I am planning of fabricating a ROPS for my MF202 using 2x3x1/4 rectangluar steel tubing. Can anyone advise on the grade of steel I should be using. The rops will be scured to a 1/2 plate fastened to the axle with 6 grade 8 bolts on each side. The plate will also be fastend to the connector that fastens the loader bracket to the axle.
ROPS Steel Grade
- Thread starter richn
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Birdman253
Bronze Member
I wouldn't recommend a home made ROPS. You are staking your life on your cutting and welding ability, as well as your engineering. The factory ROPS for your tractor has to pass very stringent tests to be certified.
Remember, you are trusting your life to the ROPS in case of roll-over, and IMHO if my life depends on it, I want it to be the best and also certified. Also, if the certified ROPS on my tractor fails, then there will be a very rich widow running around.
One other issue. If you put a home made ROPS on your unit, decide to sell it, and the purchaser is injured in an accident, you could be held liable.
Good luck, whatever you decide.
Remember, you are trusting your life to the ROPS in case of roll-over, and IMHO if my life depends on it, I want it to be the best and also certified. Also, if the certified ROPS on my tractor fails, then there will be a very rich widow running around.
One other issue. If you put a home made ROPS on your unit, decide to sell it, and the purchaser is injured in an accident, you could be held liable.
Good luck, whatever you decide.
Farmwithjunk
Super Member
Birdman253 said:
And here we go again....
Very possible there is NO "factory ROPS" for that tractor. Good bet (based on model of tractor and when they were built) it was built prior to ROPS being introduced. John Deere owned the patents on what became the standard design ROPS. They released it on their tractors in 1966. Shortly after that, Deere gave all other brands the go-ahead to start using their design (free- unusual for Deere). By the late '60's about all brands had a ROPS listed as an option. They were almost all using the John Deere design. There's been features added to todays crop of ROPS but they still employ the basic design (geometry) Deere brought to the game. Biggest difference between brands was how the new saftey item attached to the tractor's rear axle. (Also the weakest point in the chain for most early ROPS conversions)
There are aftermarket ROPS available, probably one for that tractor. The "myth" that a certification is as important as the actual ROPS itself, flies right out the window on tractors that weren't factory equipped with a ROPS. Anything you do in that case is a "modification" to the tractor, as far as adding a ROPS.
At that stage, I have to either, trust my own welding abilities and "design", or trust the welder who fabs the aftermarket version. Any "designs" on a home-made ROPS would be merely duplicating exsisting ROPS technology.
Unless you do something extremely drastic, the ROPS technology (and material) applied to smaller tractors seems to serve well even on tractors MUCH heavier than the compacts and utilities that are the subject of most discussion on TBN. Point being, we aren't exactly walking on egg shells with the strength factor.
So, In light of the fact that a great many tractors that were introduced before 1966 won't have an available "factory ROPS", and most of these tractors weren't designed with the intention of mounting a ROPS. Physical shape of the rear axle makes retro-fitting a compromise at best.
Opinions of ROPS and selling the tractor, or ROPS and having employees use it in a business is well documented on TBN. We've even heard the viewpoint of a few dealers who have to comply with certain requirements. There you have to weigh the needs of each individual circumstance. If compliance with OSHO standards is a factor in your decision, then that's the path you need to stick with.
For the average Joe who buys an old tractor to USE, with no immediate need to sell, No OSHA standards to comply with, and a tractor that doesn't have a readily available solution for not having a ROPS, a WELL BUILT home-made ROPS may be the best option. It would certainly be better than NO ROPS. (Providing it's well built)
The "certified or not at all" arguement works well in theory, or as a debate issue, but in the real world, it's not that cut and dried. I'd much prefer to use off-the-shelf O.E.M. parts to install a ROPS on a tractor previously not equipped with such. But that just isn't always an option. At that point, you do the best you can with what you have available.
If you can jump in the pick-up, run down to BRAND X Tractor and buy a ROPS that's a direct fit, and it meets everyones criteria, that would seem the most LOGICAL way to deal with no ROPS. But with many tractors built well into the '70's, the situation requires a different strategy.
MadReferee
Elite Member, Rest in Peace
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Just as a comparison, the Kubota B series ROPS is 3" x 1.5" x 1/4" mild steel tubing.
However, when designing a ROPS you have to consider 4 things, The weight of the tractor, the dimensions of the ROPS including the steel and the overall size of the ROPS, the mounting of the ROPS and finally the actual design of the ROPS, ie. the bends. The bends are designed to channel forces in such a manner as to help the top ROPS member do its job of saving your skull.
Now for a small CUT that never had a ROPS or was never designed to have a ROPS, anything is better than nothing.
There is no such person or organization as the ROPS police.
It's your life and limb and your responsibility.
However, when designing a ROPS you have to consider 4 things, The weight of the tractor, the dimensions of the ROPS including the steel and the overall size of the ROPS, the mounting of the ROPS and finally the actual design of the ROPS, ie. the bends. The bends are designed to channel forces in such a manner as to help the top ROPS member do its job of saving your skull.
Now for a small CUT that never had a ROPS or was never designed to have a ROPS, anything is better than nothing.
There is no such person or organization as the ROPS police.
It's your life and limb and your responsibility.
Farmwithjunk
Super Member
MadReferee said:
There's NOT?
So, the guys who came to the door last night taking donations for the ROPS Police Ball were just yankin' my chain?
N80
Super Member
It looks like the MF202 came out in 1961. One picture I saw shows a 1965 with some sort of ROPS-like attachment, probably just a light bar. It looks to be a smallish tractor, but probably quite heavy compared to modern tractors of similar dimensions.
Farmwithjunk
Super Member
N80 said:
202/203 was an industrial version of the MF 35 for all intents and purposes. It was/is a stout tractor for its physical size.
dfkrug
Super Member
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I rebuilt my Kioti CK30 folding ROPS with 2x3x1/4" tubing (probably
A36 mild steel). This is a great tractor, but the ROPS is WAY too
tall. I internally sleeved the cuts before welding.
Not as a test of strength, but to tweak it a little after welding, I
put it in my 20T press and I could barely bend it 1/8" at max
pressure.
A36 mild steel). This is a great tractor, but the ROPS is WAY too
tall. I internally sleeved the cuts before welding.
Not as a test of strength, but to tweak it a little after welding, I
put it in my 20T press and I could barely bend it 1/8" at max
pressure.
whodat90
Silver Member
Another thing to remember is that the rops is not a roll cage. It's a whunkosteel designed to slow/stop a flop on the side of the tractor, and prevent a rollover by changing the fulcrum point (instead of rolling over the hood it now would have to lift the whole tractor up the height of the rops to continue rolling.) Think of the dynamics of a regular tractor (no rops) flop. Something happens to destabilize it; it then rolls on it's side. First point of contact is the rear tires, which stick out pretty far. Next comes the hood. If there's no rops in place, next comes the steering wheel/operator. Now imagine it with the rops. First the back tires, then the rops, done.
Most of the rops I've seen have had a single hoop, with crimped corners. No triangulation, no crossbracing. Don't recall ever having seen a roll cage with crimped corners and one connection point on the vehicle, or a handy pivot point to fold the thing over. The only thing I'd add to the original poster is to make sure it isn't too strong. Wouldn't do too much good if when you flopped, the rops bar, completely intact, broke the mounting points off the tractor.
whodat
edit: Before the notional 'rops police' come to get me, let me clarify that last part. Make sure that your mounting system is sufficient to hold up to the loads you plan to place on them. Given the choice, you want the rops to bend (bending absorbs energy, dissipating it over a period of time) rather than maintain it's rigidity and integrity and break off whatever part of the tractor it's mounted to.
Most of the rops I've seen have had a single hoop, with crimped corners. No triangulation, no crossbracing. Don't recall ever having seen a roll cage with crimped corners and one connection point on the vehicle, or a handy pivot point to fold the thing over. The only thing I'd add to the original poster is to make sure it isn't too strong. Wouldn't do too much good if when you flopped, the rops bar, completely intact, broke the mounting points off the tractor.
whodat
edit: Before the notional 'rops police' come to get me, let me clarify that last part. Make sure that your mounting system is sufficient to hold up to the loads you plan to place on them. Given the choice, you want the rops to bend (bending absorbs energy, dissipating it over a period of time) rather than maintain it's rigidity and integrity and break off whatever part of the tractor it's mounted to.
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