RTV 900 seats recovered

Well, my 2004 RTV 900 seats finally need recovered or replaced. The vinyl has cracked in several places and the sharp edges almost cut my butt through my jeans.

It appears that the vinyl is glued on to the foam from the factory. If I just put seat covers on, the sharp edges will just cut through the fabric.

I checked with my dealer and they want $230 + tax just for a new bottom seat.

A local upholsterer wants $253 to recover the bottom and back cushions in camo, of course the vinyl would have to be peeled off the foam, which makes the job a little more tedious.

Any ideas???


Wow, I just looked at my joined date, 1970. Looks like I joined before the forum was established....hehehe..

Now my join date is Dec 1969. I guess I joined when I was 10 years old???

Tact said:

Now my join date is Dec 1969. I guess I joined when I was 10 years old???

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We're fixing that soon Tact.

Tact said:

Now my join date is Dec 1969. I guess I joined when I was 10 years old???

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Good eye Tact. I fixed your account. some that came over from The Compact Tractor Review site had their join date set to Dec 1969, I fix em as you all post. Yours is all fixed now.

Buy a set of covers on eBay, replace the factory foam and you'll be good to go. You might want to replace the plywood backing on the backrest while you're at it. I'll try to post a photo of mine.

OhioTC18 said:

We're fixing that soon Tact.

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Doc said:

Good eye Tact. I fixed your account. some that came over from The Compact Tractor Review site had their join date set to Dec 1969, I fix em as you all post. Yours is all fixed now.

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Thanks for the fix guys.

hmgary said:

Buy a set of covers on eBay, replace the factory foam and you'll be good to go. You might want to replace the plywood backing on the backrest while you're at it. I'll try to post a photo of mine.

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I assume you have to go directly to a Kubota dealer to get the foam since it is formed? I like the way the seat is contoured to your butt......:lol

I'm afraid you'll have to give up the formed seat. But think of the challenge of training the new foam to fit your butt. It really doesn't take much time to adjust to the new foam. You actually only need to slice off the top couple of inches of your old foam and add a layer of new foam to your existing seat before you put the new covers on.

The new seats have a plastic bottom. The older ones had a plywood bottom. Any of you that have the plywood bottoms, keep an eye on them, we have a few that the plywood rotted on them due to moisture being trapped between the wood and the rubber guard over the radiator. If you notice the moisture you may want to raise your seat and let it dry.

I recovered mine several months ago with one of these ;

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Kubota-rtv-900-utv-seat-cover-back-cover-2006-up-/290538648592?pt=Motors_ATV_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43a573f410

This was a little work, but the results were excellent. What I did, was cut new plywood for the seat and back, installed NEW nuts in the wood ( Lowes ) and recovered. Because the stock seat is molded over the edge of the stock wood, I cut the vinyl right at the edge of the wood leaving the rest of the vinyl and foam bonded together. Took the new vinyl cover, wrapped OVER the stock vinyl seat / foam once cleaned up around the edges, and hand stapled it all around the edges, pulling it tight as I did it. Looks like factory, or better. I also re-wrapped the back piece with new plastic to prevent internal mold, and also put plastic under the new vinyl, again to prevent mold.

Although I did mine in the orange / black color, there are others available, including camo. Also just yesterday, I got this dennier fabric cover in from here :

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400163393470&fromMakeTrack=true

and installed this over wrap camo cover on the seat bottom and back. Looks great, and I am very happy with that solution for hunting season. Other mods under way ( the wife says "why you doing all that ? " ) and I just say cause I'm keeping myself busy.

Here's a pic before I put the camp wrap cover on last night. Second pic is my sense of humor going astray. Also notice I repainted all my grey fadded out plastic last summer, and is now a even black color which is holding up well. Simple, simple, got some plastic primer and paint from the hardware store.

I think many of the seats were ruined BEFORE you got your machine. Mine rotted out within 6 months and were replaced by the dealer after much bitching on my part. I noticed that many dealers here in CA store the crated RTVs outside in the sun for long periods of time. The ones on the top usually have the plastic covering torn away and roast in the sun. I do think the custom covers are the way to go.

Instead of going the reupholstering route, I may try the seat cover route. The main concern I have are the sharp edges in the vinyl and where the foam is somewhat torn or split in those areas.

I think I would have to leave the vinyl on, otherwise the covers would not protect the foam if the vinyl was removed.

I guess I could trim the sharp edges away and duct tape the tears in the foam before applying the covers? It's at least a cheaper route as opposed to reupholstering, but is the vinyl going to continue deteriorating underneath the covers?

Pinacle.....THANKS so MUCH for the information......I really dont do ebay so found the company's websight:

http://www.hccamo.com/

So..........You just got the proper cover from these guys and then put it over the existing vinyl and foam? Did you have quite a bit of overlap to grab onto and staple? My plywood is in good shape as when I have washed it or whatever I have always left the seat up for it to airdry...........Anyway........Using this outfit's product is pretty brainless????.......Put it over the old and staple??????..........Thanks for the information as I was just getting ready to have to ask about this as my 05's seat has developed a crack on the corner over the winter..........

God bless.....Dennis

Dennis, great day here in N. GA. hope your enjoying it ! It is really that easy. What I did was pull the old staples on the bottom, and took a razor knife and slit the old cover along the back edge of the wood seat base. The foam looks to be injection molded, so why they can get the humps and dips in this seat. Once you do that, you have the seat top, with foam adhered to it. I simply sat it on top of my new wood base ( or your existing one ) and stapled one side nice and straight being sure to line up to leave enough pull over on the other long side. I was sure to pull it nice and tight for a good end result. When doing the corners, I wrapped them in small folds and then stapled as I went. Took a little time, but very doable, and you end up with a new seat at a fraction of the cost otherwise.

The camo fabric cover protects my new vinyl seat when out in the woods and takes about 10 mins to put on. Bonus is, you can wash it, put back on, or replace it down the road.

Other things I've been working on ; custom high rise filter intake for cheap, just did that last weekend. Doing some vinyl body wrap, wheels / tires, rear mirror, new mud flaps, lexan windshield, gun rack for hunting season, steel Stick Stoppers coming from Peanut, and so on. Fun, fun ! Will post pics as she comes along.

Thanks for the tips. Here is what I chose to do. It looks pretty ugly now, but it's my best solution for the time being.

Since my corners were split pretty badly, I duct taped the corners and other split areas, pulling the vinyl tightly to make a smooth edge. I applied the duct tape in several different directions at each tear, trying to make sure the duct tape didn't pull apart when you sit down and those areas stretch. Looks like damnit, but it's temporary until my covers arrive.

I ordered these covers:

http://greenemountain.net/-strse-85/Kubota-RTV900-camo-bench/Detail.bok

They are a denier cloth material. I was afraid to go back with a vinyl cover because it would eventually tear again.

Hey Pinnacle, I noticed the pic in your eBay link is the same as mine. I paid a few more $$$ for mine, but I elected to buy straight from the dealer since they stated I could return them for a refund if I wasn't pleased.

Let me know what you think of the covers when you get them on. Also if you could add some pics?

Hey Tact, here are a few pics from this evening. You can see how it attaches on the back side with velco straps on both the seat back ( loosen when you fit it ) and the seat base, covering all sides. All in all, a good tight fit. Also, all in Mossy Oak Break Up

Thanks for the pics Pinnacle.

I received my seat covers last week and got them installed. When I put the bottom seat cover on, the straps were about 6-8 inches too long and the velcro would not attach to itself, so I had to staple the cover all the way around to the plywood. PITA but it fits tight and looks good.

Hopefully the seats will not need cleaning for a long time because I put over 100 staples to hold it down tightly.

The back cushion cover fit tightly and the straps were correct.

I called the company to tell them about the strap problems and they stated that they must have put the straps for the RTV500 on my covers by mistake. They offered to swap the covers, but I didn't want to wait another week or two for another set to be made and then shipped.

Hey Tact, that is a bummer for sure. It would've been better if you could've kept the removable feature, but at least you found a solution you could work with. I think they should still correct it for you if they wanted to do the right thing, and send you another with the correct straps and let you keep the one they screwed up !

Pinnacle said:

Hey Tact, that is a bummer for sure. It would've been better if you could've kept the removable feature, but at least you found a solution you could work with. I think they should still correct it for you if they wanted to do the right thing, and send you another with the correct straps and let you keep the one they screwed up !

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They said the best they would do is make me another seat bottom cover for $20, or I could send these back for a free exchange.