I'm late to the party here, as is often the case, but let me interject this bit just to see what the group reaction is -- if anyone is still following this very long thread.
I bought a ROPS for my Kubota
B7100 from the dealer. It was built by Kubota for my tractor, which predates the requirement. It came to me in several pieces, the major ones being two roughly S shaped members which bolted to the tractor in the same place as the pivots for the lower links attach. The rod for the lower links goes through the ROPS.
The interesting part is at the top. The two S shaped parts come together over an inner sleeve. There is a bolt on each side that passes through (GASP!) a hole in the ROPS! The bolts are about 3/4 inch diameter and also pass through the inner sleeve, which BTW, didn't fit in place all that well.
Suppose I happen to roll my little beastie. If the ROPS doesn't hold and I get to spend my remaining days in a wheel chair doing all my tractoring here instead of outside, do you suppose Kubota is at fault? Or would it be me since I'm not a certified Kubota tech? What if I hadn't put the thing on there in the first place and just used the tractor as it was originally designed, manufactured, and sold? Would Kubota have any more or less liability?
What it comes down to is simply who can hire the best lawyer. In today's litiguous society, unfortunately, there are shyster lawyers who are out looking for something to sue a big company about. Witness the pathetic attempts to hold gun and amunition manufacturers liable for injuries caused by idiots misusing their products. This was perpetrated not just by individuals, but entire city governments.
I think we are finally seeing the tide begin to turn against those who try to make their fortune by bringing suit against anyone they think has deep pockets. Unfortunately, the days of "welfare by lawsuit" have left a legacy of paranoia among manufacturers, dealers, and service providers with which we all have to deal whenever we interact with those businesses. No one wants to be held responsible for things that are not their fault. Similarly, no one wants to open a door, even a tiny bit, for what could become a class action lawsuit that would cause a business to close its doors. Hence, businesses do all they can to avoid responsibility unless something is clearly their problem.
Contrast all that has been said here with what I went through when replacing the engine in my old Cadet. The replacement engine was a new Kohler unit, installed by my faithful dealer. The engine simply didn't work correctly from the start. Among other things, the head was not flat, causing leakage around the head gasket, the carburetor was defective and needed to be replaced with a new one, and the "cup" by which the driveshaft attaches to the flywheel came unbolted, causing the locator pin to fall behind the flywheel. I spent a year trying to get a working engine in that machine. Kohler was no help, simply telling the dealer to fix it each and every time. In a year, I got about 10 hours use out of it and it spent at least 4 times that much in the shop. I finally asked that it be replaced with a new engine. I went through all the channels. Kohler would not budge. I called them personally, emailed them, etc. No success. I was seriously considering the lawsuit route under the lemon law.
Then, ta-daa, rescue from an unlikely source! My dealer happened to be talking with the Cadet rep and mentioned my situation as a bit of conversation. The Cadet guy told him to replace the defective engine with a new one, at Cub Cadet's expense! This for a 30 plus year old tractor that I had purchased used!
Sometimes, even in the worst of situations, someone steps up and reinforces your faith in humanity. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
