ROPE too TALL

[rjkobbeman]

Beppington's idea is certainly a good one, but knowing me I'd forget the ramps one day and back it out, tearing down my shed. I think the risks are too great that you'd have a senior moment and damage the shop one day. I personally think folding ROPS are a pain in the butt. Mine folds but I've never used it, thankfully my door is high enough. I can't imagine folding and unfolding that thing every time I put the tractor up. The same principle applies about forgetting as the ramps, sooner or later you'll forget to put the thing down when pulling into the shop. Airing down the tires isn't going to do it.

Personally, I'd take the ROPS off, take it to a decent machine shop, and have them cut the brackets on the bottom, shorten it 4" and re-weld the brackets on. Of course it depends upon how the ROPS is built as to whether or not it's practical on your tractor, on my Massey it would work no problem. Any competent machine shop would be able to do the work and have it turn out as strong or stronger than the factory unit. I know of two shops in my town of 40,000 people that I would trust to do the work and have no worries at all about it when it was done. It's your tractor, modify it if you need it to work for you. Tell the new owner if you sell it. I wouldn't let some extreme paranoia keep me from doing with my own tractor what I needed to do.

Well said.

I have a ROPS and have to fold it down to get in my garage. It gets old after a while. And I have started to back in twice, forgetting to fold it down. I have crinkled the aluminum trim around my garage door jamb. Luckily I did not loosen any of the brick.

I have been really surprised at all of the anti-weld sentiment in all of the ROPS threads. It is almost comical. A professional welder would probably scratch his head trying to figure out why some people think the ROPS is some magical, highly complex 'thing' that cannot be fabricated.

My dealer talked about a guy that needed to shorten his. The dealer recommended a welder who works on ROPS all of the time. No big mystery. No drama. Just doing what must be done. Even a competent hobby welder could do the job.

I wonder if people realize how many roll cages are fabricated for race cars in barns all over the country?

Me, I haven't shortened mine yet... but I have been thinking about it. I would not have to take too much out to suit my needs.

 

[gwjd]

to things if you slop mowing all the time and a roll over is likely go get tht folding ropes. if you land is flattish then take the whole tractor to a professional welding shop, this calls for professional work from a certified welder with the perfect welding matirals for the type of steel. and make sure 3 inches will not cause it to some how crush your head...

 

[beppington]

Beppington's idea is certainly a good one, but knowing me I'd forget the ramps one day and back it out, tearing down my shed. I think the risks are too great that you'd have a senior moment and damage the shop one day.

Bolt the ramps right to the floor?

 

[RobertN]

This has been my take on the subject too. Been in the garage helping build race car cages, "Petty" bars, Jeep roll bars and cages.

I think the key is a well laid out modification. Unfortunately, there are a lot of hackers out there... Even if I did modify my ROPS, I would take it to a certified welder; my welding skills suck. I can prep all the fabrication, cutting, grinding ect. I just am not a good wlder. Fortunately, I have a couple friends with multiple welding certs. When they lay a bead, it should be framed and put on the wall, the weld is so nice.

My TC40 has folding ROPS; need it for the garage. But, my tractor shed is tall enough, it is not a problem.

There was a post some weeks ago about this, indicating it is an issue, if you have employees using your tractor in a business; some OSHA regs.

I have been really surprised at all of the anti-weld sentiment in all of the ROPS threads. It is almost comical. A professional welder would probably scratch his head trying to figure out why some people think the ROPS is some magical, highly complex 'thing' that cannot be fabricated.

My dealer talked about a guy that needed to shorten his. The dealer recommended a welder who works on ROPS all of the time. No big mystery. No drama. Just doing what must be done. Even a competent hobby welder could do the job.

I wonder if people realize how many roll cages are fabricated for race cars in barns all over the country?

 

[brin]

You are exactly on point...I bought a JD 450 C track loader to clear some timber and dig stumps and it did not have a ROPS or cage so I hired a welder and he fabricated a cage and welded it on ..I had several trees and branches challenge the integrity of his work and I was protected ..it worked fine. When I finished I sold the Loader for more than I paid for it and recovered the cost of the fabricated Cage...There is no magic in the factory ROPS in my opinion..it is steel and professional welding that is important. My 2 cents.:thumbsup:

Well said.

I have a ROPS and have to fold it down to get in my garage. It gets old after a while. And I have started to back in twice, forgetting to fold it down. I have crinkled the aluminum trim around my garage door jamb. Luckily I did not loosen any of the brick.

I have been really surprised at all of the anti-weld sentiment in all of the ROPS threads. It is almost comical. A professional welder would probably scratch his head trying to figure out why some people think the ROPS is some magical, highly complex 'thing' that cannot be fabricated.

My dealer talked about a guy that needed to shorten his. The dealer recommended a welder who works on ROPS all of the time. No big mystery. No drama. Just doing what must be done. Even a competent hobby welder could do the job.

I wonder if people realize how many roll cages are fabricated for race cars in barns all over the country?

Me, I haven't shortened mine yet... but I have been thinking about it. I would not have to take too much out to suit my needs.

 

[beppington]

Nobody's ever really gonna know how good their OEM or customzed ROPS is until it's tested in a roll-over.

Will your custom-welded ROPS break right at the locally-welded joints & let the tractor crush you. Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows? :confused2:

 

[Chilly807]

In my opinion, the reason some are so resistant to modifying the ROPS is the fact that the factory certifies them. Whether the certification means the welds are X-rayed (which I seriously doubt) or that the work is done only by a certified welder to an engineer-approved design (more likely) is a matter for debate.

Personally speaking, if it were mine and I was going to shorten it, I'd cut the uprights near the top. Shorten as much as I needed, then insert and weld an inner sleeve in place. Replace the top over the sleeve, weld that to the sleeve, then cap weld the whole thing.

The reason I say cut it near the top is that if anything is going to break, I'd sooner it broke there than at the bottom where the whole thing could get torn off in a rollover. There are pros and cons to both approaches.

I'm in the same boat as Robert, mine is maybe an inch or two high to fit in the garage. I wrinkled up the aluminum too, tore a few splinters out of the cedar trim. After that I hung a sign from the garage door that says "Put ROPS DOWN". When the door closes it hangs against the door out of the way, when the door is up it hits me in the forehead when I drive in.

I'm likely going to shorten the ROPS a bit once I'm out of warranty and my welding should be better by then as well.

Sean

 

[RobertN]

Yes, but you come to the same point; will the ROPS in a Jeep, pickup truck, sand rail...

How many thousands of Jeeps have an added front cage(just another ROPS/FOPS), or family bar added to the back of the roll bar? Seen a few tested, but not mine. Slow roll overs they did well. Worst was broken arms by people trying to hold the Jeep from going over.

Nobody's ever really gonna know how good their OEM or customzed ROPS is until it's tested in a roll-over.

Will your custom-welded ROPS break right at the locally-welded joints & let the tractor crush you. Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows? :confused2:

 

[TripleR]

Personally speaking, if it were mine and I was going to shorten it, I'd cut the uprights near the top. Shorten as much as I needed, then insert and weld an inner sleeve in place. Replace the top over the sleeve, weld that to the sleeve, then cap weld the whole thing.

The reason I say cut it near the top is that if anything is going to break, I'd sooner it broke there than at the bottom where the whole thing could get torn off in a rollover. There are pros and cons to both approaches.

Sean

That is the approach we used on our Massey Ferguson. I did not do the welding, but have had classes and welded in my youth and agree there is nothing magical about a good weld on this type of application.

 

[rjkobbeman]

Personally speaking, if it were mine and I was going to shorten it, I'd cut the uprights near the top. Shorten as much as I needed, then insert and weld an inner sleeve in place. Replace the top over the sleeve, weld that to the sleeve, then cap weld the whole thing.

Sean

That is a good idea. I imagine the stresses/forces are less at the top of the ROPS than at the bottom.

I believe the ROPS mod that my dealer was telling me about said they used a sleeve also.