never liked the ROPS now i have a reason

[Gord Baker]

doing a little grading with the box blade over a path i have graded multiple times before without issue and then a tree jumps out and grabs the rops broke off and landed on me in the tractor. I was lucky, it hit me in the back and not the head and only took out the LH turn signal.
It could have been much worse.

 

[Gord Baker]

I have had a similar experience with a large zero turn. Nearly flipped it backwards.

 

[tjus77]

I feel the same way, I’ll take my chances jumping off if it rolls. I hate where they mount the turn signal, I’ve busted three. Now I just use tie straps to keep them attached.

 

[WinterDeere]

I hate where they mount the turn signal, I’ve busted three. Now I just use tie straps to keep them attached.

The Deere 3-series turn signals are plastic housings either side of the ROPS, just destined to snap off at their mountings with the slightest bump. So, they sell brush guards that go around them, standard dealer upgrade, and those brush guards are actually required if you want the high-intensity LED lighting option.

But they made the brush guard as a stupid "C" shaped bit of metal, that when it catches the branch pivots as a parallelogram around the two mounting bolts in either end of the "C", and cuts the wiring harness clean thru. Dumbest design I've ever seen, as it could have very easily been resolved by just welding a segment of the "C" ends together.

That particular "mod" has been on my "to do" list a few years now, since first catching a branch and cutting my own lighting harness, but it never rises to the top of the priorities at a time convenient enough to remove the lights and do it.

 

[Gl Dansk]

This sounds very much like the debates about seatbelts in cars: “I e heard of so many people who got saved by being thrown clear of the rolling car” and similar things.

Well, I’ve worked ambulance for 25 years, run about 20,000 911 calls and I have NEVER seen anyone saved by not using a seat belt. But many by using one!

Fortunately I’ve never rolled my tractor, but anyone who thinks they can jump clear (the opposite way of the roll!) is dreaming! And if your ROPS is down, you will get squashed! It works! Use it, and your seatbelt. And pay better attention to branches.

 

[FERLING]

I've got an idea! Put a spring release on the ROPS. There. Problem solved.

Doesn't help in a roll over.

 

[charlessenf]

a tree jumps out

Lucky you.
But, don't cut your ROPS off because you hit a tree branch, just watch where you're going next time.

 

[DaBear3428]

What would have happened if you didn't have the rops would it have slammed you instead and broke something?

no it missed me completely and would have been a non-issue without the ROPS

 

[Ghost River Retrievers]

I understand the PITA that the RPOS can be ... I've been subjected to a couple beatings by limbs knocked off by the RPOS on my compact tractor (I simply misjudged the height of the branches) and had the RPOS on my ZTR knock apples off my orchard. Nonetheless, except when I have to mow very close to the fruit trees, the RPOS is up and my seatbelt is on when I'm in the seat of either my ZTR or my tractor ... this is why:
About 15 years ago, my brother-in-law, who ran a VERY successful lawn care business, was on one of his Scag ZTRs with the RPOS down and no seatbelt on ... was mowing his own property when he hit a relatively small stump or culvert which was hidden by the grass, the mower flipped and he ended up with a good portion of the weight of the mower on his chest ... he could not breath, he could not move, his son was riding a dirt bike on the property and saw what happened, the son rode over to his dad and heard his father's last words ... "get help" ... his son did so, but it was too late and my brother-in-law passed away, under the mower, before help could get there.
Every time I get on the mower or tractor, I can hear Mark tell me, "Hey, don't forget the seatbelt and make sure the bar is up." I always thank him for the reminder....

 

[dieselscout80]

You might also ask how much replacement glass costs, and the availability of the glass in the future.

It’s not just the glass as the top of the cab gets damaged often too and requires replacing it.

My neighbor hit his on a a tree limb and it was like a $9k repair bill good thing for insurance he said.

I have also seen doors damaged too.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

I've seen this type of discussion going on for many many decades and IMHO its an operator / training / take care issue not a ROPS issue.

- if my grain auger hits OH wires while towing its not the fault of the grain auger for being too tall its my fault.
- if my dump truck box is left UP and I hook a overpass its not the fault of the height if my dump box.
- if I try to drive my BH into my small garage and hit the open door again thats on me not because BH is attached.
- cube van under a low bridge.... well you see where i am going here
- etc...

simple mistake and learning moment and luckily minimal / no damage made but i wouldn't complain the ROPS.


cheers folks..

 

[Bobrown14]

Just got a new ZT mower with rops. First ride I hit a tree branch prolly within the 1st 25 yards mowing first time. The mower front flipped up pretty high. I didn't know what happened thought I ran over something then did it a 2nd time on the 2nd circle around the tree. I finally realized the ROPS was hitting the branch.

My ZT mower ROPS in now folded but its still as high as my head so if I need to duck I steer clear of the branch.

Rule #1 - dont run the big tractor with a door open. Yup ripped the door right off the hinges. That was Friday was lifting a log up and yeah only backed up a few feet bang door off and on the ground. Luckily no broken glass. I ordered new hinges and 150$ lesson lernt.

 

[Midniteoyl]

NEVER seen anyone saved by not using a seat belt.

Not sure if he was saved by not having one, but definitely went for a ride..

https://imgur.com/B8yNypg

 

[Rustyiron]

A few years ago I set out to bullet proof the bottom of my tractor. One thing led to another and I ended up with a full skid plate, a 4 post with steel fops and a grill guard that led to these "sweeps" or limb risers. Working in the woods, these are fantastic.

The grill guard was a perfect place for the bottom mount of the sweeps.

 

[DaBear3428]

I've seen this type of discussion going on for many many decades and IMHO its an operator / training / take care issue not a ROPS issue.

- if my grain auger hits OH wires while towing its not the fault of the grain auger for being too tall its my fault.
- if my dump truck box is left UP and I hook a overpass its not the fault of the height if my dump box.
- if I try to drive my BH into my small garage and hit the open door again thats on me not because BH is attached.
- cube van under a low bridge.... well you see where i am going here
- etc...

simple mistake and learning moment and luckily minimal / no damage made but i wouldn't complain the ROPS.


cheers folks..


View attachment 867488

no doubt my fault for hitting the limb but by the same token tipping a tractor or ZTM over is operator error also. I leave mine up by default even though i'm on flat land, but i'm leaning toward doing a risk assessment and deciding on up or down depending on the conditions. my ZTM is not equipped with a ROPS, most of the tractors that i have operated in my lifetime have not had ROPS, back then you had to be responsible for your safety and just having the safety device in use is no substitute for being aware of what is going on. after all turning the tractor over is not the only danger and a little awareness goes a long way.

 

[WinterDeere]

Back when I was managing large engineering projects, particularly anything for the government, we had to rate every risk item on a two-axis grid. The two axes amounted to probability and pain, essentially the likelihood of a risk item causing a problem, and the level of impact that problem will have on the project.

Extending this thinking to the ROPS, I have had a half-dozen problems created by having the ROPS up, with zero problems ever caused by keeping it down. But on the flip side, the problems created by having it up are usually lower impact, compared to the pain of having it down during a rollover event.

So, based on my own usage history, I'd rate this as:

Risk of ROPS up: High probability, low impact

Risk of ROPS down: Low probability, high impact

Other usage profiles and terrain will obviously shift the probability around, more than the impact.

 

[jyoutz]

The ROPs on my tractor is always up. Because my shade canopy is attached to the ROPs.

 

[DaBear3428]

Back when I was managing large engineering projects, particularly anything for the government, we had to rate every risk item on a two-axis grid. The two axes amounted to probability and pain, essentially the likelihood of a risk item causing a problem, and the level of impact that problem will have on the project.

Extending this thinking to the ROPS, I have had a half-dozen problems created by having the ROPS up, with zero problems ever caused by keeping it down. But on the flip side, the problems created by having it up are usually lower impact, compared to the pain of having it down during a rollover event.

So, based on my own usage history, I'd rate this as:

Risk of ROPS up: High probability, low impact

Risk of ROPS down: Low probability, high impact

Other usage profiles and terrain will obviously shift the probability around, more than the impact.

agreed and this goes to my point, just blindly putting on the safety gear and not managing your risk is a risk also. it pays to pay attention to what is going on and not rely on the safety gear to save you.
and in my case the limb breaking off and falling on me had the potential to be very impactful so i would say i now feel that rops up is high prob, med to hi impact. and again this is dependent on conditions i'm dealing with mesquite trees which are a hard wood that loves to make low horizontal limbs at just the right height to snag a ROPS and being hard wood they break rather than bend. that is the reality of my conditions and will go into my risk assessment in the future. before this incident i was going with rops up == high prob and low impact, now i'm reconsidering that. as i posted before my immediate response was to take a chain saw to all that i know about but i'm sure i will find more that i missed.

 

[SimpleSimon]

Here's one more observation; if the ROPS were in front of you, you would be less likely to forget it's there. It would also push a branch away from you rather than whack you in the back of the head. I don't like surprises, another reason I keep it down.