thanks for making this video.

I bought a new JD in 2017 A X570 ! By 2019 the seat cracked, had NO problems with the dealer, they replaced it ! 👍🏻

Function over fashion. I appreciate it.

You are a VERY good instructor! Thanks!

I like your no “filler” approach. Just quick and to the point! Thanks for the great vids! New sub!

Great idea on seat repair. Thank you very much! Better than a foam waterlogged cold butt!

Great idea on the seat repair. I can't believe the condition of that tractor, it looks like new

Looks good to me. I will consider doing this to my cracked seat. Thanks for the video.

I don't care too much about the color match - the important thing, how well does this hold up? It's a great solution if it extends the life of the seat!

Thanks for the video. I have a 36 year old 400 series Wheel Horse that I installed a high back vinyl seat on from Northern Tool years ago. The seat has developed a crack in the same area as your John Deere. I'm sure I can get that PlastiDip in black to repair my seat. Thanks also for showing the can!

I did this to my Kubota lawn tractor's black seat with the spray. It took many coats but it worked really well, Perfect color match also!

Helpful video for my Kubota (black seat), I will definitely do this.

I have a JD mower it is about 4 years old now. I am on my 3rd seat. The first one cracked and they replaced it. The next year it cracked again. This time the folks at JD looked and saw that the new seats were available. It seems they know about the problem and If it is within the years the thin ones were on they replace them no questions asked. Good luck. They treated me right. The new seat is on over a year and no sign of cracks. Better material. Thanks Randy

Actually the Plastidip seat repair has held up pretty good on my 2007 JD X300. I did mine about 4 years ago, although I need to repair it again since it's developed few more small cracks in the seat now. Another repair I did to the JD X300 was a hood repair, my hood split pretty much down the center about 18 inches long. The small 4 inch green colored zip ties with drilling small holes for size of zip tie on each side of the crack using a X pattern stitching worked great for that repair. I did that about 2 years ago.

I picked up a lt160 a couple years ago and wow so abused. Replaced all wiring harnesses and much more electrical, runs like a top now the seat, thanks

Having priced a new seat for my 20+ year old Snapper Lawn Tractor, this is one of the greatest money saving ideas I've ever seen. Thanks for showing us how it is done! p.s. Could you get a can of John Deere Yellow spray paint, and spray the whole seat after the plastic is fixed. The wax and grease remover could be used on the whole seat at the beginning, then after the functional repairs have been made, you could then use the John Deere yellow spray paint on the whole seat. Before I moved to the City, I lived on the old family place in the country and used my John Deere tractor just about every day, and I wish I still had it. Tip for occasional users of smaller to mid-size John Deere tractors with clutches- if you know it will beva week,or so until you use it again, the clutch much remain in the "disconnected" or depressed condition. Your John Deere will provide you with the correct bolt, about 6" long on mine, and the bolt hold is pre-drilled at the factory to kept the clutch plate and the pressure plate from welding themselves together. My dealer, and good friend, told me to crank it in neutral, slide it into first gear and drive it around until everything warmed up and the clutch started working again. That didn't happen, and something inside gave way, and the dealer and I agreed to split the costs, about 10 seconds after I saw everything relating to the clutch and gearbox laid out on the floor in an orderly manner by his expert mechanic.; hundreds of parts.

Beautiful tractor. Really shows how long something can last if you truly take care of it and store it properly.

GREAT video! I never, ever thought of using Plasti-Dip to do vinyl repair like that. I've only used it for tool handles. I discovered you and your videos about a week ago with the hood repair video you did. I subscribed and will be checking out your other stuff soon.

Sorry to say I tried this fix and even used wire mesh beneath the split and it looked really good after repair and painting. Didn't even last one mowing. Time to buy a J.D. cover

Very clean tractor! Thanks for sharing your repair.

The durability of the the job comes with the prep and application being done correctly. 30 years exp in vinyl leather plastics repair. Good Job and great video...×××dont forget the prep-all.×××

That's a good idea. My 2015 seat is starting to show wear but no cracks, might just cover the whole thing before it cracks.

As you said its weather resistance. Looks perfect to me.

This was a solid vid. My only suggestion would be if you added a little bit of hobby acrylic yellow that is a brighter hue that could easily change the plaistidip base to match closer?

Well done. FUNCTIONAL! Great idea. Thank you.

This is one of those "why didn't I think of that" ideas. I have three mowers, and two of them are going to get this repair as soon as it gets a bit warmer. While I don't think that cracked seats can be completely avoided, I think one big reason for that happening is UV rays. When I got my last mower three years ago, I had my wife make me a seat covers. Not only are they pretty much always on the seats, but I also make habit of tipping the seats forward when not in use. That last seat still doesn't show any signs of wanting to crack. The other two mowers both started cracking before they were that old. Wish I'd used seat covers before. All of my seats are black, so matching colours won't be much of an issue, but I wouldn't worry about it anyway. These mowers are used to do work on my acreage (mowing, tilling, harrowing, snow blowing, trailer towing, etc.), not to take to mower "Show and Shines". Thanks for the posting.

Well sir, the color may be a little off, but the practical results are great. Awesome video.., excellent narration. Thank you sir.

I have the exact tractor, you have kept that machine in perfect shape! Looks awesome. Thanks for the good vid..

I've used the John Deere yellow spray paint after the repair to make the color match better

Another great solution! Thank you! -- I have an old (and beloved) John Deere LT150 with a cracked seat, broken hood, etc. You would think that John Deere would improve their quality control on these parts to prevent these awful cracks and breaks -- but, then again, they wouldn't then be able to sell their WAY overpriced replacement parts. -- These videos are extremely useful and fun to watch. I already ordered products for my repairs next Spring. Great job.

Really liked that this was something new that no one else has covered. My question is how do you clean up the plasti-dip from tools, etc.?

New subscriber : Thank for the great editing of your videos . The pace and content of your videos are excellent . Keep up the good work .

Great video, now I will be able to repair my garden tractor seats with confidence. Thank you!

I got lucky with my seat the Plasti Dip was a very good color match! Thank you for this video!

Do you think it would be possible to use a dye to match the color?

I just got done rebuildiny my 182 Hydro but I was just gonna leave the seat, will definitely have to give this a shot...thank you so much!

Few drops of white dip added to yellow might get you closer

Nice repair. I have two John Deere seats that are cracked. I will use your solution; however, for a final step I think I will paint the repair with John Deere Yellow paint. it should hide the mismatched yellow. This JD yellow & green paint is sold at Menards for $11/pint.

thanks I know this is a couple years old but I appreciate your time in doing this and getting to the point without the music and the talkie talk I hear on most videos.

Thanks , Going to try this on my mower seat too . Was wondering how long it would last but saw you sold it .

That's a good idea to seal those cracks. I think if it were me I would do what you did but then I would buy a JD seat cover. My JD sits outside and I do cover it but the cover of course isn't waterproof. I remember the first JD mower I bought years ago. I bought it used and there was no back to the seat. Instead of buying a new seat I made one. I went to a craft store, bought a pillow insert and a couple of yards of yellow vinyl fabric. The color match was spot on. After sewing the fabric I then used Liquid Nails to adhere the seat to the plastic form on the mower. The mower was old and the hood was missing. The previous owner didn't take good care of the mower which was unfortunate but the mower ran well. I was desperate for a riding mower and had a lot of grass to cut so I bought it. I kept it covered and had it serviced a couple of times. When I decided to move out of state I sold the mower.

Great video, thanks, I'll try this and I'm sure it will turn out well. From a distance (neighbors) would never see the color difference, and I couldn't care less. Thanks again.

I have 2 Craftsman 3500$ lawn tractors to repair and a 20,000$ Kubota seat to repair, this appears to be one of the best videos for seat repair I have seen. Thank you for all your videos.

Plastidip does sell a Clear version you could likely tint with John Deere Yellow powder coating powder to get a closer color match while keeping the price down. Great video. God bless.

How has this held up over time? Does it fall apart or peel?

Great video ! Thanks for taking the time to help others like me .

Wow, thanks man, this actually worked, mine looked real bad, but i really didnt want to spend 90 bucks on a new seat. Looks great, hopefully it will hold

I wonder if you sanded the whole seat and spray paint jd yellow? Great fix sure beats a wet ass .

Thanks for the illustration on fixing the seat,great video and walking through the fix!

Thank You !! I need to do this on my Husqvarna Seat. Gotta find some gray !! Better than shelling out $80 on a new seat that will do the same thing in a couple years !! Thanks again !!

I wonder if using a heatgun afterward would smoothe out the bumps?

Appreciate the advice regarding the sanding. Didn't even think about doing that when I did mine last sept. and left two of the riders out exposed to the Michigan winter to see how performs since I recall watching a video a few years ago where someone repaired their JD seat and noted they just left theirs outside and held up good. Works even for hose repair where I used to repair the crankcase breather hose end that goes into the air intake on the 18.5HP 31HXXX engine that I originally first repaired using type 1 silicone though that didn't hold up well to the gasoline. Plastidip seems to do well exposed to gasoline or at least the fumes also. I'll try to make a video, since forgot, when I do the next repair and/or custom coating since have a can of the blue to make a Ford Blue seat from one of the seats. Last left off wanting to make a mold and wondering what resist works best to release from the mold, so to be able to make a raised Ford lettering on the back... though now thinking I can print the logo in vinyl and just Plastidip over since invested in a Cricut a few days back. Did post on FB however: facebook.com/james.analytic/posts/4247637905297979 facebook.com/james.analytic/posts/4325255164202919 Thanks for sharing!

Your a life saver. My seat has several cracks and they poke me when I sit down, This fix will work for what i need. I just purchased a new Compact JD Tractor and i may have to do this repair on it too. Thanks for the info👍

Plastidip sells a "Create your own color kit" that you could use to create a color that closely matches the original yellow color.

You have just saved thousand of people money they would have normally spent on expensive seat replacement from John Deere. I love my Deere but boy is everything expensive when replacing seats and such. Thank you for sharing, Great video.

Decent repair if you get it early! The tractor supply seats are vinyl impregnated fabric and don't crack like the OEM ones. If you want, most of your autobody supply places will mix vinyl spray paint in a spray can. prep it and spray it.

Get some white paint and mix until you find the match! How long does the plastic dip hold up under normal seat use?

I don't even have a lawn mower but these restoration videos are pretty interesting and satisfying 👍

Good video, well thought out and demonstrated

I usually just buy a boat seat they have marine grade vinyl there softer, more padding and if you get the ones with the are rests they are really comfortable and only around $30.

I fixed mine with a waterbed patch kit, while it was curing I sprayed John deer yellow on it and it is nice

What if you did a light spray with JD yellow paint? A light coat should stay flexible. I accidentally got a bit on my tractor seat while touching up the deck and I can't get the paint to come off, it just looks like a clean spot on the seat.

Thanks for the info. I will have to repair my seat this way.

I'm wondering if you could get the JD to shine some more??? She's looking real good!!! Nice repair.

For a 2002 model that thing is still looking quite nice! Well other than the fact that it is one of those green things. I mean we all know that orange tractors are where it's at, but we can overlook the green part considering it's been so well maintained. You can tell that you are a man that likes to actually take care of and maintain your equipment properly. So many people nowadays consider everything, even multi thousand dollar tractors, to be short term disposable items. Yeah sure it's nice to get the newest fanciest thing every once in a while I guess. However I personally get a lot of pride and satisfaction from properly maintaining my various equipment and watching it continue to look and work great for the long run. It feels especially good when your 20 year old tractor looks and performs better than your neighbor or whoever's 2 year old tractor, lol! Awesome job good sir and um... Orange Tractor Pride!!! 🚜😁

Great info. I am going to try a piece of window screen instead of buying a roll of drywall mesh.

Back in 1989 the seat on my Ransomes Bob-Cat T18B mower was shot. I contacted the dealer and that new seat from Ransomes was 1100 bucks. I could not believe it! I decided to get the cushions recovered and while tearing it apart I found out who made their seats and it was a company at the time called Michigan Seat Co. It has now been bought out. So I decided to give them a call and see if I could buy the cushions since there was nothing wrong with the seat structure. The guy at the other end of the phone almost died when I told him how much the dealer wanted for the seat. He said "I probably should not tell you this but we sell them those seats for 67 dollars".

Nice job. Very cost effective.

Thanks!

Could you put a little bit of white in the plastidip to make it match the seat?

Your video gave me a brilliant idea. It turns out that flex seal comes in colors. Just ordered it in yellow and in black directly off of their website. I have both a cracked yellow seat and a cracked black seat. I'm going to follow your clever procedure. I'll let you know how it goes. I think that it will be more durable than the plastic dip. Plastic dip makes a yellow in a spray can that looks like JD yellow. You could spray it into the top of the can and brush it on. Also, how about applying it to the cracks with a syringe with a large bore needle or an industrial syringe? Just throwing out ideas...

Add a little WHITE plasri-Dip to town it down to match.. Or get a John Deere yellow spray paint and paint the area.

The mesh is ingenious! Thanks for sharing!

This is more of a question, would it work if you were to spray JD yellow over the repair? Spray paint may not stick great but it might help. Or while the last coat of plastic is still wet spray the yellow and blend it with the brush? I'm just a plethora of questionable ideas.

I have seen people also use silicone and keep shaping it. Then you probably could use the john Deere yellow spray paint. I have seen this done on leather car seats they use a plastic putty knife and layer it and use a leather / vinyl approved paint.

Wow man! Thanks! This is really easy

Thank you!!, I have same problem with my John Deere chair m definitely going to do same...

Thanks Great repair.

Thanks, brother! Just picked up a 2017 L100 with a severely cracked seat - my boss needs it for his elderly mother. This will keep it within budget 🤑

Looks great and well maintained.

I have a 2017 yt235 yanmar tractor, got on the other day and what the heck? Crack on the right side right on the elbow. I will try this repair, nice job explaining.

Thats a great tip! Thank you. I wonder though, usually by the time the seat starts cracking, the whole thing is brittle. I could see it just cracking somewhere else.

I have used the black electrical tape liquid tape I should say it works really good for different things Great idea thank you. Good video sir.👍😀😁😎

Excellent Idea, appreciate the content!

you might try adding some white pigment to the plastidip to lighten the color up a bit

Thanks for the video. I've been looking for ways to save seats. I fix and flip mowers and a good seat is getting harder to come by. That JD is in awesome shape. I sold one last year I thought was nice , yours looks new

Awesome job on your video sir. My seat is cracked worse than yours at 100 hrs. I certainly will try your repair and thank you so very much for taking the time to make this video 👍😎

This dude is so likeable, love the name 😆

i usually use that clear gorilla tape to cover cracked vinyl seats. it lasts for a few years. i may try this next time.

Good stuff. I might try this!

I was wondering if you couldn't use a vinyl spray paint to spray the entire seat after the repair was done. That way you would then have a uniform colour and the repairs less noticeable.

Color is close enough. I like your technique. I will use it. Can always use plastic paint.

Any follow-up on how the repair has held-up? Great video--thanks!