Drilling Holes in Roll Over Bar for Lights

[OzGrasshopper]

Thanks all for your advice and experience. We live in a more remote part of Australia, without having a shop with CB just around the corner .... so we put 2 plates (top and bottom of the bar) and clamped the light bases to these with 3/8in bolts. The 2 lights have come off a retired ag contractors bigger tractor that did a lot of night work. Lovely lights - the front has 2 part lens - lower section spread wide closer in, the top half shows 200m ahead with good strong beam. Back light is a simple rear light, more of a wide, short beam and very effective for seeing whats happening with rear attached machinery and backing. We were very pleased to find JD had spare power and earth wires already linked to the main light switch sitting just behind the seat. We didn't have to drill any holes in the ROP Bar as there were several places with holes in the back side of the bar and we ran the wiring down the inside of ROP to the existing spare section of wire harness. Put a lick of new black paint on both lights to match the ROP and the outcome has been a total success.
Unlike you poor people battling the snow in northern hemisphere, having these lights will mean we will be doing more evening and night tractor work to escape the continual rising summer heat (ie up to 100 degrees+ sometimes) not so often here, but more north and inland. Working in the evening and night in summer is a joy ....... and with much better lighting, will hopefully keep me farming for a couple more years.... Cheers OzG

 

[buickanddeere]

Clamp, don't drill or weld.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I read some of these comments here with a bit of a grin. You see when I first bought my tractor the local dealer was taking them to a welding shop to get a non folding rops made into a folding one. That's right they would cut the rops and weld brackets onto it to enable it to fold. For those of you who want to argue that you destroy the certification of the rops save your breath because I agree with you. I don't for one minute believe that a good welder following John Deere's design on their folding rops destroys the integrity of the rops by making the modification. There's no magic steel here. It's just regular steel that's designed to do the job. The same goes for drilling holes in the rops. Drilling a hole to mount lights or bury wires will probably void the certification. But small holes drilled in the center to bury wires or mount lights will not destroy the integrity of the rops. Those of you who want to argue go ahead but first go look at your rops. I have a 4410 and there are all kinds of holes drilled into it. The top ones I assume to mount a canopy and middle ones for lights etc. I wouldn't drill at the bottom because that is where most of the stress is in a rollover situation even though John Deere drills holes there to mount the fenders.

 

[adirondackmtnman]

I read some of these comments here with a bit of a grin. You see when I first bought my tractor the local dealer was taking them to a welding shop to get a non folding rops made into a folding one. That's right they would cut the rops and weld brackets onto it to enable it to fold. For those of you who want to argue that you destroy the certification of the rops save your breath because I agree with you. I don't for one minute believe that a good welder following John Deere's design on their folding rops destroys the integrity of the rops by making the modification. There's no magic steel here. It's just regular steel that's designed to do the job. The same goes for drilling holes in the rops. Drilling a hole to mount lights or bury wires will probably void the certification. But small holes drilled in the center to bury wires or mount lights will not destroy the integrity of the rops. Those of you who want to argue go ahead but first go look at your rops. I have a 4410 and there are all kinds of holes drilled into it. The top ones I assume to mount a canopy and middle ones for lights etc. I wouldn't drill at the bottom because that is where most of the stress is in a rollover situation even though John Deere drills holes there to mount the fenders.

Well put. I am also of the opinion that a couple holes, while taking the responsibility from the manufacturer, would have VERY little effect on the overall strength and integrity of the ROPS. If we were talking about making it swiss cheese, I think it would be a different story.

Sent from my LGL35G using TractorByNet

 

[dragoneggs]

Thanks all for your advice and experience. We live in a more remote part of Australia, without having a shop with CB just around the corner .... so we put 2 plates (top and bottom of the bar) and clamped the light bases to these with 3/8in bolts. The 2 lights have come off a retired ag contractors bigger tractor that did a lot of night work. Lovely lights - the front has 2 part lens - lower section spread wide closer in, the top half shows 200m ahead with good strong beam. Back light is a simple rear light, more of a wide, short beam and very effective for seeing whats happening with rear attached machinery and backing. We were very pleased to find JD had spare power and earth wires already linked to the main light switch sitting just behind the seat. We didn't have to drill any holes in the ROP Bar as there were several places with holes in the back side of the bar and we ran the wiring down the inside of ROP to the existing spare section of wire harness. Put a lick of new black paint on both lights to match the ROP and the outcome has been a total success.
Unlike you poor people battling the snow in northern hemisphere, having these lights will mean we will be doing more evening and night tractor work to escape the continual rising summer heat (ie up to 100 degrees+ sometimes) not so often here, but more north and inland. Working in the evening and night in summer is a joy ....... and with much better lighting, will hopefully keep me farming for a couple more years.... Cheers OzG

You might be surprised... there is a dealer in Australia. If you call them ask for Colin. Tell him Mark says hi!

Infastechｮ - Australia - Products for Aerospace & Defence

 

[dragoneggs]

While one can obviously drill holes in the ROPS and with proper location selection probably do very little to compromise the structure. But why do it if you don't have to... you do damage the integrity, you create a place for a crack to start, you introduce corrosion potential, and at the very least you alter the original equipment in such a way that could come back to bite you. I understand the risk is low but like others have said, drilling should be your last resort. A U bolt clamp, zip ties, Click Bond fasteners, should all be ahead of the drilling option IMHO.

 

[lostcreekranch]

While one can obviously drill holes in the ROPS and with proper location selection probably do very little to compromise the structure. But why do it if you don't have to... you do damage the integrity, you create a place for a crack to start, you introduce corrosion potential, and at the very least you alter the original equipment in such a way that could come back to bite you. I understand the risk is low but like others have said, drilling should be your last resort. A U bolt clamp, zip ties, Click Bond fasteners, should all be ahead of the drilling option IMHO.

Well stated!

 

[pmsmechanic]

The point I was trying to make was that some people have this idea that rops are this holy grail of some sort that shouldn't be messed with and to a certain point I agree. I like adirondackmtnman's comment about swiss cheese, and dragoneggs made a good point about "proper location selection". You can't just go and drill a hole without thinking about it. As far as starting a crack by drilling a hole obviously John Deere wasn't worried about it because they already drilled numerous holes in the rops. Same goes for corrosion. I think u-bolts look ugly and on a rops zip ties look tacky. I like the idea of Click Bond but until Walmart or equivalent stocks them it's not really a handy option. Click Bond and zip ties also don't solve the problem of branches etc. ripping the wires off either unless you encase the wires in conduit. Which realistically at this point leaves only one option. Besides I'm not a fan of mounting lights above my eye level anyways because it washes out all the shadows that let you see detail at night.

 

[dragoneggs]

Click Bond and zip ties also don't solve the problem of branches etc. ripping the wires off either unless you encase the wires in conduit. Which realistically at this point leaves only one option. Besides I'm not a fan of mounting lights above my eye level anyways because it washes out all the shadows that let you see detail at night.

You are right in that the ROPS is not the holy grail but it was pretty much solely designed as a life saving device. I will also admit I am a little **** here because of my profession and don't believe in cutting corners unless I have to.

Beyond that, I think I am losing you here... running the wiring on the inside edge of the ROPS provides quite a bit of protection for branches that are glancing, slapping, etc. Stabbings are another story but at that point, it seems the operator would be in peril as well :laughing:. Your comment about mounting the lights above your eye level seems irrelevant. What does that have to do with mounting method? :confused3:

 

[chvfrk98]

I've actually purchase some powerful rare earth magnets. I'm pretty sure they will be strong enough but once I get them on I'll post on here how they work out.