3033R ROPS %^*(*%$#!

[WinterDeere]

Just got a new 3033R this morning, and I'm already cursing the stupid, stupid (stupid!) design of this ROPS. Looking for advice, or at least a little commiseration, from those who've owned one awhile.

Of course it's too tall to use around any yard with trees, I'll likely kill myself when I catch on a branch that either whacks me as a result of getting caught on the ROPS, or causes the tractor to stand up if the branch doesn't yield. Then there's the issue of forgetting it's up when I back into the barn, which is almost 100% guaranteed to happen if using this machine several times per week for two decades.

Okay, no problem... fold it down and leave it down, much as I've done on past machines since the 1980's. But no... in the folded position this thing is at the perfect height to bang my head on it every time I'm working or walking behind the tractor.

Honestly... what are these guys thinking, with this design? I love Deere, but I'd like to personally kick the arse of anyone involved in the design of this horrendous ROPS system.

 

[beenthere]

Fold it and remove it at the hinge. What could be wrong with that?

 

[CADplans]

Honestly... what are these guys thinking, with this design? I love Deere, but I'd like to personally kick the arse of anyone involved in the design of this horrendous ROPS system.

What do you do?? Consider yourself lucky,, my 4105 JD ROPs does not even fold,,,

BUT,, I do have an eleven foot high garage door on my shed, so I have to partially lift the door to get the tractor in and out,,,

 

[ruffdog]

Will it fold all the way down like the on here?

https://www.marketbook.co.nz/listings/farm-equipment/auction-results/25142663/2014-john-deere-3033r

 

[WinterDeere]

Will it fold all the way down like the on here?

https://www.marketbook.co.nz/listings/farm-equipment/auction-results/25142663/2014-john-deere-3033r

Thanks for looking, ruffdog. Yes, it does fold down that far, but then interferes with all of the rear hydraulics. The tractor in that photo doesn't have any of the rear hydraulic options.

There is some good news, tho! The dealer delivered this new machine today without any operator's manual, but looking at an old manual Deere has online, I see there's actually a ROPS position that keeps the bar just above my 6'-0" head height. If I were 6'-4" I'd be screwed, but this is one of those occasions I can be happy I'm not that tall.

An angled-down ROPS position would be nicer, but I think I can deal with this. It just makes it under my 7'-0" doors, in this position, and is just about 2" above my head at the lowest point.

 

[Wagtail]

What do you do?? Consider yourself lucky,, my 4105 JD ROPs does not even fold,,,

BUT,, I do have an eleven foot high garage door on my shed, so I have to partially lift the door to get the tractor in and out,,,

Well that sucks... for you. Mine has a fold-able ROPS. Pretty sure it was an Australian condition of sale. I've never had it down.

 

[WinterDeere]

Lotsa trees with low branches scattered all over this property, so a tall ROPS doesn’t work for me, anyway. It will stay folded (or removed altogether), 100% of the time. Ironically, I’ve only had two near-rollover accidents on this property, both times caused by the ROPS on my zero turn catching low branches, and standing the mower up in a wheelie. A third time I had it catch a branch and bring it down on the back of my head and neck at high speed, almost putting me in the hospital.

My opinion is that ROPS May have their place in agricultural settings, but they are likely far more dangerous than not having one in a typical lawn care or homeowner setting.

 

[dodge man]

I have a 2025r and have the same problem. I usually leave mine in the head banging mode most of the time. I put a 5 gallon bucket in front of 5he door when I put the ROPS up. I should say most of the time since I bent stuff up the house once.

 

[zzvyb6]

The 'guys' are "thinking" that on this planet there are some pretty stupid imbeciles who have already tried to mow their lawns which have a 60 degree slope. They already know about tractors which have sunk one wheel into soft sand. They know that some moron will try to drive their 6' wide tractor onto a 5' wide trailer. Some of these noble tractor owners will be drunk when these events happen. The problem from the manufacturers viewpoint is not that the morons, imbeciles and normal brained users kill themselves, it's the grieving widows and children who now have to take care of the vegetables for the rest of their pathetic lives.

So, you design an anti-rollover restraint to keep the machine from tumbling onto it's top. Not even supernaturals can fix stupid [ look at how many of them exist ], so legal savvy design engineers, with knowledge of gravity, physics, soil mechanics and human nature have worked out tractor, truck, and lawn mower parts to minimize the troublesome statistics.

How many reports have there been just on this forum, where the operator ran their machine up on a telephone guy wire, or got too close to the edge of a pond, or could not figure out how to safely mow on a steep hill ? Even a few who didn't know the height of their garage door ? We ALL have to protect the stupid, the careless and the ignorant users of any and all machinery. Protect them from themselves, usually. The rush to "The Country" from the postage stamp lawns of "The City" has heightened this problem.

I'm surprised that we don't already have tractors which must have sensors on them to prevent grandfathers from riding their family members on tractor fenders, considering how many stories that appear every year about how grandpa ran over a kid with their rotary mower, slasher, brush hog, rototiller, or post hole digger.

My favorite one this year is the guy who lost his driver's license for DUI (repeat offender) and was heading the a liquor store on his lawn mower. You guessed it ....

Oh wait, that law might already be pending in California at the moment.

 

[Diggin It]

Trim the trees higher. Build a higher door.