I seen youtube vids of ppl fixing mower and tractor seats with the "Flex Seal" type spray rubber in a can. I figured what the hell..ill try too. I Was able to restretch the vinyl and attach the molding strip around the edge of the molded seatback and pop riveted it in place. Bottom vinyl was more brittle and wouldnt stretch...so i duct taped a "extension" half way up the seat to the bottom molding lip and sprayed the whole seat with black rubber sealer. I sprayed the duct tape multiple times to keep it from peeling up. Any cracks i filled in with foam and it got sprayed too(multiple times). Then i duct taped the whole bottom cushion and resprayed a few more coats of this flex seal stuff to seal the duct tape. After that all dried i reattached the bottom molding strip with pop rivets as i did the seat back. Then for ***** and giggles i added a black vinyl headrest from a late model chevy truck to the seatback to bling it up. A brand new exact replacement seat is $1400...just the cushions would had been $450. Who knows how how it will hold up...after running the dozer for a couple of hours or so nothing has peeled up yet...so far so good. Pics are before and after
I'd think you could get an equipment/mower/tractor seat new for $100 or so. Then you just need to play with the mounting and bypass any safety switches.
Another option we often used was to just take the seat to an upholstery shop and have new covers made. Might even get a bit of a break in the price if you tell them the colors or patterns don't have to match so they can use some left over pieces from other jobs. Now you might get complaints from the operator if they come back pink and flowery!
I have a buddy of mine that has flex-sealed everything he owns. LOL
Should work let us know how it holds up after a while
ill keep yall updated. This is just a temp fix. I was going to buy one of these in pic below for $289.99 off amazon to replace it. But wound up buying new cutting edges and end bits for my blade instead. Who knows maybe this will work for a few months and those amazon seats may go down more yet.