Quick release for ROPS

[sewdds]

I have an L3800 which I like to keep in my enclosed shed. Are there any acceptable quick release pins that can be used in place of the bolt/nut/cotter key? I use the tractor at least every other day so removing the bolts gets old after a while. The tractor is used in hilly areas,and I am a very safety conscious person; so I prefer to actually have the roll bar in place.
Thanks.

 

[kennyd]

Welcome,
This is the best pic I could find quickly, but you should already have pins and keepers, not bolts. Is this a used machine?

 

[sewdds]

Yes, a year old. 306 hrs when bought. I think the other (new L3800s ) tractors had the same bolts,etc. could be wrong though. Please excuse my ignorance: pins and keepers? There is a flat headed end(like a crescent wrench nearly closed could go on) with a wire loop on it on one side and a nut with a cotter key on the other side with the wire attached to it. Looks very "factory" to me. I do not live near a K. Dealer(live in rural AR). IOT hinge the ROPS down, I have to remove the otter key, take off the nut, etc. trying to avoid this. I haven't looked at your album yet.

 

[JasG]

Welcome,
This is the best pic I could find quickly, but you should already have pins and keepers, not bolts. Is this a used machine?

View attachment 328772

If you look close at the picture you should see bolt heads. Kubota uses a bolt that screws into a welded on nut on the inside of the ROPS. The end of the bolt is drilled and a safety pin goes through to keep it from coming out on it's own. It is a pain in the butt and because I don't have any hills but do have a lot of low clearance I leave mine down.

 

[sewdds]

I "now" understand why I was asked about "new" or "used". Mine must have been modified, changed, whatever. Thanks. It originally did have a quick change pin and will have again soon.

 

[k0ua]

Its Factory for sure, when I had the L3400hst. I though about carefully grinding off the threads to make them pins but I never did it. Yes it gets old, every day for sure. I now have a barn, and a sunshade (highly recommended). and a Kioti!.. ROPS and sunshade stay up. Problem solved.. I guess they are just concerned that with pins, the keeper pin could be easily jerked out with a tree branch, and the pin fall out and of course you could roll over with the same encounter with the "friendly" tree. ooops..

I guess that is why I never ground off the bolt threads.

James K0UA

 

[buckaroo52]

I ground off the threads on my rops bolts after the 2nd. day, turned them into pins ! I must lower it to get her in the barn. Huge pain in the backside...not any more. Highly recommended adjustment.

 

[kennyd]

I stand corrected guys, I thoughts they where just regular pins like the other OEM's use and possibly the previous owner added the bolts to prevent the ROPS from rattling. Grinding off the threads seems like a great solution to this annoying problem.

 

[vtwinhd]

I have the exact same problem. Thinking of grinding mine down too.

 

[sandyc]

My old 2620 had pins that allowed for the rops to be totally up, all the way down, or at half staff. I used to leave it partially up so I could get into my shop without having to fold the rops which even with pins was a pain. I was a bit afraid that one time I would try to drive into the shop and take out the top of the door and or flip the machine over backward. The rops at partially up also made a great grab handle when getting on and off the backhoe.

 

[My Hoe]

Subscribed.

 

[Sammy3700]

Just a thought, not sure how high your door way is my L3700SU is close to 10" shorter than my dad's L3800 and it appears to all be in the top half of the rops. If you could find the top half off a L2800, L3400 OR L3700 you might get low enough not to drop the rops each time.

 

[rjeffl]

I have an L4701. Same problem with the ROPS, as I have to lower it to store in a garage with 7' door. I definitely want it up while mowing, as I have some pretty decent slopes on the property.

I found a couple of 1/2"x3" grade 5 hitch pins at Tractor Supply. These slip right through the welded bolt head with no problems, and the factory tethered retaining pins work in the hitch pins. I keep the original factory bolts mounted in the holes used for the down position. When you lower the ROPS top, it only goes down halfway, so easier to pull back up from the cab. Very clean solution with no modification.

Though the hitch pins are smaller diameter than the factory bolt, they are grade 5. Would take a significant amount of force to shear them off.
I'm sure that Kubota made the bolts a pain to remove on purpose so that fewer folks would want to remove them.