drilling rops

[kerr]

I finaly found the lights i want to use on my 4200.{rear work lights}There are a few factory holes in the rops now but not where i want them {who-da-thunk-it}!I have noticed that some of you are careful not to drill your rops,why?Because it will weaken the system?Or wont the bolts stay tight?Or the old "i wish i hadn't done that"The area im considering is about 4 in. above the fender mount bolts,faceing to the rear of the unit.How about self tappers?I dont know if they will stay tight or not due to vibration.I know some of you guys have tried it all once a time.Im a listening.

 

[Bird]

kerr, the manuals all say to NOT drill (weld, cut, spindle, or mutilate?) the ROPS. I'm sure you're familiar with "product liability". If it ever turns over and the ROPS collapses or breaks and it has any holes in it, the manufacturer may be off the hook if you've modified it in any way. And of course, if you drill any holes in it and water gets in there, it may corrode enough to weaken it years down the road. So . . ., I'll have to agree with the manufacturer and say "don't do it", but I've done it in the past when I was personally convinced that what I was doing was not going to weaken it and create a hazard for myself. However, on my current tractor, I have not done it; I used other mounting methods (U-bolts around the ROPS).

Bird

 

[DFB]

Kerr, there's a label on the ROPS of my JD that says "ANY ALTERATIONS MUST BE APPROVED BY THE MANUFACTURER". Maybe a call to JD could clear the way. Looks like 1/4" steel on mine. I've got several of the self drilling/tappers helping to secure the step bars on my truck. Work good. Stay tight. Like you say its all been tried. Before the days of folding ROPS I know of a few that were shortened by cutting and rewelding so they would fit thru the garage door. I wouldn't doubt somewhere someone made swiss cheese out of one. There's always 3M double back tape and zip ties./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Kerr, What I used on my 4200 was the mounting bolts for the signal lights. They are long and go all the way thru the ROPS. Just take one out and mount a bracket to it. I have one on each side, nice for snow blowing. gary

 

[Anonymous Poster]

You'd have to drill alot of holes to weaken the ROPS on most tractors. I have drilled and tapped holes for two overhead workights on ALL of my JD's with no regrets. I've had great luck with HOBBS lights which are sold at most JD dealers. Once the holes are tapped, I use the included nuts to tighten the lights against the ROPS and I haven't had one come loose yet. I then run all of the wiring down through the ROPS and out the bottom. The lights look as though they were installed at the factory. My preference is to wire them through a separate switch so that I can operate them independently of the headlights and flashers. Again, I'm comfortable with the setup, but in the end you just have to use your own judgement when making modifications.

 

[kerr]

O.K. after many a visualization i went with the inside of the signal bolts.I know not very original.I bet ya i thunk up 50 great combinations .Probably forgot 10 or so in the fury of brainstorms!Kinda scorched my best JD hat thinking soo well.L.O.L. I unpluged the red lense bulb,pluged in the 2 Signal-Stat all rubber worklights,works with headlights only.Tell ya something else,a full roll cage with shortened rops a ligth top and ya opened up a whole new can a bait!10-4 Thanks all fer sure.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Kerr--if you wanted to reconnect the red tailights, you could locate the wires that JD provided for the rear worklights and use them. I installed two rear worklights on my 4400 using the wiring provided by JD for that purpose--the wiring is located beneath the bottom of the ROPS. If my tractor was not in the repair shop again, I could confirm the color of the wires, but remember one of them being purple. The two wires provided by JD will activate the rear worklights whenever the front lights are turned on. Mike S.

 

[vtrick]

I recently installed two rear work lights on my JD 4300. I used the top mounting bolt supporting the warning lights. Fished the wires through the hole provided in ROPS from the factory. Connected wires to the factory wires in the rear harness (purple and black). Worked great. The two 55 watt halogens provides plenty enough light for my needs (pushing snow with a rear blade at night). I'm not pit crew material, but the job took about 34 minutes

 

[kerr]

I'll go look again for them.