Folding ropes..

[jd2305cd]

Thought I would share this lil project.. Haven't even got the tractor yet, hopefully tomorrow or Saturday (2305)...

At any rate won't fit in the geeeerage, so making it fold.. Going to be hinged and pin setup..

Cut two pieces of tube steel 10" long, then cut 5" of one side off. The 2305 rops are 2", they will fit snug in this tubing.

Then made a cut along the side to open her up:

Cleaned up the surface for the welding..

Then squared up the hing, tacked it in place in each bolt hole, rag is soaked with water to keep the heat out of the hings rubber spacers..

All finished, for now

Can't wait to get it home and start playing, after this is the grapple..

 

[WilliamBos]

Looks Great. Keep us posted. We also broke the fabled "Do not touch your ROPS unless you are washing it..." law, and I will post pics once it is completed.

 

[jd2305cd]

Looks Great. Keep us posted. We also broke the fabled "Do not touch your ROPS unless you are washing it..." law, and I will post pics once it is completed.

Thanks! I have never been good at following the rules Please do post some shots, might give me an idea...

 

[Airic]

Looks good. You may want a bolt on the opposite side from the hinge point to put tension on the ROPs once you place the pins in. If not the rattling noise will drive you nuts.

 

[jd2305cd]

Great idea, thanks.... I'll add it on..

 

[kennyd]

This will not be received well, but I think it looks terrible-just being honest here. Those hinges look very weak for the intended application.

You should of at least copied the way JD does it on theirs to make it more professional looking and not just welded on some cheap barn door hinges.

Flame suit on...

 

[sal64]

hello i agree with kenny hinges arent strong enough in the avent of rollover.

 

[GT2]

I would think that if he is pinning the ROPES into the reciever it shouldent matter what the hinges look like?

 

[jd2305cd]

If you thought about it for a minute or two you might understand it better.. The pins are what will keep it up, don't even need the hinges at all. Hinges are just for my easy of use, so i can fold it up and down quick. I could have just welded a tube on and slide the top rops in and out when i wanted them. Hinges don't provide any support what so ever..

Not flaming Kenny! But if you want to share your opinion/thoughts, specially with 5000 post/senior member i would think you would atleast do it with out being insulting and prickish??

 

[kennyd]

Not flaming Kenny! But if you want to share your opinion/thoughts, specially with 5000 post/senior member i would think you would atleast do it with out being insulting and prickish??

I am sorry if I came off that way-that was not my intention. Let me try to say it a different way:

JD2320, Since you obviously know how to fabricate and weld, why not stop at the dealer and take some pictures and/or make a cardboard template of the the way JD hinges the factory folding ROPS on the 2320 and the 2520 machines. It would look much more professional than the barn door hinges you are using.

Did I do better that time?

 

[sal64]

didnt reelize that if u pin it it will be strong

 

[jd2305cd]

Much!

 

[wv1720]

Until I see the finished product, I will have to agree with Kennyd. Depending on how they are pinned, that hinge will still be a weak point.

 

[jd2305cd]

Picture it this way, hings will be facing to the back of the tractor. So if I flip the tractor to the right or left its going to be on steel.. If i flip it over backwards it will be on steel. If i some how manage to flip my tractor over the front wheels then the pin will take the brunt, but i am pretty sure if I manage to flip it over the front wheels then I just drove off a cliff..

While pretty is nice, functional is what i am going for. Those are some expensive barn hings, set me back 2.79 each.

 

[jd2305cd]

Here is quick sketch of the john deer ones, or very similar..

Instead of rotating/pivot point on a bolt, I have used a hing. The bolt doesn't provide any strength, its all in the pin and steel... Hope this helps..

 

[GT2]

Here is quick sketch of the john deer ones, or very similar..

Instead of rotating/pivot point on a bolt, I have used a hing. The bolt doesn't provide any strength, its all in the pin and steel... Hope this helps..

Quite frankly I like your design better (properly pinned of course!), less protrusions to smack body parts on!

 

[Airic]

Comparing the sketch and your build. I am no structural engineer so only take this with a grain of salt but, the hinge point on the sketch is a through bolt that goes through the sleeve and ROP's which adds additional strength and rigidity to the entire mechanism. Two points that holds the assembly together versus one point (Pin) per your build (your hinge does not count as you stated earlier). I would really consider matching that design as I feel it is superior to you build. When it comes to safety like this you don't want to skimp. Not criticizing your work here as it looks good but, I would definitely follow the engineered solution on this. I like the JD sketch design more than the factory set up on my MF.

 

[LBrown59]

Those hinges look very weak for the intended application.

I'd hate to hinge my life on the hinges.

 

[Aguanga]

Picture it this way, hings will be facing to the back of the tractor. So if I flip the tractor to the right or left its going to be on steel.. If i flip it over backwards it will be on steel. If i some how manage to flip my tractor over the front wheels then the pin will take the brunt, but i am pretty sure if I manage to flip it over the front wheels then I just drove off a cliff..

While pretty is nice, functional is what i am going for. Those are some expensive barn hings, set me back 2.79 each.

I won't go down the safety road or endorse what you're doing, but I wanted to clarify what you meant by "on steel." I interpreted it that you figured your bracket tubing against the ROPS tubing would take the brunt of it (not the hinge). That would be mostly accurate for a side rollover although you would still experience some tension on one hinge and compression on the other. However, I think you're grossly underestimating the amount of tension that would be placed on your hinge if flipping over backwards. Let's say for arguements sake that if rolling over backwards the ground hit the top of the roll bar with a force 1,000 pounds (probably conservative). If your hinge is about 18" down from the top of the ROPS and your ROPS is 2"x3" (guessing from the picture), you'll have a tension force of about 7,667 pounds on that $2.79 hinge - 1,000 x 23 / 3. Feel free to swap your dimension and force values, but you may want to find the specification ratings on those hinges if functional is what your really after... especially when functional means life saving in this case (ok so I did go down the safety road after all)

 

[jd2305cd]

The hing wont be where 99% of the force is applied.. It will be on the pin, with the pin as the piviot point it will force the ROPs tube into the brace... You guys are stuck on those hinges, they are driving you all nuts..

Here is what i did tonight, drilled the two holes for the pins, I didn't get the holes lined up great so had to add some weld on one side of the hole and re-drill. I am happy the way the came out..

Then after I cut about an 1 1/2" off the pins (pins are 1" thick) and re-drilled the hole for the clasp. It was heat treated and a pain to drill..