Security & Theft Cost-effective Rollover Protective Structure (CROPS) for Massey Ferguson 135

[klancf51]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has placed the following document in the public domain: Cost-effective Rollover Protective Structure (CROPS) for Massey Ferguson 135. This document provides plans for constructing a DIY ROPS for a MF 135. It can be freely copied and distributed. For your information.


UPDATE 24-Jan-2013: Some further searching revealed the complete document set for the CROPS designs. This project appears to have been a legitimate engineering effort with complete technical drawings, installation instructions and testing covering several older but popular tractor models which are still in service, but for which ROPS are not available. See: The CDC NIOSH CROPS Web Page/ for details. Very well done, in my opinion.

[flusher]

Thanks for the heads up.
And welcome to TBN--join the fun

[murphy1244]

Are you trying to find one?

[oldtractors]

I can't believe Agco will let the document be on the web for long. The CROPS may be better than nothing, but I wouldn't bet my life on it. Problems: The bolt together ROPS looks like it could fold up with a side load, collapsing sideways in a rollover. Massey/Ford axle housings aren't made for the stresses of trying to support the tractor in that way, so they will likely break off during an accident. The seat support isn't made to keep a 250 lb man attached to it during a rollover. Result is the person is still severely injured or killed and who is the family going to sue? Probably not the CDC, but instead Agco for allowing the CDC to publish this document and letting their customers believe that they are safe from a rolloever.

[MasseyWV]

I can't believe Agco will let the document be on the web for long. The CROPS may be better than nothing, but I wouldn't bet my life on it. Problems: The bolt together ROPS looks like it could fold up with a side load, collapsing sideways in a rollover. Massey/Ford axle housings aren't made for the stresses of trying to support the tractor in that way, so they will likely break off during an accident. The seat support isn't made to keep a 250 lb man attached to it during a rollover. Result is the person is still severely injured or killed and who is the family going to sue? Probably not the CDC, but instead Agco for allowing the CDC to publish this document and letting their customers believe that they are safe from a rolloever.

I'm not a structural engineer so I can't attest to the strength of the CROPS structure itself. However, in the interest of safety, the original Massey 135 parts manual available at agcopubs.com does list a ROPS structure and seat-belts as accessories for the Massey 135 tractor, so it stands to reason that the axle housings are strong enough to support the tractor in the event of a rollover accident.

[ray66v]

I can't believe Agco will let the document be on the web for long. The CROPS may be better than nothing, but I wouldn't bet my life on it. Problems: The bolt together ROPS looks like it could fold up with a side load, collapsing sideways in a rollover. Massey/Ford axle housings aren't made for the stresses of trying to support the tractor in that way, so they will likely break off during an accident. The seat support isn't made to keep a 250 lb man attached to it during a rollover. Result is the person is still severely injured or killed and who is the family going to sue? Probably not the CDC, but instead Agco for allowing the CDC to publish this document and letting their customers believe that they are safe from a rolloever.

What is it you expect Agco to do to the federal government? If they suggest that their customers don't use this, (which is all they really can do), and I was an attorney, I would use that against them, saying my client followed their advice and was injured.

Do you believe that it's in Agco's best interest to start an expensive legal battle to attempt to stop the federal government from doing this? There is a good chance Agco is lobbying the same government to do something as to relieve them of the liability they have every time someone is injured on one of these antiques.

This ROPS is ugly, and looks cheesy to me too, but the spec's for the fasteners does suggest that this device was professionally engineered. How do you know it was not tested?

[murphy1244]

They have one at a tractor junk yard in Ohio, www.tmsstrollertractor.com in sterling Oh

[kco]

I can't believe Agco will let the document be on the web for long. The CROPS may be better than nothing, but I wouldn't bet my life on it. Problems: The bolt together ROPS looks like it could fold up with a side load, collapsing sideways in a rollover. Massey/Ford axle housings aren't made for the stresses of trying to support the tractor in that way, so they will likely break off during an accident. The seat support isn't made to keep a 250 lb man attached to it during a rollover. Result is the person is still severely injured or killed and who is the family going to sue? Probably not the CDC, but instead Agco for allowing the CDC to publish this document and letting their customers believe that they are safe from a rolloever.

Why would they sue anyone? The person should not roll it in the first place. It amazes me how our society has changed to looking to blame others rather than take responsibility for their own actions. It's too bad courts could not just use common sense and immediately dismiss such a lawsuit.

[Jerry/MT]

I don't see any dimensional data of the structural steel elements (size, wall thickness, etc) for this ROPS so i don't think it is that usefull. Did I miss something?

[klancf51]

I don't see any dimensional data of the structural steel elements (size, wall thickness, etc) for this ROPS so i don't think it is that usefull. Did I miss something?

A little further searching revealed the complete document set for the CROPS designs. This project appears to have been a legitimate engineering effort with complete technical drawings, installation instructions and testing covering several older but popular tractor models which are still in service, but for which ROPS are not available. See: The CDC NIOSH CROPS Web Page. Working on their own, most individuals could not design a ROPS of this quality for these older tractor using commonly available materials. This is very well done in my opinion.