ROPS message again!

[frank_z]

I have been reluctant to install a ROPS on my Yanmar because of past problems with a Kubota equipped with ROPS. The overhead bar on the ROPS caused deer ticks to rain down on me (YUK!) from the trees when I mowed in my windbreak.
I now have a different perspective on rollover protection systems when I read in the morning paper that a local orchardist got killed when his tractor rolled over.

The story:
Tri-City Herald: Mid-Columbia news

A video:
KNDO/KNDU Tri-Cities, Yakima, WA | Hillside Orchards Owner Dies After Being Run Over By A Tractor

Frank Z.

 

[LMTC]

Far too many folks assume they only need a ROPS if they do a lot of work on hills. Anything that allows one wheel to drop....."powdery dirt", groundhog hole, etc. can cause a rollover. If it was predictable no one but complete idiots would die in rollovers, yet many very experienced and probably very savvy operators die or are injured that way. This article reads as if he may have been off the tractor....although I have a tough time imagining someone trying to bolster up the low side of a tractor leaning enough to even appear as if it might roll. I'd have to walk out of the fields and get other equipment.

If you want that ROPS, let us know....OSHA approved, foldable, seat belt & all hardware. Put a canopy on it to keep the debris from falling on you.

 

[svcguy]

Another cause of roll over which no one really thinks of is axle or rim failure. So many of the tractors we use have sketchy histories that we know nothing about. (Especially gray market tractors which can be used as primary transportation in many countries).

If a tractor loses a rear wheel or axle, the drop to the ground will often result in roll over on dead flat ground. The taller the rear rubber, the greater the risk. I have seen calcium deterioration on back rims that would make your hair stand on end and seen people trying to pull stumps with chains that would put hairline cracks in any two inch stub axle.

Some of the posted video I have seen of people trying out their new bucket grapples have had me shaking my head, amazed a flop wasn't part of the video as they drive around with a 14 foot log at the height of the boom reach.

There really isn't much between having a great time with your tractor and a roll over.

 

[LMTC]

Another cause of roll over which no one really thinks of is axle or rim failure.

Excellent point!

 

[Grrrr]

Another thing that can cause rollovers (which I nearly learned the hard way is having a heavy weight able to swing around on the TPH.

We had a MF135 hooked up to a hay turner. The turner can swing out when you turn left to spread the hay out evenly. This is fine when it is on the ground as the swing is controlled.

However, on one our steepest fields, I had nearly finished and was in the middle of the field. I came down the hill to the point where I needed to turn 90 degrees to the left to go along the next row. This row would go along the side slope of the hill which was steep.

The turn was tight so I decide to lift the turner up on the TPH and do a full 360 to the right to come back along. I was going about 8 MPH.

I started to turn tightly using the turning brakes, jsut as I was going across the slope the turner suddenly swung right out downhill. The TPH arms had a lot of side to side movement in them to.

This sudden weight shift to the downhill side completely overwhelmed the tractor and the uphill rear whell flew up. I thought it was going all the way over but as it continued over, the turner hit the ground. This was enough to stop the roll and the tractor came back down.

I learnt my lesson from that one

 

[Ductape]

If only there were a ROPS available for my 186D.

 

[LMTC]

If only there were a ROPS available for my 186D.

Write to Yanmar America and complain...seriously. They put up that notice on their website ripping grey market yanmars, including the claim that they come in without ROPS (which is true). Well, we now have OSHA approved ROPS for the greys we sell.....yet they sold units without ROPS initially, and I wouldn't know where to get one for those. I'd be seriously interested in what response you would get from them if you told them you can get an OSHA approved ROPS for a grey market Yanmar, but not the one you have that they sold here originally. Maybe there is a source somewhere and they could give you that information.

 

[Ductape]

I contacted US Yanmar a while back, i'd say over a year ago. They sent me to one of their US distributors (i do not recall the name of the company) who told me the ROPS that would have come on my tractor was a discontinued part. I never persued it beyond that conversation.

 

[Whiskey]

Ductape:

I have the factory ROPS for my YM187. it has a tag Manf. name and serial number on it...mabe a shot in the dark??????

 

[Ductape]

Maybe, but if you want to PM the info to me, i can follow up on it.

My thoughts are to install a ROPS for a 1510D on my tractor, even though its not certified as such. I feel a ROPS certified for an equivalent tractor is better than none.