Once in a lifetime........

[stormpetrel]

My R.O.P.S. was struck by a flying 1500-1800 lb. rock (don't ask, it's a long story involving other people and equipment) which glanced off the fender and dented it. AFTER tearing the R.O.P.S. right out of the transmission case, leaving four holes. This happened days ago, and has taken all this time to sink in. (The rollover bar itself doesn't seem to have bent or been damaged!!)

The question I have now is.....what the heck do I do? Can I have the transmission case welded and tapped for the bolts? Can I have the holes welded, then simply weld the entire R.O.P.S. right back on? I have never even heard of such a thing happening before, it's completely out of the range of my experience. I don't really care to talk about the how and why of the accident, it's too fresh and painful....I just wanna get the problem taken care of.

Otherwise, the tractor has run like a top, it's done everything I've ever asked it to do. It's payed for itself ten times over since I bought it 2 & 1/2 years ago. I couldn't be any happier with it. I really do hope this was a once in a lifetime experience!

 

[Scotty Dive]

Is insurance an option here? If it was an accident not caused by me I would try to get myself a "new" one from fredericks via the responsible parties insurance. Your tractor is now "un safe" without a ROPS - at least that would be my argument with the insurance co. I will let the others chime in on how to repair those holes....I would think you need someone who specializes in that kind of repair. This is a life saving device and not just a broken piece of metal that needs to be welded back in place. I have heard that heli coils can add strength to a stripped out hole. Will be interested in this discussion.

 

[aczlan]

Pictures of the damage? I assume that your ROPS bolts in in the back of the transmission vs to the axles.
Welding will not work well as welding cast is dicy at best unless working in ideal conditions.
Does the person who hit it have insurance that would cover the bill for a new transmission and ROPS? I would not re-use the ROPS as you dont know for sure that it is still sound and you don't want to find out the hard way that it isn't.

Aaron Z

 

[BuilderML]

Scotty good point on insurance, when i called my agent to make sure my unit was covered after i purchased it. They told me its covered under my homeowners policy. Doesn't hurt to ask?
Stormpetrel quick question for you. Hows the RI coast looking i would stay right by the point judith break wall on vaca. Is it worth it to vaca or did the coast get beat up to bad during sandy?

 

[murphy1244]

Scotty good point on insurance, when i called my agent to make sure my unit was covered after i purchased it. They told me its covered under my homeowners policy. Doesn't hurt to ask?
Stormpetrel quick question for you. Hows the RI coast looking i would stay right by the point judith break wall on vaca. Is it worth it to vaca or did the coast get beat up to bad during sandy?

Were you at home when this happened? If not your homeowners will not cover you.

 

[Trkrd]

Agree with the previous posts. You need it fixed PROPERLY. A compromised ROPS would void the purpose of having it in the first place. Glad to hear that asteroid missed YOU !

 

[Scotty Dive]

Were you at home when this happened? If not your homeowners will not cover you.

Can you explain why? What happens when a tree falls on your house or shed when you are at work or vacation? I know my homeowners covers my tractor while its on my property..I have never heard that I need to be on the property at the time

 

[Buckgnarly]

Can you explain why? What happens when a tree falls on your house or shed when you are at work or vacation? I know my homeowners covers my tractor while its on my property..I have never heard that I need to be on the property at the time

I think he means was the tractor on his home property.

To the OP, how can you NOT tell a story of flying 1500lb rocks!?!? The world wants to know!

 

[BuilderML]

murphy1244, i am sure he was at home when this happened, or atleast find a 1500lb rock in his yard and say thats the one !!:muttering:

 

[murphy1244]

Can you explain why? What happens when a tree falls on your house or shed when you are at work or vacation? I know my homeowners covers my tractor while its on my property..I have never heard that I need to be on the property at the time

Scotty you might owe my a new keyboard as mine is now damp with sticky pop.

 

[BuilderML]

Can we play a guessing game???
How about he was working to close to an excavator and as the excavator was swinging around the excavator lost hold of the rock and bammmm thats all she wrote.:stirthepot:

 

[California]

This is a real simple case where you file a claim against the insurance of the party who tossed the boulder. The amount of the claim is the loss in value of your tractor. If you use it for income then add the lost income while you arrange a replacement.

Your own homeowner insurance may represent you in this, and may even pay you first while they go after the other party if you have excellent insurance.

You are owed a tractor with an undamaged ROPS and with undamaged attachment points. 'Value' would be the depreciated value of your present unit at the moment before it was hit. If this came from Fredericks then there are comparables out there to determine value.

You might chose to take cash and patch together your present tractor but I doubt that is cost-effective after the cost of competent repairs.


I would like to hear which brand of ROPS. Was it attached to the axle as well as bolted around the PTO?

I hope you weren't on the tractor when the boulder arrived!

 

[kevin37b]

1500-1800 # rock glanced off the fender and dented it ???? Iwould really like to hear the rest of this story ?

 

[jerrybob]

1500-1800 # rock glanced off the fender and dented it ???? Iwould really like to hear the rest of this story ?

Me too.....and I agree with Calif......the other guy's insurance should get you an equivalent tractor!

 

[Baby Grand]

<snip>

AFTER tearing the R.O.P.S. right out of the transmission case, leaving four holes.

<snip>

(

Did it tear the threads (or threaded inserts) out of the casting, or did it tear out chunks of casting with the bolts?
Just trying to determine if a repair could be achieved by using repair (oversized or twinsert) threaded inserts, a replacement ROPS & fender, or if the tranny case is trashed beyond all hope, in which case I think it would look like a total loss, at least from the insurance companys' perspective.

 

[stormpetrel]

OK, in order, as I remember.
I was on the property, and have excellent insurance.
The R.I. coast got hit pretty hard, but the beaches are fine.
The holes are pretty big, no inserts remain.
Virtually all the rock's energy went into the R.O.P.S. , it just clipped the fender on the way to the ground. Otherwise, it's just too painful to re-live the incident; I just want to focus on how to fix the problem. Insurance will likely pay....but HOW to fix the machine?

I do not think the tranny case is a goner, but I am not qualified to say that for certain. I thought welding the bar directly to the tranny case, covering/filling the holes, would be a fast and competent fix. The transmission is not pressurized at all right? So it's just a question of the respective metal's ability to be joined safely. Is that about the size of it?

 

[California]

HOW to fix the machine?

Replace the transmission case. That is such a major component that I expect it means replace the tractor.

But take time to get over this first, before deciding anything.

Everybody. lets back off on the questions.

 

[brin]

Can we play a guessing game???
How about he was working to close to an excavator and as the excavator was swinging around the excavator lost hold of the rock and bammmm thats all she wrote.:stirthepot:

Maybe, but I think it was either a Meteor or his ROPS was bumped by an Alien space craft at warp speed 007 - I'm pretty sure I'm right...and he just is hesitant to say...:confused3:

 

[joshuabardwell]

Were you at home when this happened? If not your homeowners will not cover you.

More fundamentally, it should be the insurance of whomever threw the rock that gets the claim!

 

[joshuabardwell]

This is a real simple case where you file a claim against the insurance of the party who tossed the boulder. The amount of the claim is the loss in value of your tractor. If you use it for income then add the lost income while you arrange a replacement.

What's the loss in value here, realistically? I've seen cars totaled for less serious things than this seems to be. Catastrophic damage to the attachment point of the ROPS and the body? I'm skeptical that the manufacturer has a repair procedure for that, just for liability reasons. But I'm no fabricator... maybe it's an easy fix.