MessickFarmEqu
Super Member
Heard more information today about the new 2013 X700 series. Supposedly there is a law put in place by the US Government stating that a tractor's weight must not exceed 1345 pounds (610kg) for it not to have a ROPS. This means the JD engineers had to redesign the X700's frame to make it lighter, and replace nuts and bolts with welds in order to meet the 2014 weight requirement. That said, the X749 will no longer be offered because JD could not make that tractor light enough. In addition, due to the weight of the 7-iron deck, this mower will no longer be offered and the only option will be the new high capacity 9 gauge (yellow) mowing deck. Also, there will no longer be a loader option due to the new frame on the 2013 X700 select series tractors. The rest of changes for the 2013 models are to the the hood, decals, seat (softer material only), dash and placement of some of the controls; most of these changes are minor from what I heard.
Thats a lot of changes just to avoid the ROPS. Most any fair sized ZTR needs rops as well, they only went up $300-400 when that happened.