Semi-DIY ROPS

[etpm]

Absolutely, a seat belt is a necessary part of ROPS.

The Canadian farm safety program has statistics on ROPS. There is a high DEATH rate without ROPS. With ROPS, out of 98 roll overs, zero fatalities or serious injuries.

Isn't that interesting. I have been wearing seat belts in cars for over 60 years. I have heard and read all the arguments about how wearing seat belts are less safe than not wearing them. Same deal with motorcycle helmets. But I know these arguments are hogwash. I for sure avoided a head injury by wearing my helmet. I guess I need to follow my own advice and wear my seat belt on my tractor 100% of the time, like I do with motor vehicles.
Eric

 

[RayIN]

Go to the rear axle or the bell housing area if there's a suitable attachment point. A little tractor is probably the perfect candidate for a home made roll bar.
Make it taller than you would think is necessary to be above your head. If you lay the tractor on it's side it needs to be tall enough for the now sideways center of gravity to not overcome the newly created "width" (1/4 turn ago it was it height) and continue rolling!
Some will say to add a seat belt but I'm not 100% sure it's always the best thing in every situation like in an automobile.

The MF operators manual states: "if the ROPS is up always wear the seat belt. If the ROPS is down never wear the seat belt."

 

[470d]

I have a satoh 470d with an after market rops installed (not self made) take a look at the pics how it's mounted and the angles you would need to make the offsets work. You don't have to be some sort of engeneering mathematical genius to build a rops, if in doubt, just overbuild it, as long as its strong and bolted well to the chassis, then you're good to go! If I could not find one, I'd build one myself. Having it have a folding feature is a must though in my books.

 

[mark in portugal]

I made my own ROPS, and integrated it with the FEL.
Because the FEL frame is already there, and (after some modification) extremely strong.

Because the tractor is 4 tons, and I can't do all the clever engineering, I just made the ROPS very strong too. It's 90x90mm (3-1/2") thick wall steel tube. It pivots on the 30mm (1-1/4") FEL pins, and is locked upright with 25mm (1") rods.

Oh yeah, after many breakages of store bought ones, I made the mirrors too. They can fold in either direction and are made from 1/4" thick steel pipe caps.