ROPS for D2350

   / ROPS for D2350 #1  

OWElaine

New member
Joined
Dec 12, 2004
Messages
11
Location
Newcastle, OK
Tractor
Mitsubishi D2350
My son in law's brother is an excellent welder and would build a ROPS for my D2350 tractor.
However, I'm not sure how to design it and where it should attach to the tractor.

Anybody done this before?
OW
 
   / ROPS for D2350 #2  
I haven't built or used (thankfully) a ROPS. In fact, nothing I own has one. There's an article about an well-built but incomplete system here that failed, killing the 14 year old operator.

The point isn't to discourage you, but more to point out a failure mode that may not have been considered. The home-built ROPS used the original brackets for mounting, but didn't incorporate anything on the bottom of the axle tube. The bracket broke off the axle housing, so the ROPS didn't function properly.

This guy built his own ROPS that looks pretty strong, and documents some of his revisions to let the 3 point lift have a full range of motion.

If I were to do one, I would incorporate that method of tying into the differential housing on the sides and across the back, near the PTO output. I would use that to triangulate some braces to a bar that ran from axle tube to axle tube, with plates on the bottom.

When you do it, take lots of pictures!
 
   / ROPS for D2350
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Thanks. That gives me some ideas.
 
   / ROPS for D2350 #4  
284 brings up some very valid points. Homemade ROPS can be very safe or kill you. I had seen the posting where the 14 yr. old was killed before and it is truly a shame but this is a prime example of people using correct ( or even approved) materials then not being educated or aware enough of the other factors involved in completing a safe ROPS system. My Mitsubishi is very similar to the CIH 254/255 tractors and I'm not sure if that is why it has ROPS mounts on the axle or if it was for some other reason but it is a grey market model and was not fitted with ROPS from the factory. I did however make my ROPS and use the factory tractor mounts.

The 2350 has a different rear axle than my tractor but appears to have similar mounts. I would not trust those alone however. I would utilize them, tie the ROPS into the transmission housing as well, much like JCJethro did on his tractor and probably to the fenders as well, even though they have almost no structural integrity. They are right there and the ROPS/fenders can lend support to each other. If you are considering building ROPS there is a ton of information online concerning the common reasons they fail. Educated yourself and if you decide to do it, use proper materials, attachment points and fasteners and related welding.
 

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   / ROPS for D2350 #5  
I've never built a ROPS, but have built cages, roll bars, and tube-bodied race car chassis for Baja racing and similar events. Some of them have rolled; no driver or passenger has been injured.

The critical things, in my experience, to ensure when preventing injury are basically to keep the operator within the envelope of the structural members (ie, seatbelts) and to keep the surrounding structure intact, by separating attachment points, having additional bracing, and gusseting junctions when possible.

I'm frankly surprised at the ROPS offered for protection most times on this size tractor. It has always seemed to me that they're barely going to be sufficient, if they don't collapse. That's why I would want to triangulate things as much as possible where it joins to the tractor. Or, make a 4 post style cage, which would have the added benefit of allowing a sun canopy to be attached. My reference is always to my desert race car background, though, where we build cars to crash at speeds orders of magnitude faster than a tractor can even go. A slow tip over will be less violent, obviously, than a 60 mph endo.

There multiple ways to do it, and clearly the factory style, two point ROPS are judged to be sufficient. That is definitely better than nothing. I'd just prefer more.
 
 
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