Is the ROPS really needed?

[WaxMan]

More censorship. Great. That's just what this country needs. Can't let people decide for themselves. What's next, no more posts about starting a chainsaw without the brake engaged?

Pretty good DB,:thumbsup: you're getting better and on a roll.

Did you have anything to do with this commercial? You remind me of the guy who says hide behind the chain saws or you could be the puzzled guy with the chain saw. Either way the commercial is pretty funny. I'm in the process of trying to get this off TV because the chain saws shown do not have brakes.

 

[BlacknTan]

Pretty good DB,:thumbsup: you're getting better and on a roll.

Did you have anything to do with this commercial? You remind me of the guy who says hide behind the chain saws or you could be the puzzled guy with the chain saw. Either way the commercial is pretty funny. I'm in the process of trying to get this off TV because the chain saws shown do not have brakes.

You seem to take quite an interest in making sure everyone else is safe ... the main reason this thread continues!

We get your point of view ... just in case you don't think you've driven it home ... ad nauseum!

Are you campaigning for Chief of the Safety Police?

 

[Garycw]

I haven't read 100% of the posts, but are highly in favor of them. I have four used mowers & three tractors. Only one tractor has ROPS & seatbelt. I can assure you the ROPS & belt will be staying.
I do see more people mowing with them folded down more than up on ztr's.
My neighbor was pinned between a tree branch & ROPS while bushoging where he couldn't reach pedals or shifter. He did get free after almost tearing canopy off. I've never seen him wear seatbelt.
Another person I knew of had ROPS up, seat belt on when he flipped ZTR over in pond. He died 2 days later. My stance is still leave them on w/seatbelt if they came with. And to add them if you can.

 

[DarkBlack]

Waxman, You remind me of a politician crossbred with a lawyer.
Why is it you are always 'offline' when I go to converse with you, but magically a minute after I post,you have come 'online' and posted, then you are showing 'offline' again?
Another fear of yours? Seems small to me. Why don't you put on your big boy britches, and stay logged on?

 

[WaxMan]

Waxman, You remind me of a politician crossbred with a lawyer.
Why is it you are always 'offline' when I go to converse with you, but magically a minute after I post,you have come 'online' and posted, then you are showing 'offline' again?
Another fear of yours? Seems small to me. Why don't you put on your big boy britches, and stay logged on?

I don't need to be online for you to post.
Your free to post at will. You don't need me to do that. Post away, I made my point , you make yours now.

 

[DarkBlack]

Exactly what 'point' did you make? :zzz:

 

[WaxMan]

Exactly what 'point' did you make? :zzz:

Rops are needed. Don't mess with them or people could die, it only takes 3 sec. or less

And your point was? Race cars or live to live, helmets or something, not really sure. You have the floor, go ahead make your points against Rops. Leave me out of it, make your point on your own.

 

[DarkBlack]

Rops are needed. Don't mess with them or people could die, it only takes 3 sec. or less

And your point was? Race cars or live to live, helmets or something, not really sure. You have the floor, go ahead make your points against Rops. Leave me out of it, make your point on your own.

Again, you are not capable of 'getting it'. By your own propaganda, motorcycle helmets are 'needed', yet my state doesn't mandate it, and we residents are happy, and alive. It's something called personal choice and freedom.
Something you don't understand, or believe in....

 

[WaxMan]

Again, you are not capable of 'getting it'. By your own propaganda, motorcycle helmets are 'needed', yet my state doesn't mandate it, and we residents are happy, and alive. It's something called personal choice and freedom.
Something you don't understand, or believe in....

DB I can't keep trying to answer just you over and over again with the same answers over and over again. Go back 5 or six pages or more everything is answered about my position, selling tractors etc. for you. You just have to read it.

Just post what you think without using me as the subject or waiting for an answer from me . Say what you think on your own, or just PM me if you want to rehash everything. I'm not going to answer you online again.

People are getting tied of me making my point over and over again mostly just for you.
You have the floor just say what you want. But don't direct it to me, at some point you have to be on your own. I'm not going to counter anything you say, I already did.
So go ahead post all your thoughts.

 

[troutsqueezer]

Rops are needed. Don't mess with them or people could die, it only takes 3 sec. or less.

People die all the time. It ain't like somebody just cut your head off. Wait....

 

[troutsqueezer]

Rops are needed. Don't mess with them or people could die, it only takes 3 sec. or less.

People die all the time. It ain't like somebody just cut your head off. Wait....

 

[TomSeller]

Things happen. I was grappling to a burn pile on Sunday. Went forward to grab a pile of large limbs I piled up near a willow tree. I did not notice that I accidentally grabbed a live branch that rooted along the the horizontal run that I had not cut off. It was to the right of my grapple. Hit the reverser and before I knew it my rear axle was at probably 30 degrees with the left wheel in the air. No way I would have rolled, but could have been on my side very quickly. Fixed ROPs and seat belt, but my point is even on level ground and with as much grappling that I have done, things happen. You do not need to be on a slope. There are just so many things you have to watch out for.

 

[yelbike]

I have probably the most flat property on the forum. I wear my belt 99% of the time. I have drainage ditches that border two sides of my property. Things can go wrong so quickly. Just buckle up. Doing for you wife and kids.

 

[buickanddeere]

I was operating a small tracked backhoe cleaning out a ditch when the embankment gave way. It was a slow motion roll but there was no way I could have leapt clear.
The sobering part is that the seat belt was found rusty, stuck and tangled up under the seat. I took some time and endured some growling while cleaning and freeing up seat belt latch
I'm glad to have been wear that west by which kept me from being crushed by the machine.

 

[buickanddeere]

I was operating a small tracked backhoe cleaning out a ditch when the embankment gave way. It was a slow motion roll but there was no way I could have leapt clear.
The sobering part is that the seat belt was found rusty, stuck and tangled up under the seat. I took some time and endured some growling while cleaning and freeing up seat belt latch
I'm glad to have been wear that west by which kept me from being crushed by the machine.

 

[skyhook]

When I climb on a ladder, I always look for a spot to jump,"should the need arise",,
When you see those "Ice Road truckers" traveling over ice, they always have the door "open",
use common sense and always be prepared to jump at or in a safe location if need be.
Unfortunately, I have a cabbed tractor, so I'd have to go with the flow, very scary.
Be prepared is the key, if you feel safer with a seat belt and ROPS, so be it,
myself, if I didn't have a cab, I would prefer to jump "away" from a roll, but thats me.
I know, I know it happens fast, but if your in an area that looks dangerous,
then it is, know your machine and your surroundings is the key to being safe.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Several pages back I stated that your brain is the best safety device but Waxman didn't think that was the case. Almost all "accidents" could be prevented with some forethought and planning. Evaluate the situation for what ifs prior to performing any task and have an action in mind IF that what if occurs.

I didn't mean to imply that safety devices are not needed for safety. I would never think of removing my FOPS or ROPS from a tractor. If I wanted to modify it like 4Shorts, I would have no qualms of doing it myself (I welded pressure piping for a living for several years and still weld good enough to pass an xray test) but wouldn't recommend that a person with a cracker box welder do it. YOU KNOW YOUR SKILL LEVEL, DO YOU TRUST IT WITH YOUR LIFE?

Since everyone is listing tales of how they were saved by a ROPS, I will tell about my friends experience which could have been prevented by thinking ahead. He was travelling down his road with an implement on back of his Kubota and a FEL on front. The tractor got on some wet dead leaves and started sliding down the road which had a curve ahead, a barbed wire fence and a deep gully beyond the fence. The brakes wouldn't stop the slide and at the last minute he elected to jump off which was the next best thing to do in this instance. The tractor went thru the fence and ended up in the gully with the tractor resting on the FEL and the rear implement, all 4 wheels were off the ground. The impact flung the tilt steering wheel forward so violently that it cracked the dash and bent the wheel. He claims that he would surely have died if he had stayed on the tractor.
NOW as I said earlier, bailing off was the second best thing. The best thing would have been to drop the FEL and rear implement which would surely have stopped the slide which he admitted would have done the job but all he could think of was getting off the tractor before it went thru the fence. This is what I meant by using your brain to plan ahead, if he had thought about stopping the slide with the FEL, he wouldn't have ended up with a damaged tractor and broken leg from jumping on to the hard road from a moving tractor.

The ROPS and seatbelt wouldn't have save him if he was buckled in as his chest would have been crushed on the steering wheel. The ROPS wont save you from rolling over into a water filled pond either. Most times safety devices save a non thinking person from death, but not always.
One doesn't need thousands of hours of experience (although that helps) to evaluate a situation and think about the bad things that could happen and what he should do if they do.

 

[dragoneggs]

Things happen. I was grappling to a burn pile on Sunday. Went forward to grab a pile of large limbs I piled up near a willow tree. I did not notice that I accidentally grabbed a live branch that rooted along the the horizontal run that I had not cut off. It was to the right of my grapple. Hit the reverser and before I knew it my rear axle was at probably 30 degrees with the left wheel in the air. No way I would have rolled, but could have been on my side very quickly. Fixed ROPs and seat belt, but my point is even on level ground and with as much grappling that I have done, things happen. You do not need to be on a slope. There are just so many things you have to watch out for.

After wrestling with a huge pile of debris the last several months and transporting it (branches, stumps, logs (for cutting up), etc. to a large burn pile, I have experienced many 'wheel or wheels off the ground' experiences, whether by lifting, prying, turning with bucket up, etc. etc. Rough ground even if flat can be hazardous in these situations. Going slow and keeping low is the best advice and I always go slow. Sometimes though, I need the bucket high to get 'er done. So... slow is the key! Oh and ROPS up and seat belt always on. Don't tell yourself ever that this time I don't need to buckle up because you aren't going to do anything unsafe. I am better about wearing my seat belt on my tractor than I am in a car or airplane.

 

[Cherokee140]

Personally I am pretty shocked this thread made it to 22 pages. But I do guess that some people use their machines in different ways. If you are using a machine around your peach, apple or other fruit trees....or even other crops that tall bar may damage your trees. We have more then a few peach and apple trees and I really thought about taking the bar off my BX....one of the reasons I went with the BX over the 1 series and the GC was you can un bolt the bar. I have not done it yet....even after running it into my garage and porch. (Nothing I ever had before) I really wanted to take it off. BUT, I look at it like a seatbelt in a car....or (gasp) a helmet on a motorcycle. It is really no big deal to have it on there IF you remember it is there.

I don't think I have really had a pucker moment, but I have driven down in to some hollows that made my butt come off the seat and the tractor cut out.

Personally I use the seatbelt when I am not doing anything "basic" level my driveway, digging with the backhoe, the few times I mowed I have not used the seatbelt, but anything with the loader I do belt up....or at least I try to....again I am not use to a seat belt and I do forget, but I think with time it will come. Personally I really think there should be more "cage" with these machines....along the lines of a skid loader. Seems that so many are used for that kind of work anymore.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I like the four post FOPS system on my B26TLB but I don't think I would want any thing more restrictive than that unless it was runner rails going from front of the tractor to the top like some dozers have to guide branches up and over the top. That would be good for woods working.
For a BX I wouldn't think that they could topple over unless you had an FEL on them since they are so low to the ground. One would have to be an insane daredevil to work them on a hill steep enough to roll them and surely would need to be seat belted in just to stay in the seat. Anyone doing that needs to receive the Darwin Award.