[Dirty Harry]

It's always a good idea to have water or other refreshment with you to keep you properly hydrated when you're out working on your tractor. I've got a neoprene sleeve with a carry strap that holds 1 liter bottles, but there's really nowhere to keep it where it's not bouncing all over or getting caught or interfering with climbing on & off, etc., etc.

I've seen some nifty cup holders (bolt on, suction cup, magnetic, etc.) but $30+ is just stupid... especially for a cheapskate like me. LOL.

So I got to thinking about DIY alternatives and came up with this:

Made from a 8" length of schedule 40 PVC pipe and a pipe cap for it. And it isn't just sitting there. It's rigidly mounted; bolted directly to the fender.

I started by relocating the seat belt mount from the fender up onto the ROPS. This gave me 1 dedicated, threaded mounting hole.

There's another 'extra' hole (on each fender) that have rubber plugs in them. For what? I dunno, but I popped out the plug... and now I have 2 holes to mount my cup holder base.

Drilled corresponding holes in the cup holder base and shot both pieces with leftover bedliner spray paint. (I was gonna use either JD green or yellow, but they just want too much, and I wasn't certain it would stick properly to PVC.)

Luckily, I found all the hardware needed to attach the base in my odds 'n' ends bolt/nut/washer cubbies.

The big sleeve just slides down into the cap. (It was already a somewhat snug fit, but the coats of paint on both pieces made it doubly so, and as such I didn't see any need to glue the pipe to the cap with PVC adhesive.) If, for some reason, I have to disassemble or otherwise detail clean it in the future, it'll allow me to take the unit apart.

It doesn't stick out past the fender or interfere with the seat arm, hooking up the seat belt or - most importantly - when using the FEL joystick. It readily holds a 1-liter bottle in a insulated neoprene sleeve, and is very sturdy. Only thing left to do is buy a '99-era JD deer logo and affix it to the side, for a clean OEM look.😎

 

[Herminator]

(I was gonna use either JD green or yellow, but they just want too much, and I wasn't certain it would stick properly to PVC.)

for future info it will stick, well I did a very quick rough up of it and used JD primer of course a cheap skate isnt going to buy JD primer though.

 

[Mackford13]

Nice idea. I like it. 👍

 

[kellylogan]

Do the bolt heads bother the bottom of bottle/can

 

[Dirty Harry]

Nope. Bottom is concave - and most bottles & drink holders are flat- ish. For extra peace of mind you could use rounded pan head/allen bolts... or stuff a 1\2" - 1" thick piece of foam, trimmed to fit, as a cushion.

 

[Kbar]

What diameter is that pipe?

 

[Dirty Harry]

What diameter is that pipe?

4" across from inside edge to inside edge. You could go up to 5" and that way most anything short of a 2 liter would fit. I just threw mine together using scrap materials that were already on hand. But as I said, a 4" pipe section will comfortably fit a 1-liter bottle tucked inside an insulated drink sleeve. If you're unsure just bring your usual sized beverage container into your local hardware store and see which pipe size fits it best. Just make sure you cut the pipe so that it's at least 2/3 the height of the container you'll carry... or else your bottle could bounce out if you hit a rough patch of road/field.

I used to drink Wally World fizzy waters but with a huge backlog of returning bottles thanks to COVID we stopped buying them. Besides, carrying anything carbonated isn't a great idea on a bouncy tractor - unless you'd rather wear your favorite beverage than drink it. LOL. Nowadays I just fill an empty 1-liter with ice cold water, with a squeeze of lemon juice - for a touch of flavor.

 

[lugnut]

I have 4 of the pvc drink holders on my 12 ft. fishing boat ,,,used 3 inch pvc . Fishing with the grand kids it is soda pop holders.

 

[RalphVa]

I just used one of the Frontier document holder lids. Attached it to the top of the FEL tower where there is a hole there already. Great place for a drink holder.

 

[Seasled]

This works;

 

[Mackford13]

This works;
View attachment 786486

Even comes with my brand. 😆 😜