Is the ROPS really needed?

[ray66v]

Federal regulators are studying self deploying ROPS. These will work like air bags, and deploy in the event of a rollover. They will also add considerable cost to a new tractor, if they end up being required.

Every time you see an operator, driving around with a fold-able ROPS in the folded position, you can conclude why the Feds are probably going to eventually stick us with this.

 

[skyhook]

ROPs can be dangerous too. Well it is not ROPs it is inexperience. Our property is not only hilly but also has lot of scattered trees. When we got our new tractor my wife was bush hogging under the trees when the ROP hit a pretty thick branch and the tractor did a "wheelie" almost tipping back wards. I think it was the bush hog that stopped the motion.
Would I take ROPs off? Sure. Use common sense. It is you who takes the risk.

A friend of mine was driving his machine, cutting grass,, as he went near the barn, there was a beam
leaning against it, he drove under, not thinking about the rops, it caught the beam and it landed on his head, several stitches later he considered this very debate.
There are still allot of old farm tractors without them,
just like seat belt's, sometimes they save lives, sometimes they don't.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

My ROPS is often times catching a tree limb and causing it to smack me in the head but I'd rather have it do that and save me from a crushed head. I always wear seat belts in my cars and trucks and have since 1965.
I was sitting still when this happened, pushed down on FEL had my seat belt on and within less than a second I was on my side. Maybe ROPS kept it from rolling on over, I don't know.

 

[Gary Fowler]

My ROPS is often times catching a tree limb and causing it to smack me in the head but I'd rather have it do that and save me from a crushed head. I always wear seat belts in my cars and trucks and have since 1965.
I was sitting still when this happened, View attachment 392156 pushed down on FEL had my seat belt on and within less than a second I was on my side. Maybe ROPS kept it from rolling on over, I don't know.
View attachment 392156

Looks like a good time to change the HST filter.
Setting up side slope like that would do it.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I also noticed that you didn't have the low side stabilizer down. You likely realize this now, but that should have been the first thing to go down so it levelled up the TLB, then the off side then the FEL bucket last when working on a slope. ON level ground it doesn't much matter, but I usually put down the FEL first because it will level front to rear easily.

 

[cartod]

I have not rolled a tractor before but with the lay of my land im not taking a chance. First thing I bought for this old tractor when I acquired it was a rops. After all this is WV and nothing is flat.

 

[buickanddeere]

Equipment safety protection removal is vital to society. This thins out the weak and dull witted from the gene pool.

 

[ultrarunner]

The ROPS on my CAT D3 Dozer was sometimes in the way and often thought I could do more without it.

Overtime I came to value the protection from the elements it offered.

Then, one day going through the woods on a flat level trail down by the creek with family nearby a huge BAY Tree picked that exact moment to topple and land squarely on the ROPs over my head.

Tree was 30" in diameter over the ROPS and I never saw it coming... there had been a lot of rain the week before and unknown to me the bank had washed out... don't know if the vibration is what triggered it to topple.

My then 75 year old Mom came running over and then my brother... they saw the whole thing and Mom was white as a ghost.

I was fine, the Dozer was fine and all I needed to do was walk back to the barn to get my saw to cut my Dozer free...

I'm certain it save my life and never saw it coming...

On the flip side I know had I been on the BX, I and the BX would have been squashed like a bug... might have survived on the Deere 110 ROPS with lots of damage.

 

[tcartwri]

The ROPS is the most dangerous thing on my tractor by far. It's sitting in my shed now.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I also noticed that you didn't have the low side stabilizer down. You likely realize this now, but that should have been the first thing to go down so it levelled up the TLB, then the off side then the FEL bucket last when working on a slope. ON level ground it doesn't much matter, but I usually put down the FEL first because it will level front to rear easily.

I was getting ready to back up while peeling an edge off the bank to level it out which I had done many times over the years so wouldn't have had feet down. Doing it over today I'd lower BH boom/arm all the way down and out and swing it around to uphill side and could even lower the down hill side leg down near the ground for extra safety.
Even better would have been to use the BH to peel off edge while sitting perfectly level on the concrete but again, getting away with something a hundred times gets one to thinking doing it that way is OK.

 

[dougtrr2]

The ROPS is the most dangerous thing on my tractor by far. It's sitting in my shed now.

Just curious as to what would prompt that statement? To me a ROPS may be inconvenient but I can't see it being dangerous.
I used to keep mine folded unless I was doing backhoe or loader work. One consistent theme regarding rollover is that if it happens, it will be fast and probably unexpected. Mine stays up all the time and seat belt is on.

Doug in SW IA

 

[AHNC]

When my 2660 went over on its right side I was reaching for the key to turn it off and was fortunate to be able to simply step off as it went over, avoiding the loader joystick, levers and pedals. Ole! It was a pretty athletic and very lucky sequence. The ROP landed against the Sequoia and held the tractor up off the ground preventing damage to the tractor. The ROP wasn't damaged either. It is inconvenient having the ROP at times, but given that I am occasionally given to being a complete nitwit, I guess I'll leave it in place.

 

[bcp]

From:
Rollover Protection for Farm Tractor Operators

"Tractor rollovers are the single deadliest type of injury incident on farms in the United States. The latest figures from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) suggest there are approximately 130 tractor rollover fatalities per year."
...
" The tractor is the leading cause of death on the farm.

Tractors in the Northeast states have the highest rate of overturn deaths and the lowest percentage of tractors with ROPS.

The use of ROPS and a seat belt is estimated to be 99% effective in preventing death or serious injury in the event of a tractor rollover."




Bruce

 

[Parkanzky]

Hmmm. Not sure about that. If you weren't wearing the seat belt, and the tractor rolled, you could simply step away as it went over.

I'm pretty sure the ROPS is a .gov overkill deal.

When I was in college, I spent a summer working at a company that manufactured concrete steps. Normally, I worked on the actual production of the steps but they decided to spend a Saturday cleaning up the yard (they had broken sets of steps all over the place) and asked me if I'd come in to help. Three of us ran a TLB and two forklifts for the effort. I ran one forklift and the other guy running the forklift was cruising up and down the gravel lot at top speed. We told him to slow down more than once.

Shortly after one of us had told him to take it easy again he cruised by me, fish-tailed a bit, and then the forklift slid sideways, dug-in and fell over. He wasn't wearing his seatbelt (I wasn't either. Who wears a seatbelt when they're driving a forklift in a perfectly flat parking lot?) and instead of going along for the ride he panicked and tried to jump out of the forklift. He got most of the way out of it but the side of the cage came down on his ankle, shattering both bones. As he panicked more and struggled to free himself, his ankle elongated and twisted in a circle like a Stretch Armstrong doll. I had to kneel on his chest while I was talking to him and trying to calm him down so that he didn't cut any tendons or important plumbing with the sharp bone shards.

So I wouldn't count on being able to step away in a rollover. That cage could just have easily ended up on his chest or head.

Also, because of the way he and the forklift were positioned, I had to pick the forklift up off of him using just the tips of my forks. I curled back as much as I could while I very slowly lifted because I was terrified the forklift would end up on him a second time if the forks bent down enough to drop it.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Yep, I dont think anyone on here is going to come right out and say...go ahead and do it. Too much liability

But as Teg said....its YOUR tractor, and you know the risks.

I will say that I dont have ROPS on my L3400. I have never operated a tractor with ROPS until I got it 6 years ago. First time back in the woods and catching every tree branch that I ducked under....only to have the ROPS snag and smack me in the back of the head with:confused2:, I decided right then that the ROPS were comming off.

Sure, some said I sould have got folding ROPS, BUT....why spend that extra money just to leave them on and folded down. Because I know I would never put them up:laughing:

Your tractor....Your decision. Some are comfortable enough to remove the ROPS, others arent

When I first got my Ferris ZTR mower, I put up the ROPS but soon found that nowhere on my property are the hills steep enough to cause a rollover so I folded it down. I don't know how many limbs I have skinned the bark off of with that folded down ROPS. A couple weeks ago, It hung onto one of my 3" diameter pear tree limbs that sprouted off the main trunk about a foot from the bottom and broke it off which now makes the tree look lopsided. The next day, I took the ROPS off and put it in storage. I can now mow my yard without scraping limbs, breaking limbs or knocking off have my fruit crop.
If I were mowing with a BX and used it only for mowing with no FEL or backhoe on it AND the land was fairly level, I would remove it also. You land should be the decisive factor to determine if you have a possibility of a rollover, if not, take it off if you want to.
I wouldn't think about removing it from one of my tractors with FEL.

 

[ultrarunner]

I think this event is representative of where we are today...

General Chuck Yeager was neighbor to my friend and mentor in Grass Valley CA... he was a space pioneer and broke the sound barrier. At one time the country had a can do attitude that sadly seems to be all but gone.

We have become a people concentrating on why we can't instead of why we can.

A rational person weighs the facts and then decides... it's not for me to second guess on matters that do not affect me... let alone in another country.

Tractor and Vehicles sold in North America are often North America specific because of liability fears...

Paul is very well qualified and his work speaks for itself... enough said.

 

[DarkBlack]

I guess I'm a bad boy. I put up the foldable ROPS 50% the time. I never wear the seat belt. I've bypassed the seat load switch ( had to for chipper ). I cut all my firewood without chaps. I can say, my first tractor had no ROPS, and I can say my present one has caused more scary moments than it has cured, by snagging branches and tree in the woods.