When one door closes, another opens....

[KentT]

Well, the saga continues...

Moved the burned 425 and stuck it behind my shed. Found two puddles of melted aluminum underneath it -- I don't think anything inside the engine tub is salvageable, but I want to scrounge hydraulic lines and such off the front.



Removed the ROPS and took it to the local rollcage member to modify it -- only for him to look it over and decline to do so because of liability. With the angle of uprights, and the need to widen it from a 24" tub to a 30" tub -- he wouldn't tackle it. So I called Terry back. He'd looked at it on Monday and determined a new 1430 ROPS wouldn't fit. But, he offered me a 1850 certified ROPS for the same price that he'd quoted for the 1430 canopy. It will bolt up, but I have to drill two more mounting holes in the tub. So, another trip back to Tazewell... Geez, he takes good care of us!

While I was there, I stocked up on more T-8 QA plates since I had successfully bolted on the 425's male QA onto the old 1430. At least that part is working out well so far -- I still need to add hose brackets/holders to my lift arms, and run the necessary hoses. My old 3-pin's PTO connections are down at the bottom of the tub, so I need to route those up and out onto the lift arms. It has an auxiliary valve similar to the new models, but the connections for it are on the valve body itself and use a different old-style connector. More hoses needed there. I want to carefully measure and move the new PTO and Aux/QA quick connects out farther on these longer lift arms, so that the hoses on the attachments will reach.

Since I have a set of old, bent lift arms, I can salvage some hose brackets/holders from it. Additionally, I'm going to cut the ends off those lift arms and weld them to a QA plate to make adapters so I can attach the mower and brushcutter to it, and still use the pushbar (the low, third attachment point). So, hooking up mowers won't be quite as easy as the new QA setups, but I can use the QA to replace 2 of the 3 pins which should still be a big improvement. This seems far simpler/cheaper than trying to put expensive center pivot QA mounts on each mower. Plus, it should be virtually as strong as the original mounting. I'll also cut off the ears and weld a T-8 plate on the 60" rock bucket that I got with it -- that's pretty straight-forward.

This weekend's chore, in near-record heat, is to dry-fit the heavy 1850 ROPS, mark and drill the additional two mounting holes...

 

[Garandman]

It's badass.

 

[MossRoad]

I remember pulling the ROPs/canopy off my 425. It was nice in that I removed all but one bolt on each side and it just swung down in front of the unit and onto the ground. I then removed the last two bolts and lifted it off. I put it back on the same way, by myself. Its probably not as heavy as the one you're dealing with, though.

 

[KentT]

Yes, this ROPS likely weighs twice as much as the 425 one. Uprights are 2x3 tubing with boxed gussets in the top corners. I think the top is thicker gauge steel, about 30"x44", and the tub mounting plates are more that twice as big, using 4 bolts in a square pattern, 6" apart.

Back when this thing was made, the 1430 and 1850 might have shared the same tub -- or at least major portions of it. The tub is a full 6" wider than the 425 -- there's actually room to get your arms and hands down in there beside the engine. Far more foot room, up front, also. The stock wheel track is 56" to the outside edges of its 26x12x12. The track on a new 1430 is 53". The tub on a new 1430 is 27" wide I think, while this one is 30"...

 

[MossRoad]

Might have to use a hoist to get it positioned to tip up.

 

[KentT]

Installing the heavy ROPS wasn't as bad a one-man operation as I had imagined. I put it up in the bed of my Nissan Frontier, blocked it up, and drove the PT between the arms on the ROPS. The slick plastic bed liner allowed me to shift it around, align and insert the top front bolt on each side. Then I climbed up in the bed, braced my feet against the cab, and lifted/pushed it up on to the PT. I inserted the two top rear bolts, temporarily, marked the location of four additional holes needed. Then I removed the two rear bolts, lifted up the rear of the ROPS about 45 degrees, exposing my marks, and snugged up the two remaining bolts to hold it there. I only broke two cheap Harbor Freight step drill bits drilling the four holes in the tub!

It fit well, and looks well - even the 1850's "King of the Hill" decals on each side of the ROPS seems appropriate for my use! Today's task is to install a seat belt, then I'll be ready to test it on my hillsides!

 

[SpringHollow]

Sounds like you came up with a great solution. A gantry even like the HF ones can be a back saver. For outdoors, I replaced the beam on a HF one with a longer and stronger beam. I do not use the outside gantry very often but it is worth every penny when I do.

Ken

 

[woodlandfarms]

What sticker? I never go a sticker on the ROPS

 

[KentT]

It has these decals on both sides - shown when I had marked the new tub holes, prior to drilling.

Flickr

Flickr

 

[cqaigy2]

That sure is a nice tractor!