PLC help for cnc retrofit

I have an old Mori Seiki SL-BB that had a brain aneurysm ultimately resulting in controller death. I am in the process of retrofitting a new PC based control to the machine. I need a secondary controller to operate components such as tool changer and hydraulic systems, was planning to use a plc for this application. The problem i have encountered is my own lack of understanding when it comes to basic electronics/automation systems. I bought an AB micrologix 1400 off ebay and later found that i would need to spend $2000+ for the software to program such device (not in this lifetime). I am hopelessly retarded when it comes this type of work. If i may, i would like to draw upon your (the viewer's) experience to locate the proper equipment for this job. I need something easy enough for a rhesus monkey to program (preferably something that can be programmed with open source software or at the controller via a softkey pad). I need approximately 35 inputs with 10-14 outputs. Price is also a factor. Would like something in the $100-300 range (used is fine, im dirt poor).
Thank you for your time

Yep. Another CNC "retrofit" for $0.

Linux CNC is bundled with classic ladder or something like that. It's basically ladder logic and can handle any PLC functions you need.

Automationdirect.com . . . Perfect for what you need if you want cheap, easy and good support.

Automation Direct sells cheap "Click" PLC. Made by Koyo. Free programming software and cheap hardware. Work fine. I've used 20 or 30 over the last 8 years and never had a failure.

Not sure how complex of a plc you need, but I have used Siemens Logo Logic modules with success. A development kit was like $300, which included software, programming cable, and documentation. unfortunately I think the logo logic stuff may be all but obsolete now, but modules can be found for around $100.

Automation direct gets my vote too. They were a supplier at a previous shop I worked, nothing but good things to say about them. Just do yourself a favor and stay as far away as you can from anything with the AB logo on it.

Don't know about the Micrologix 1400, but if you were able to "downgrade" to a micrologix 1000 or 1100 PLC AB would let you use a free version of RSLogix.

Some googling shows that another user on this forum has done a retrofit on an SL-BB, look at post #3 here: http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/cnc-machining/mori-seiki-sl-1-retrofit-202663/

What hardware interface are you planning on using with your "PC based interface"? And what software is going to run that interface? Because it seems like a Mesa FPGA and a couple of 7137TA boards would be more than enough I/O for your application. LinuxCNC's "classic ladder" is free, but good luck controlling an FPGA based ladder if you were planning on using Mach.

No personal experience with that machine but if the main controller died, are you sure the PLC did as well? If it was a Fanuc (which I have a little experience with) it should have had a separate PLC which was likely made by Mitsubishi, Hitachi, GE or some other third party, but you'll still need sufficient IO to communicate between your new controller and old PLC.