Air Ride Seat on a Kubota BX Failure

Neil from Messick's shares a behind-the-scenes look at a failed product development attempt: creating an air ride seat for the Kubota BX series tractor. After success with previous BX upgrades like sway bars and brush guards, Neil aimed to improve ride comfort by adapting an air suspension seat. He tried using an aftermarket air ride undercarriage from ANI, typically used on larger tractors, while keeping most of the BX’s existing seat components.

However, the added height from the air system caused significant ergonomic issues—raising the operator too far off the floor, making it difficult to reach pedals and controls. Despite attempting to compensate with a taller steering wheel from a BX23, the seat was still impractically tall for average users. Ultimately, Neil concludes the concept doesn’t work for the BX platform due to space limitations and comfort trade-offs. He plans to list the prototype parts on eBay and jokes it may only suit someone exceptionally tall. Messick’s will continue exploring new product ideas to enhance customer equipment.