Skid Steer Side Windows Install: Finish Your Cab Enclosure

Side Window Panels are the $399 accessory that closes the side openings on your skid steer cab. Pair them with our polycarbonate door and the cab goes from open frame to full enclosure: warmer in winter, cleaner in summer, quieter all year. The install itself is a straightforward job you can handle with basic hand tools. Because side openings differ by make and model, call us first and we will confirm your exact configuration before you order. Here is how the whole job goes.

What side window panels are

Look at your cab from the seat. The door covers the front. On most machines, the sides above the lift arms have openings, and from the factory plenty of loaders run with nothing in them at all.

That is fine in July. It is miserable in January, and the rest of the year it is an open path for dust, wood chips, and wind.

Our Side Window Panels are the accessory that closes those openings. They sit in the same lineup as our electric wiper kits, cab heaters, and LED light bars, and they exist for one reason: to finish the enclosure your door starts.

The store lists them as one product at $399. A Bobcat cab and an older Case cab do not share the same side openings, so call before you order and we will confirm what your machine needs. We cover that fit question in detail in what comes in the box.

How the panels and the door work together

The door is the main event. Ours is the Original Shatterproof Polycarbonate Lexan Door, first to market, CNC-cut and precision fit to your machine with no guesswork. It puts protection between you and the job that tempered glass cannot match.

But a door alone does not enclose a cab. Heat from a cab heater leaks straight out of open sides. Dust drifts in from whichever way the wind blows. Close the sides and the enclosure finally works as one unit: the cab holds temperature, the air stays breathable, and the machine gets the immediate resale value lift a finished enclosure brings.

Here is what closing the sides changes, job by job:

That last row is the honest one. If your machine only moves dirt on nice days, the door alone may be all you need. Operators who work snow, brush, and dust are the ones who add panels and do not go back.

Before you install: a five-minute checklist

A smooth install starts before the box arrives. Run through this list:

• Confirm your configuration by phone. Call or text (800) 781-8000 with your make and model. Side openings vary, left and right are not always twins, and one minute on the phone beats a wrong guess.
• Read the data plate, not your memory. The plate on the frame settles the model question, especially on older machines with the decals worn off.
• Unbox and lay everything out. Match each panel and its hardware to its opening before you pick up a tool. If something does not look right for your cab, stop and call before you start wrenching.
• Gather basic hand tools. This is not a cutting torch job. Common wrenches and drivers cover it.
• Pick a clean, dry spot and grab a helper if you have one. A second set of hands holding a panel in place makes the fitting step easier.

Skid steer side windows install: the general steps

Every cab is a little different, so treat this as the shape of the job rather than a spec sheet for your exact machine. When you confirm your fit by phone, we will flag anything specific to your loader.

1. Match each panel to its opening. Hold each panel up to its side of the cab and confirm the shape agrees with the opening. Left and right can differ, so do not assume they swap.
2. Clean the mounting surfaces. Wash the cab frame around the openings and let it dry. Clean metal seats hardware better than caked mud does.
3. Test fit before you fasten. Set each panel in place and check the fit all the way around before anything gets tightened. This is where a helper earns his coffee.
4. Fasten snug, not gorilla-tight. Bring the fasteners down evenly and stop at snug. Cranking one corner down hard before the others are started is how parts end up stressed and crooked.
5. Check the whole cab. Open and close the door, look at your sight lines, and confirm nothing interferes with the lift arms through their travel. Recheck the fasteners after your first day of work, the same as you would on any new attachment.

Two cautions worth repeating. First, never dry-wipe a clear surface on your machine. Dragging dry grit across polycarbonate is what causes fine scratches, so clean wet, always. Second, some machines have door switches and magnets tied into the machine’s safety systems. Do not rig or bypass anything. If your setup involves an interlock, call us at (800) 781-8000 and we’ll walk you through your machine’s setup.

Doing the whole cab? Install in this order

If you are starting from an open cab, sequence the project like this.

Door first. The door is the piece that stands between you and whatever the job throws at the cab, so it goes on before anything else. The panel is CNC-cut for the exact model, but some kits bolt straight on while others require drilling and bolting. Follow the printed instructions in the box; our guide on how to install a skid steer door explains the general process. The Bobcat M Series door, for example, runs $1,695.

Side window panels second. With the door hung and swinging right, close in the sides. Now the enclosure is complete.

Accessories last. A cab heater at $119 finally has a sealed cab to heat, and an electric wiper kit keeps the front clear in the weather you just sealed yourself away from. If you are wondering how the windows themselves behave on your machine, our sliding windows guide has the straight answer.

Order it all in one call and every fit gets confirmed at once. Installation timing depends on the exact door model, the required mounting steps, and the panel configuration.

Mistakes that cost people money

We hear the same handful of stories on the phone. Skip these and your install goes clean.

Guessing at fit instead of calling. The panels are listed at $399, but side openings differ from machine to machine, and the only way to know exactly what your loader needs is to ask. Sixty seconds on the phone, done.

Forcing a panel that does not want to line up. Our parts are cut to fit. If something is fighting you, the answer is a phone call, not a bigger pry bar. Stop and call (800) 781-8000 before anything gets bent.

Dry-wiping the door or panels on a dusty day. Wet clean only. Grit under a dry rag scratches any clear surface.

Skipping the recheck. Machines vibrate. After the first real day of work, put a wrench on the fasteners and confirm everything is still snug. It takes five minutes.

Price, shipping, and warranty, straight

Side Window Panels are $399. Our doors run $1,395 to $1,795 depending on make and model, and we build for twelve brands: ASV, Bobcat, CAT, Case, Gehl, John Deere, Kubota, Mustang, Manitou, New Holland, Takeuchi, and Terex. That includes older and obsolete machines nobody else builds enclosures for, like the Case 1840 and 1845C.

Door orders ship UPS 3 Day Air at a $150 flat rate, typically 3 business days (not guaranteed). We ship across the US and Canada.

Every door carries a limited lifetime warranty against door failure or breakage: one free replacement for life for the original owner, under normal conditions. Hardware carries a 3 month warranty. If you want the coverage details on an accessory before you buy, ask when you call.

A door protects you. A door with closed sides protects you, holds its heat, keeps the dust out, and makes the whole machine worth more the day you sell it. For $399 and an afternoon with basic hand tools, the panels are a small price for a cab that finally feels finished.

Find your door in 30 seconds. Pick your machine’s make and model and see the exact door built for it: [Find Your Door]. Questions? Call or text (800) 781-8000, Mon–Fri 7am–4pm CST.