Making an ROPS for my 1602D

[Jagmandave]

I decided that with the narrow track and my hilly property, a ROPS might be a good idea. I have a ZTR with one and I'm going to remove it from that and install it on my Yanmar. The ZTR has such a low center of gravity that even though I know it's possible to overturn it, it's so much more unlikely than my Yanmar that I'd rather have the protection on the tractor. Here's a pic of the ZTR showing the ROPS it has. It's made of some really thick walled mandrel bent 2" square tubing, I think it'll be more than strong enough. This might not be the best way of going about this, but I think it's better than cutting and welding up some tubing from scratch. The first thing I have to do is narrow it at the mounting points. The Yanmar's trans case where I'll mount it is only about 10" wide, where it mounts on the ZTR is closer to 20". Given where the bends are, I think I can just cut a small pie slice out, bend and reweld to move the lower part of the struts in. We'll see how it goes. More pics as I proceed...........

 

[Soundguy]

Do yorself a favor and take out a life insurance policy too. Between the modified, non certified/mismatched rops and the insurance policy.. um.. you'll at least have the insurance policy for protection.

Think of that as nothing more than a canopy support... good luck!

Don't take this post the wrong way. Rops/rollbar/modification, and non-standard applications are a hot subject here... An the thinking 'better something than nothing.. may not actually be 'better'.. cause.. if you rely on something that doesn't work.. you may be worse off than you started.

Soundguy

 

[Jagmandave]

'peciate the input, but it won't go on unless I'm convinced it'll hold. And so far, I'm convinced. Using something already engineered to be a ROPS gives me an advantage over just welding something up in the garage, IMHO. The bolts that attach it to the trans case are 16mm X 40mm long, plenty heavy duty! All the brackets are re-inforced and it appears to be made out of high strength steel, given how hard it is to drill this stuff! So, I'm going to press on, more pics as it happens.

 

[thegreatrandini]

Dude ur mower and tractor do not weigh the same.... Also do not ever use a rops without a seat belt... I agree with soundguy!
If I were u I would leave the rops on my mower alone..... I would not operate my tractor on inclines. If you want rops just wait they are being engineered for our tractors..... and will be available soon.... Speaking of rops I was at an auction this weekend and a 1981 ford 3600 low hrs sold for $8700.00. I found it interesting that it did not have rops.......

 

[Jagmandave]

I'm aware of the seatbelt issue, I'm welding some tabs onto the support for a belt. I would normally agree with you about a mower and a tractor, there is a significant difference in weight, but again, after looking at how they're made and mounted on current tractors, this will be at least as strong as what I see on comparable sized JD or Ford or Kubota. Appreciate the input!

 

[Soundguy]

Keep in mind that on a ztr.. the bulk of the weight is aft of the driver.. On a tractor, the bulk of the weight is probably gonna be the engine.. way out in front of the driver and will be like a 'lever' due to the distance from the driver. Whereas the front of a ztr is just guide wheels and linkage.. perhaps a few inches of deck.

With the tractor scenerio shear forces on thos bolts are going to be increased over what the ztr rops saw.

You need to take into consideration the strength of the housing you are bolting to as well. Will it hold? We've all seen the pics of retrofitted rops that held.. but yet the casting on the tractor they were attached to gave way and the operator was killed anyway. ( 15 year old kid and grandpa out pulling fence posts on a scut/cut sized tractor.. rops didn't deform.. bolts didn't break.. yet ripped the top off of each axle housing..kid died.. )

Perhaps if you can make it attatch to as may bolt points as possible to spread out the load. and even add some sloping horizontal braces up to some place on the engine.. perhaps were a fel might mount... help brace the rops in a roll-back event.

Can't guess about a side roll with the re-weld and re-design of the rops...??

Oh yeah.. 'standard disclaimers apply': nothing I wrote is constituted as advice...

again.. good luck

Soundguy

 

[kenmac]

I started building a rops for my 3110D. I found out that a certified rops should be available in approx. 5 to 6 weeks. I scraped my plan to build my own.I don't know the weight of a 160d vs the lawnmower ,it may work out just fine.Just because a rops is certified doesn't mean that you won't be killed or hurt in a roll over or back flip.NASCARS I think have certified everything and when there is a crash drivers are sometimes hurt bad& even killed. I decided to go with certified just for my peace of mind.

 

[kayssupply]

All I can say is " Don't EVER sell it with the ROPS you build on it" The liability never ends. Chances are you don't have any insurance of any kind to cover you. It takes a special waiver on commercial insurance with a welding coverage. Oh!! And always wear your helment /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[kenmac]

Who does the liability fall on if you purchase a tractor without a rops from a dealer or an individual and an accident occurs? In this day and time anyone can sue anyone for anything and quite often they do.If Isell you a chair from a yard sale and that chair breaks and you injure yourself you can sue me . Libility in this day and time is never ending.

 

[Jagmandave]

Thanks for all the input, folks! I'm actually using the same attachment point Yanmar does for their ROPS, and bolting it on the same way. All the support pieces are gusseted for extra strength.
Your points about not selling it are good, I'll have to take it off or write a disclaimer if I sell it I guess, but I'm not planning to sell it, so that probably won't matter.
I hadn't considered the idea of it falling over backward, I don't think I've ever operated it in a place where that could happen. My main concern was/is a side roll, as I've had it tip a few times and "caught" it by quickly dropping the bucket onto the ground to stabilize things. My FEL has power down as well as up, but I don't want to rely on my quick relexes only.....
As to wearing a helmet, well, what can I say, maybe when pigs fly??? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

I appreciate all the concern, and take all comments seriously and hopefully in the manner they were given to me.......

To the other side of the fence, I engineer heavy metal things for a living, so I'm not a complete novice at this, I understand stress risers and so on....................

Still, a man can always learn........