Must Tractor ROPS Be So High?

[pmsmechanic]

I'm going to build a pole shed for my new Kioti and am waiting for it to get here so I can get an exact measurement on the height off the ground. I was just gonna build it 8 ft off the ground but thinking that might not be high enough. I'm curious if it will fit into the barn, I'd hate to have to fold it down every time I have to drive through the barn...
I am not going to take the listed measurements as fact, I want to see it in person....

I would go a minimum of 6 - 12" higher than the stated measurements. I built a door specifically for a tractor I had. When I purchased a different tractor the door was too low. Since there is no easy way to make the door higher I now store my tractor in a different shed. Not where I had originally planned to store it.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

One consideration in buying a CUT is where you're going to store it. There are lots of stories where owners ran into the siding over the garage door. A foldable ROPS works until you forget to fold it down.

So my question is, Could CUT manufacturers design a ROPS that is more garage friendly? (Must they be so tall?)

View attachment 731391

Short answer: No. The ROPS, design is required to protect a normal sized operators extremities in the event of a roll over.

So, sit in your seat with the lap belt on, reachup and see how far above your outstretched hand the bar is. If you have about a foot it’s good. If you don’t have a foot you need to raise it.. there are other solutions, such as a 6-point belt system with wrist tethers, but now you’re looking at such a pain in the toucas to get on and off the tractor that no one would ever use them.

 

[jimglassford]

Some engineer is told to make a device and he does so. It is tested and given a stamp of approval to be produced. It is designed to cover a larger number of conditions. If the conditions do not exist there is no reason not to change the device. ROPS are such a device. A poultry barn may have a low ceiling. Would you clean it out by hand or would you lower or remove the ROPS to clean your barn? Your yard is covered in trees that have branches hanging down. Do you run with the ROPS all the way up and tip the mower every time you mow or do you lower it?

A new table saw comes with all kind of instructions about using the guard. However there are certain cuts that are safer without the guard. So do use the guard because the book says to or do you remove the guard and do it the safer way?

No engineer can design a product for every contingency. You do the best you can and if changing a factory device is needed so be it.

ROPS are designed to a standard by a team, not some engineer on a doodle pad. No ROPS are safer when not in use or altered. If the height is an issue, the operator is using it wrong or in a wrong location and a better equipment choice should be considered. As for table saws, no cut is SAFER without the guard, it is merely easier. Again, if your hands are that close to the blade where the guard is in the way, you are using the wrong equipment. Convenience is never an excuse for carelessness.

 

[JethroB]

And also allow enough extra in case you want to add a canopy. Go 9’ or even 10’ on the door.

I’m glad you mentioned that. I’ve considered a canopy but now wonder about it. I barely squeak under the 8 foot doorway now. That’s what I get for building the shop first THEN buying the bigger second tractor.

 

[JethroB]

This subject reminds me of an old joke:

A farmer is tearing out the header of his barn door. City slicker salesman stops by and asks what’s he doing. Farmer says his new mule has ticklish ears and refuses to go in the barn because his ears scrub. Salesman asks why not dig out a little under the doorway? Exasperated farmer says, boy it ain’t that his legs are too long, it’s his ears.

 

[Billrog]

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/kioto-rop-mod-016-jpg.560636/

I cut down the rops to fit in the shop door and and not hit limbs because it was ridiculously high . Last yr. when I flipped the tractor over on a steep bank I got to test it out. The only mark on the tractor was from the chain on the rops when I used my backhoe to lift it back up on the trail. The cause of the flip over was the HST pedal stuck down and I had the engine wide open in first gear. By the time I could kick it hard enough for reverse it was to late. This was on a 2015 CK27 that had 3 new transmissions installed from blowing seals. Good news is the dealer gave me what I paid for it off the price of a new 2610.

 

[Gee Ray]

ROPS are designed to a standard by a team, not some engineer on a doodle pad. No ROPS are safer when not in use or altered. If the height is an issue, the operator is using it wrong or in a wrong location and a better equipment choice should be considered. As for table saws, no cut is SAFER without the guard, it is merely easier. Again, if your hands are that close to the blade where the guard is in the way, you are using the wrong equipment. Convenience is never an excuse for carelessness.

I will guess that the team had an engineer on it. At least one. As stated before they must design the ROPS to cover as many contingencies as possible. That does not mean that there are alterations that can be done and still be an effective safety device. If you think that the standard ROPS is the only way to provide operator protection you are being naive.
This would offer mush more protection but I do not think it would be necessary for every tractor built. So maybe just maybe the common ROPS is a compromise already. So if the above roll bar can be reduced to the standard ROPS could it be modified for special tasks?

And here is an example where the safety guards are removed to allow safe and common practices of cuts on a table saw. He does use the guards where their design limits are not exceeded. And he does it safely. The use of push sticks and finger boards are used for many cuts that could not be preformed with the guards in place.

 

[MossyDell]

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/kioto-rop-mod-016-jpg.560636/

I cut down the rops to fit in the shop door and and not hit limbs because it was ridiculously high . Last yr. when I flipped the tractor over on a steep bank I got to test it out. The only mark on the tractor was from the chain on the rops when I used my backhoe to lift it back up on the trail. The cause of the flip over was the HST pedal stuck down and I had the engine wide open in first gear. By the time I could kick it hard enough for reverse it was to late. This was on a 2015 CK27 that had 3 new transmissions installed from blowing seals. Good news is the dealer gave me what I paid for it off the price of a new 2610.

Bill, how much had you cut down the ROPS?

 

[airbiscuit]

If you have a garage door that requires you to fold down your ROPS, I always wondered about something like police tape that you would install at about 3' high on the inside of the door that would hang down about 3' when the door was open to remind you to lower the ROPS. Or would that become too familiar?

 

[Billrog]

MossyDell not sure ( 6 or 8" ) so there was was 1" clearance to go threw a 7' high over head dr.

 

[ptsg]

You guys just need to buy a Kubota M5111 Low profile and your ROPS height issues will go away. The ROPS on this particular tractor, will actually slide up and down with an assist of a gas spring, instead of folding backwards or forwards. Just set it at whatever height it fits on the garage and it's all good.

Man, it's fun spending other people's money!

 

[Oaktree]

ROPS are designed to a standard by a team, not some engineer on a doodle pad. No ROPS are safer when not in use or altered. If the height is an issue, the operator is using it wrong or in a wrong location and a better equipment choice should be considered. As for table saws, no cut is SAFER without the guard, it is merely easier. Again, if your hands are that close to the blade where the guard is in the way, you are using the wrong equipment. Convenience is never an excuse for carelessness.

All well and good, but if a "safety" device makes a product harder/less convenient to use, there's gonna be a strong temptation to bypass or remove it.
The ROPS on my tractor folds, so I have no need to shorten it when I put it in the garage, and it's almost always up when I'm using it but there have been times that I've bypassed "safety" switches, etc. because they've made a piece of equipment or tool harder and potentially less safe to use. An example that immediately comes to mind is a trigger lock-out on a chainsaw. The seat switch in my rider mower is another.

I don't blame the manufacturers, I blame the government agencies that create regulations without thinking them all the way thru.

 

[Jstpssng]

I don't blame the manufacturers, I blame the government agencies that create regulations without thinking them all the way thru.

Save some of that blame for the lawyers who make those regulations necessary... and the people who do something stupid, then are willing to enable the lawyers to make a frivolous lawsuit. They should be required to be honest; "Your Honor, we're here because my client was STUPID ENOUGH to try to clear the mower deck while the blades were engaged..."

 

[Billrog]

Oaktree I thing the lack of common sense and the lack of the general publics willingness to accept responsibility for their actions . This results in law suits giving manufacture's no choice but to protect there a_ _ the best way they can.

 

[MossyDell]

As I said, my tractor will squeeze under my door with the ROPS up but tends to catch slightly on the lip of the door going out. The weird thing is that my tractor should not be able to get in the garage at the height Kubota lists for it. That must have been taken with ag tires. I got R14s.

I'm sure some on here know about this aspect, and I haven't bothered to actually measure yet. But for those shopping, an inch or two taller or lower because of the tires might make a difference in your situation.

 

[NoPlugs]

Haha, i just watched my neighbor slam into the header above his garage door the other day with his ROPS. Made a pretty good mess.

 

[Dennis59]

All well and good, but if a "safety" device makes a product harder/less convenient to use, there's gonna be a strong temptation to bypass or remove it.
The ROPS on my tractor folds, so I have no need to shorten it when I put it in the garage, and it's almost always up when I'm using it but there have been times that I've bypassed "safety" switches, etc. because they've made a piece of equipment or tool harder and potentially less safe to use. An example that immediately comes to mind is a trigger lock-out on a chainsaw. The seat switch in my rider mower is another.

I don't blame the manufacturers, I blame the government agencies that create regulations without thinking them all the way thru.

It is more the lawyers that sue the manufacturers when someone is stupid and gets hurt then demand millions.

 

[John_Mc]

I don't blame the manufacturers, I blame the government agencies that create regulations without thinking them all the way thru.

Save some of that blame for the lawyers who make those regulations necessary... and the people who do something stupid, then are willing to enable the lawyers to make a frivolous lawsuit. They should be required to be honest; "Your Honor, we're here because my client was STUPID ENOUGH to try to clear the mower deck while the blades were engaged..."

Oaktree I thing the lack of common sense and the lack of the general publics willingness to accept responsibility for their actions . This results in law suits giving manufacture's no choice but to protect there a_ _ the best way they can.

I'm with Billrog on this one. Unless the manufacturer is guilty of shoddy design or is covering up a known shortcoming, I put the blame all on the part of idiot users. (Unfortunately, every one of us does idiotic things from time to time.)

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Shhh. This justified my pole barn. I think the height is just fine

 

[Bill Guenthner]

A ROPS has to be high enough to keep the tractor from ROLLING as in “down hill, like a snowball headed for hell” as the song says. It has nothing to do with keeping the operator from hitting his head on the ground. Cutting your roll bar is a very bad idea if you operate on anything but flat ground.