Another reason drilling in ROPS may be a no no

[woodlandfarms]

I have personally felt that drilling in rops is a no no, but would not pass judgement on to others on this subject as I have always felt it was subjective. But I have been mulling over getting a plane one day, and have been reading a website a lot, and this article was there

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Honestly, I have never considered rust being an issue. But where I live we have rain half the year. I now see that in the right circumstances the drilling may not cause ROPS to fail but the rust will.

Anyway, not passing judgement, just adding fuel to a fire.

Carl

 

[Diamondpilot]

I would say a better way of doing it in a ROPS is to drill the hole over sized and slip a sleeve in that can be welded to seal it off. Common black pipe would work fine for common bolt sizes like 1/4" to 1/2".

Chris

 

[CurlyDave]

I have never wanted to hang anything on my ROPS that couldn't be held in place by a plastic zip tie, and if I had something heavier I would use a metal worm drive hose clamp.

 

[pat32rf]

I know that my ROPS gets water in it on a regular basis, but the inside is painted, just like the outside. Welding would burn off the paint and destroy any heat treating.
I just make clamps or use existing holes....

 

[Kubota-guy1911]

I didn't even think about the rusting issue. Thanks for sharing this thought and the aircraft pictures said a lot too. I was planning on welding (few small tacks) on mine this spring but definately will not now.

kj

 

[AchingBack]

I'll be sure to not fly in my tractor. All crop dusting will be done on the ground.

Rather than using a zip tie, or a pipe clamp which would have been in the way of allowing the fire extinguisher to seat firmly in its holder, I opted to drill two holes in order to mount the holder. I have a canopy, and water penetration is not an issue.

If I had put a zip tie around the extinguisher, then I'd have one more step in order to release it in case of fire. I would have to cut throught the zip tie around the cylinder.

 

[MossRoad]

I have personally felt that drilling in rops is a no no, but would not pass judgement on to others on this subject as I have always felt it was subjective. But I have been mulling over getting a plane one day, and have been reading a website a lot, and this article was there

New Page 1

Honestly, I have never considered rust being an issue. But where I live we have rain half the year. I now see that in the right circumstances the drilling may not cause ROPS to fail but the rust will.

Anyway, not passing judgement, just adding fuel to a fire.

Carl

I really doubt your ROPS is painted inside, based on my own observations of my ROPS. As you know, I have a smaller version of your tractor. Look at how the ROPS is constructed. It is welded at all joints and the mounting plates, and the canopy is welded to the ROPS. So, there is no way it is painted inside where the welds were done.

However, the ROPS is most likely sealed at all of those joints, so no water can get inside it. I don't think there is a hole in it anywhere, that I can see. I don't think welding a hook, handle, bolt for a light mount, etc... onto it would affect it, as it would still be sealed. As long as the weld is done properly and no burn through, etc...

As for drilling it, yes, you are correct that that could open up a hole for moisture to enter. So, if you do drill it, you have to seal it somehow, and probably provide a weep hole at the lowest point, that being the spot where the pipe meets the mounting bracket on the bottom outside edge.

Just some more things to ponder. I need to run some wires up my rops, but I am thinking of tacking a small black pipe to the side ROPS on the side facing in to use as a chase for the wire instead of going up inside the ROPS.

 

[Lil43]

Well my JD 4300 (which I purchased new) came with two 3/4" holes in the ROP opposite where the lights are on the sides and two 5/16" holes in the backside of the horizontal section all of which are unsealed.So appearently the engineers at John Deere are unaware of the impending doom that awaits,and there is no paint on the inside.They dont use magic weld on the clevis,s for the folding joint either.You safey police need to drink a little less coffee. ***(flame suit on)****

 

[banjodunn]

G'day over here it is a definate and big no no to weld, drill or modify a ROPS in any fashion at all as this will alter the structual integrity of the frame from when it was maufactured, although i have seen some of the welding jobs and i'm no welder but i think i could have done a better job. However if i modify a rops and 10 - 20 even 30 years down the track that tractor falls of a cliff and the rops fails and someone gets hurt then ultimately it comes back on me even if the machine has been through several owners since. If you want to mount to a ROPS then make a nice neat bracket that bolts or clamps around the outside of the frame and weld to it


Jon

 

[Jeepnford]

This makes me ponder something. Where my tractor sees the most use is hilly with lots of trees. I've always wondered what I would look like if the tractor rolled and I caught one of these trees between self and tractor as we went over and over. So i've considered adding a front hoop and welding to existing ROPS. I would like to find a fixed ROPS though instead of using my folding one. As far as drilling,Jeep roll bars are through-drilled with a sleeve welded in for seat belts,like Diamond Pilot was talking about.