As for old-timers and common sense, two things come to mind. First, a lot of ole timers didn't make it past 12, or whatever, because of tractor accidents. Those ole timers also should have had the common sense to invent ROPS and seatbelts. Second, small tractor sales are probably mostly composed of buyers like me who were not familiar with all the nuances of tractor operation. We either learn from the manual, learn from places like TBN or learn the hard way.
Knowing what I know now, I would not purchase a tractor without a ROPS, seatbelt and driver presence switch in the seat. I'm not saying every savvy, common sense ole timey farmer has to want or need all the stuff. But I do. Maybe I don't have a lot of common sense, but they've kept me out of trouble a couple of times. Folks tend to let common sense slide sometimes when they're real tired or in dicey situations.
But yes, if the ROPS is down or off, you don't wear the seatbelt because your only hope in a rollover is jumping clear. I keep the seatbelt on and ROPS up because half the time I have trouble getting off the machine even when its parked and on a level surface. No one ever accused me of being graceful or coordinated.
