Is the ROPS really needed?

[TomSeller]

Just a couple of days ago there was a guy killed on Collins Road in Parsonsfield, Maine when his tractor rolled on him while pulling stumps. I do not know if he had rops but I doubt it.

He could have been pulling with the pull point above the rear axel creating a back flip. If so, the ROPs Likely would have prevented his death.

 

[Cat_Driver]

ROPS are only needed ONE TIME....the time they save your life.

 

[sandyc]

The nice thing about living in the US is that we have the choice to use the safety equipment or not. ROPS, seat belts, chaps, hard hat, eye protection, loaded gun in car, gloves...name it...you can either use it or not. When I was on Fire/EMS we saw a lot of stuff that made you wonder why the victim/patient didn't use the proper equipment or common sense and avoid being hurt. Guess that's why we had many more EMS runs than fire calls.

 

[Cherokee140]

I have a love hate with the roll bar. After 20 years of using older machines with no bar I have knocked off the garage door twice, and hit the facia once....I am a slow learner. I also hit the dog teather that runs over head once and tried to rip down the house. All that said I am not taking it off. I look at it like a seat belt, or better yet like a motorcycle helmet....so many places don't require a helmet but you will never see me without one.

 

[Gary Fowler]

He could have been pulling with the pull point above the rear axel creating a back flip. If so, the ROPs Likely would have prevented his death.

ROPS is not a replacement for lack of common sense. Folks do some very stupid things from time to time. NO amount of safety equipment is a replacement for thinking before you act. The best safety equipment is located between your ears.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have no idea why they do it on the BX either!!

When folded, the ROPS would provide next to no protection in a roll over. Your head is above the hinge plane.


As Evil says, pruning the trees up 6' is not only hard on the tree, but looks awful.

Would you believe over 7 foot because it wont go into a standard garage door and since many limbs grown downward rather than up, might even have to make it 8 foot. I put 8 foot doors on two of my shop doors and can get my B26 inside but it wont go in my boat shed door which is only a 7 foot door.
I can relate to those who take of the ROPS on a lawnmower especially those with flat or nearly flat terrain.
I can call those that insist that no one modify or lower a safety device, well lets just say I call them something.

 

[WaxMan]

ROPS is not a replacement for lack of common sense. Folks do some very stupid things from time to time. NO amount of safety equipment is a replacement for thinking before you act. The best safety equipment is located between your ears.

The one best piece of safety equipment on a tractor is your Rops, NOT whats between your ears, Your brain is not a safety device. Your brain can't foresee all. You can be smart as a whip with 40 years in a tractor seat, things happen, doesn't mean your stupid, things happen and the Rops is your backup when they do. To rely only on your brain as a safety device is comical.

Fact 80% of deaths are with experience operators. The 80% probably thought they were smart too.

But please don't try and convince me that keeping a Rops on a tractor that is certified and tested safe, is a stupid statement to make and so far out there that some of you just can't believe it was said.

How about we leave it as you guys think what you want and I'll think what I want, even though my statement sounds so stupid about leaving the factory Rops in place. I'm going to stick with it. I'll be the one without any common sense. And you guys that advocate modification and removal can be the smart ones.

 

[k0ua]

I am just glad that I now have a building that has a 9 ft door so that my ROPS/Canopy stays up all the time. In the previous building and previous tractor, I put down the ROPS to put it away, and put it up when it came out. Yes it was tiresome at times, to keep doing that, but I live on very hilly ground, and while I have never turned a tractor, over, I do have brains enough to know it is possible to do..
I have seen plenty of pictures of others here that have done just that. And for every picture posted, of a turned over tractor, I bet there are 10 that are too embarrassed to post a picture like that.

So now I have my ROPS, and my steel/insulated canopy, And it is ready to go the second I drive it out of the door. The canopy is not as good as a cab, but it is one heck of a lot better than the sun cooking your brains and body. As for what others do, They can do as they please as far as I am concerned.

 

[Scooby074]

Would you believe over 7 foot because it wont go into a standard garage door and since many limbs grown downward rather than up, might even have to make it 8 foot. I put 8 foot doors on two of my shop doors and can get my B26 inside but it wont go in my boat shed door which is only a 7 foot door.
I can relate to those who take of the ROPS on a lawnmower especially those with flat or nearly flat terrain.
I can call those that insist that no one modify or lower a safety device, well lets just say I call them something.

A tree pruned 8' up would look like a mushroom lol.

I keep the rops folded down on my ZD except for one spot in the yard that gets mowed only a couple times a year.

The CoG on the ZD is so low it would (will) slide on slopes well before it would roll. Its low and wide. Much lower than the BX.

Of course if there was a drop off, like into a lake, where one wheel could drop down and roll you over, the ROPS needs to be up and locked.

 

[DarkBlack]

The one best piece of safety equipment on a tractor is your Rops, NOT whats between your ears, Your brain is not a safety device.

I couldn't disagree more.

 

[WaxMan]

I couldn't disagree more.

Quote Originally Posted by Gary Fowler View Post
ROPS is not a replacement for lack of common sense. Folks do some very stupid things from time to time. NO amount of safety equipment is a replacement for thinking before you act. The best safety equipment is located between your ears.

The one best piece of safety equipment on a tractor is your Rops, NOT whats between your ears, Your brain is not a safety device. Your brain can't foresee all. You can be smart as a whip with 40 years in a tractor seat, things happen, doesn't mean your stupid, things happen and the Rops is your backup when they do. To rely only on your brain as a safety device is comical.

Fact 80% of deaths are with experience operators. The 80% probably thought they were smart too.

But please don't try and convince me that keeping a Rops on a tractor that is certified and tested safe, is a stupid statement to make and so far out there that some of you just can't believe it was said.

How about we leave it as you guys think what you want and I'll think what I want, even though my statement sounds so stupid about leaving the factory Rops in place. I'm going to stick with it. I'll be the one without any common sense. And you guys that advocate modification and removal can be the smart ones.

Maybe you should quote the whole statement. It will become more clear to you.

 

[DarkBlack]

Your view is so extreme, I see no point in debating it with you.

 

[WaxMan]

Let me rephrase it then. Rops can save even stupid people who don't have any idea how to operate a tractor. If they use the Rops and seat belt their life is saved 99% of the time in case of a rollover. So much for the brain being the number one safety device on a tractor.

 

[LD1]

Why do we need to try so hard to save stupid people?

 

[WaxMan]

I just checked, the guy who started this thread has not posted since 5/22/2012 five days after the last post on this thread at the time.
I hope it wasn't because he took his Rops off You think it was something we said?

 

[Garycw]

Just got my first tractor with a rops. I've used four others for 40+ years in east tn and SE ky. Flat ground is rare. I've had a few close calls and one used tractor I had has been rolled or flipped before. I still have two older fords that do not have rops. It's going to take some getting used to the canopy & seat belt which I haven't used yet, but after reading this thread am going to start. Thanks for the heads up & vids.

 

[yelbike]

Why do we need to try so hard to save stupid people?

This post is up for post of the year! Can be applied to soooo many conversations!

 

[buickanddeere]

Why do we need to try so hard to save stupid people?

Because we feel bad when immediate family members and close friends die when a rops would have saved them.

 

[murphy1244]

This post is up for post of the year! Can be applied to soooo many conversations!

:thumbsup: right on LD..

 

[WaxMan]

Why do we need to try so hard to save stupid people?

Yup, Rops does not discriminate who ever is strapped to the seat with the Rops up there is a 99% chance they will walk away, Modify or remove and it's a crap shoot.
Smart or Stupid people, in a roll over, Rops saves either.

Years ago it used to be just farmers that bought tractors, And without Rops. So I can see how some would view them and I see why they disagree with me.

Today with all the BX's, B etc. being sold in record numbers, many people other than farmers are buying them. For most it's their first tractor. If you have to guess a few 100,000 tractors out there by now? I don't know the numbers. How many get tipped each year? I'll bet it's quite a few. How many die? very few.

As a made up example to make my point.

This young couple buys a house. The guy tries talking his wife into buying a 3 year old used Kubota with the money they were going to use for the driveway. He says he can do all the landscaping and would not have to pay anybody else and in the end keep the Kubota..(against her wishes) He finally wins out and gets the Kubota.

They have it for a few months, did quite a bit of work around the yard, even got his wife to start using it. The Rops is always up and the seat belt is alway on, they were very careful with it. One day while his wife was using it she had the loaded bucket up too high and while on a slope the tractor rolled over twice down the hill. The first time the Rops just bent and the second roll over the left side of the Rops broke off causing the tractor to break her neck.

It was later found that the Rops have been cut and welded and because the heat was too high it burned through in a few spots. It was covered up with some bondo to make it look nice, it also had a great paint job, it looked new.
So the wife is paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of her life. Should the previous owner be held responsible? or should it be chalked up to Operator error? Or buyers fault for not asking if the new like Rops was messed with?

So just because it's your tractor now, it won't be forever yours. Make other Mods to your tractor keep your Rops intact. Or remove them when selling. A removed Rops is better than one just for looks giving the young couple above a false sense of safety. At least with the "mess with" Rops off, the buyer knows he should put one on the tractor or take a risk.

This is why a Video should not be made showing everyone "How To" cut down a safety device, make the factory Rops shorter and re weld it on a very popular tractor.
Because there are a lot of HACKS out there and just a few good welders that would put their name on it.

"These tractors just don't die they will be around forever with many new owners over the years."


Now whenever I get like this trying to make my point and convincing my wife of something, She always ends up says these two words to me that always shuts me up, You're Right
Now, I'm not really sure if that means she agrees with me, or after 35 years she found a way to shut me up.:confused3: I guess I'll never really know.