skid steer glass door

[sully]

I was shearing trees today when somehow i broke my front window/door on a cat skid steer.  Just curious if any of you have done this and is there another option to factory glass.  Machine is a cat 262c.  thanks of your time.  Sully

[coxy]

cant help ya there   but I will never run another skidsteer with a door  it quit and the boom would not go down smelt wires burning  ended up kicking back window out  the starter was stuck  that's what was burning  that was not fun thinking I was going to burn up  never ever will I have one with a door

[redprospector]

If your Cat has a flat door then you can use Lexan, which is not a bad thing in the woods anyway. You would have to decide what thickness you want, by what level of protection you want.
If you get Lexan make sure you get MR10, or Margard. It is abrasion resistant and will resist scratches real well. Another brand is Makralon ar, the ar is for...you guessed it...abrasion resistant.
I just ordered a piece big enough to replace the door, and roof window in my Fecon (1/2" thick). It was right at $300 shipped off of Ebay, I priced it at a little over $500 without shipping from other places.
You can get it in 1/8", 3/16", 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" sheets. If it were me, I wouldn't use less than 1/4", if for nothing more than the rigidity.
It's kinda pricey, but it is "bullet proof glass" so you probably won't be breaking your door anymore.

[jcbrotz]

Make a pattern and take it to a glass supply shop, I get mine in 3 packs , about 45 each from the place I get mine some want closer to 100 no clue on cat I didn't even bother to ask.

[barbender]

If you are shearing (felling) with your skid steer, you would be wise to make a steel mesh reinforced door that could stop the butt off a log from coming through to sit in the cab with you

[Offthebeatenpath]

Like Redprospector, I've replaced my glass with Lexan.  Barbender is right though, steel mesh would be better for protection. The Worker's Comp guy for my logging insurance visited my site and told me I needed to replace all glass with Lexan if I wanted to stay insured.  Further, it was highly recommended that a steel mesh be retrofitted over the door.  I know there's a company in NH that specializes in doing just that for equipment that is being used for forestry.

Coxy brings up a good point.  If you retrofit (and one of the main reasons why I haven't wanted to put steel mesh on the front and back windows), is that it could compromise the way the emergency release works for the windows.  Both the front and back window should be able to be removed quickly by pulling a tab that yanks out the gasket around the window.  I'm not sure about all skid steer models, but I thought that was a mandatory safety feature.

[reustacio]

Check with your CAT Dealer...they do make a thick glass/unbreakable glass window...I went through 3 windows while mulching before they mentioned that they have it. :'(..lucky no one got hurt during those incidents. 

[gump]

Just replaced one in a 257B.. Cat price was over $400Cnd. for the three separate pieces!! Not installed. I went to my glass shop who had the template for the 3 pieces and got it complete with installation for $270cnd.  I went with glass because I found that Plexiglas which I believe was Lexan that was in it, scratched so bad and we were unable to see through properly. I inquired about getting it buffed out with no luck, therefore went back to glass.

[RTSmith]

I think all of the new Cats my dealer's lot have the polycarbonite (sp?) door. I know my disc mulcher has thrown some big shirt at it really hard and it bounced off, thankfully. But on my D series they are a bubble type shape so regular glass shop material wouldn't work very easily. I also tend to think the bubble shape gives it strength.  

[AlyxaKay]

The form of the door or windshield does make the polycarbonate / Lexan door stronger. If you don't go through dealers for stronger doors and windshields you can try 3rd party providers like SHIELDS. They have a coating stronger than MR10 or Margard.