Cutting a ROPS - opinions

[Jay4200]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( So, there you go...another method of assembling your shortened ROPS. )</font>

JFTR, I'm not shortening the ROPS, I just want to be able to take the top off to get it in the garage. And it's old - no warranty issues to worry about.

Jay

 

[hobbyfarm]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Now, you might say the risk is small, and I'd agree, but for the cost of going back to OEM, I won't chance it, nor do I want my estate to chance it. )</font>

RonR,
That statement about says it all in a nutshell.
As far as the estate, its worth would go up if you built a tractor shed instead! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

On the other hand, IF anything ever came down to a lawsuit, ask yourself - could the modified ROPS withstand the exact strtength testing that they do on the OEM ROPS??
IF SO, then why would legal remedies not be sought?

 

[RonR]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">(

On the other hand, IF anything ever came down to a lawsuit, ask yourself - could the modified ROPS withstand the exact strtength testing that they do on the OEM ROPS??
IF SO, then why would legal remedies not be sought? )</font>

I guess I'm not clear on your response.

In my mind, it is not whether the homemade one COULD withstand the tests, but the fact that you have removed a factory designed, "tested" and approved safety device with one of your own.

Before I decide for sure to start chopping on mine, I will pour a tall cold adult beverage and IMAGINE the (highly unlikely!) deposition following a (highly unlikely) tragic accident with a former tractor of mine:

His lawyer: Now, sir, what design degrees do you hold?
Me: None.

His lawyer: Now, sir, are you a certified welder?
Me: No.

His lawyer: Now, sir, are you a metalurgical expert?
Me: No.

His lawyer: Now, sir, are you a structural stress analysist?
Me: No.

His lawyer: Now, sir, did you have any post installation testing done on your ROPS?
Me: No.

His lawyer: Now, sir, did you utilize any stress analysis or structural analysis programs or consultants to review your design?
Me: No.

His lawyer: Now, sir, did you build a prototype ROPS and submit it to structural testing?
Me: No.

His lawyer: Now, sir, did you have any of your welds Xrayed or tested to destruction?
Me: No.

His lawyer: Now, sir, .........................


About this time, YOUR lawyer asks for a recess and recommends that you just write out a check to the victim, sign it, and leave the amount blank. Your lawyer will ask his lawyer to have mercy on you (or your estate) as you really didn't mean to do all these BAD THINGS and you are really not a bad person and....................

See how my mind can scare the stuffings out of me!

In thinking more about this, I wonder if tractor dealers are under any special rules from the OEMs whenever they remove or replace a ROPS? I'm curious if they have any cautionary warnings or extra inspections they need to do when they remove/replace? After all, you could take a "good" ROPS and install it with grade 2 hardware and it could fail. My guess is the dealers are warned to check anytime they remove them, but I'd defer to anyone that knows for sure.

Can anyone who's purchased a retrofit ROPS comment on the amount of warnings that accompanied it?

Thanks.

ron

 

[BigDogues]

I have a couple of solutions to avoid all these legal issues...
1) Jack up the garage a couple of inches to gain the necessary clearance for the existing ROPS. (If the garage is under the house, so what? Just think of the better view that you would gain.)
2) Let all the air out of the rear tires every time you need to move the tractor through the door. (Remember the story of the little boy and the semi that was stuck under the bridge?)
3) Build a new shed for your tractor and let the wife keep her car in the garage. (Good brownie points here!)
4) Replace the existing ROPS with a factory certified folding one.
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Jay4200]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">(
1) Jack up the garage a couple of inches to gain the necessary clearance for the existing ROPS. (If the garage is under the house, so what? Just think of the better view that you would gain.))</font>

It is under the house. But don't think I didn't consider lifting it - after all, I'm only shy about 2 inches. What was that FEL rating again? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( 2) Let all the air out of the rear tires every time you need to move the tractor through the door. (Remember the story of the little boy and the semi that was stuck under the bridge?))</font>

I actually did consider doing exactly this. My aim for garage storage was primarily for working on the machine (being freezing cold outside). I'm in the process of going through the whole machine and with so much to do, working outside sucks bigtime. The only thing that stopped me was not knowing how to deal with the liquid in the tires. Imagine my suprise when I was checking air pressure for the first time today, and discovered that the tires are NOT loaded. The seller told me that one was loaded, one was not (due to a repaired flat). Even better are the pressures I found - 32 and 17 in the back (25 rated), and 24 and 6 in the front (30 rated). Lawdy. I derated 10% for temperature and went with 27 front, 22.5 rear.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( 3) Build a new shed for your tractor and let the wife keep her car in the garage. (Good brownie points here!))</font>

That will probably happen in the spring. Could be canvas, could be wood, depends on how bored I get. Still does nothing to solve the heat problem in the winter though.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( 4) Replace the existing ROPS with a factory certified folding one.)</font>

Pshaw. I'd sooner buy a new tractor.

Hmmmmm.....

Jay

 

[kenmac]

a new folding rops would b cheaper than a new garage. I don,t know the condition of your tractor or how difficult new folding ROPS would be to install. I installed new ROPS on my yanmar (which had none)with mo problems.

 

[daTeacha]

How about lowering the floor of the basement? Seriously, it wouldn't be too hard on the house, and a real good reason to get some nice new toys for the tractor to assist in the job. You could rent a saw or buy a blade for your circular saw, put a toothbar to work, and have the old floor out in nice square pieces pretty quick. Then dig out the underlying material, lower the dirt, put some gravel down, lay the squares back in like big tile, put some concrete in between like mortar, and you're in business.

Secondly, I bought and installed a ROPS on my B7100. It came with specific instructions and its own bolts, both to hold it to the tractor and to hold it together. There were specific instructions about what to put where, and VERY specific instructions to not modify or alter the thing in any way, nor to deviate from the installation instructions. I had a little trouble fitting it around some hard points at the bottom and it totally eliminated what little cushioning I had in my seat mount since it bears hard on the ROPS.

I should mention that my tractor did not have any ROPS on it originally, so this particular unit is a retro engineered item. There were a couple of years when the B7100 was not available, and when it returned it a had a ROPS, so maybe it took Kubota that long to come up with one that met all the requirements. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[keeney]

Part of the reason there is so much controversy over this subject is that there are a surprising number of examples of injuries and fatalities that have occured (or were failed to be prevented) related to modified or home-made ROPs.

Lots of examples of people cutting them off shorter, or bolting them on incorrectly, or making them folding but forgetting to fold them up, or removing the seatbelts, or using them for tow bars and then rolling the tractor and not being protected.

Many of the cases were "so it would fit in the garage" or "fit in the trailer", or "not hit the low-hanging branches".

Lots of other examples of people modifying, removing, or bypassing safety equipment and then getting hurt by exactly the thing the safety equipment was intended to prevent.

The common thread here is that human nature invariably under-estimates the cost vs. benefit of risking unlikely-but-extremely-costly events like tractor accidents. Maybe our brains have not been re-calibrated to value our longer life expectancies or something.

Learn from others mistakes - be sure that any changes to safety equipment don't make you look like you died foolishly.

- Rick

 

[hudr]

This is pretty off thread, but I wonder how much $$$ is tied up in "safety" on various products? Not that I don't want safety thought about, and there is no value can be placed on a life, but it kind of seems to me people go overboard with it sometimes. Reminds of the item we got in the mail from JD. It was a little plastic cover for the starter solenoid bolts on a 5020. It was to keep you from using a screw driver to start the tractor (something we did for a long time w/ our old 5020). This was nearly a decade after we sold that tractor(sometime in the late 80's) and was for a tractor built in "69 or '70. Better late than never I guess.
I know anyone's common sense can short circuit, but how long did we make it as a species w/o ROPS, neutral switches, operator presence switches, and various other lockouts?
I'll duck now. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[RoyJackson]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Part of the reason there is so much controversy over this subject is that there are a surprising number of examples of injuries and fatalities that have occured (or were failed to be prevented) related to modified or home-made ROPs.

Lots of examples of people cutting them off shorter, or bolting them on incorrectly, or making them folding but forgetting to fold them up, or removing the seatbelts, or using them for tow bars and then rolling the tractor and not being protected.

Many of the cases were "so it would fit in the garage" or "fit in the trailer", or "not hit the low-hanging branches".

Lots of other examples of people modifying, removing, or bypassing safety equipment and then getting hurt by exactly the thing the safety equipment was intended to prevent.

The common thread here is that human nature invariably under-estimates the cost vs. benefit of risking unlikely-but-extremely-costly events like tractor accidents. Maybe our brains have not been re-calibrated to value our longer life expectancies or something.

Learn from others mistakes - be sure that any changes to safety equipment don't make you look like you died foolishly.

- Rick )</font>

I've never read of any of these acidents. Could you tell me where you found these statistics?