Semi-DIY ROPS

[etpm]

Absolutely, a seat belt is a necessary part of ROPS.

The Canadian farm safety program has statistics on ROPS. There is a high DEATH rate without ROPS. With ROPS, out of 98 roll overs, zero fatalities or serious injuries.

Isn't that interesting. I have been wearing seat belts in cars for over 60 years. I have heard and read all the arguments about how wearing seat belts are less safe than not wearing them. Same deal with motorcycle helmets. But I know these arguments are hogwash. I for sure avoided a head injury by wearing my helmet. I guess I need to follow my own advice and wear my seat belt on my tractor 100% of the time, like I do with motor vehicles.
Eric

 

[RayIN]

Go to the rear axle or the bell housing area if there's a suitable attachment point. A little tractor is probably the perfect candidate for a home made roll bar.
Make it taller than you would think is necessary to be above your head. If you lay the tractor on it's side it needs to be tall enough for the now sideways center of gravity to not overcome the newly created "width" (1/4 turn ago it was it height) and continue rolling!
Some will say to add a seat belt but I'm not 100% sure it's always the best thing in every situation like in an automobile.

The MF operators manual states: "if the ROPS is up always wear the seat belt. If the ROPS is down never wear the seat belt."

 

[470d]

I have a satoh 470d with an after market rops installed (not self made) take a look at the pics how it's mounted and the angles you would need to make the offsets work. You don't have to be some sort of engeneering mathematical genius to build a rops, if in doubt, just overbuild it, as long as its strong and bolted well to the chassis, then you're good to go! If I could not find one, I'd build one myself. Having it have a folding feature is a must though in my books.

 

[mark in portugal]

I made my own ROPS, and integrated it with the FEL.
Because the FEL frame is already there, and (after some modification) extremely strong.

Because the tractor is 4 tons, and I can't do all the clever engineering, I just made the ROPS very strong too. It's 90x90mm (3-1/2") thick wall steel tube. It pivots on the 30mm (1-1/4") FEL pins, and is locked upright with 25mm (1") rods.

Oh yeah, after many breakages of store bought ones, I made the mirrors too. They can fold in either direction and are made from 1/4" thick steel pipe caps.

 

[Runner]

Here's one, looks like it's made to attach to the rear axle area:

Used Mitsubishi Satoh Tractor Rops Roll Bar

spwindustrial.com

And another:

 

[470d]

Here's one, looks like it's made to attach to the rear axle area:

Used Mitsubishi Satoh Tractor Rops Roll Bar

spwindustrial.com

And another:
View attachment 5058116

Idk about that one.... Kinda looks like it's made out of bunk bed tubing, looks like it would collapse in a bad roll, but definitely better than nothing

 

[470d]

I made my own ROPS, and integrated it with the FEL.
Because the FEL frame is already there, and (after some modification) extremely strong.

Because the tractor is 4 tons, and I can't do all the clever engineering, I just made the ROPS very strong too. It's 90x90mm (3-1/2") thick wall steel tube. It pivots on the 30mm (1-1/4") FEL pins, and is locked upright with 25mm (1") rods.

Oh yeah, after many breakages of store bought ones, I made the mirrors too. They can fold in either direction and are made from 1/4" thick steel pipe caps.
View attachment 5058107

That is GENIUS, that rops is so strong you could build a small house on top.

By the way, you also now have an option to send some thinner pipe or tubing to the back horizontally to make a Baja type cage for a roof top keep the rain and sun out and also suspend fabric on sides as needed to cut back on the beating sun or side rain.

 

[mark in portugal]

That is GENIUS, that rops is so strong you could build a small house on top.

By the way, you also now have an option to send some thinner pipe or tubing to the back horizontally to make a Baja type cage for a roof top keep the rain and sun out and also suspend fabric on sides as needed to cut back on the beating sun or side rain.

Thanks; it does pivot down (forward), to get into the shed where I usually park it.
It's a bit heavy to lift by hand, I usually raise it with the FEL (the rops sits on top of the FEL arms when it's down). When the FEL is fully lowered, the rops rests on the front of the engine cover.

 

[scootr]

The MF operators manual states: "if the ROPS is up always wear the seat belt. If the ROPS is down never wear the seat belt."

The sidenote should be and Never operate a tractor without ROP. A friend broke his back in 3 places when the drag caught on a rock and the old gear tractor came up and over him.

 

[ptsg]

Definitely a fan of the mid mounted ROPS. Really useful to work under trees. Wouldn't want a tractor with rear mounted anymore.

Due to an European directive where the ROPS have to be easy to raise and lower, the newer tractors (2018 and on) even have gas springs on the ROPS to help raising the ROPS. You can pretty much do it with the tip of your finger. Wouldn't mind having that at all.

 

[mark in portugal]

It should be easy enough to add a gas spring.
I made many upward opening windows, and a couple of heavy hatch covers that balance on them.
Having said that, I have enough projects on my plate already!

 

[bmaverick]

New tractor owner here, picked up a well maintained Satoh Buck with a front end loader for spreading gravel and mulch and other projects for my ~1 acre property.

Question about semi-DIY ROPS. First of all, I know that what I'm suggesting here will not be rated, is not as safe as a true ROPS, etc etc. I understand, and don't need to be told that this is not as safe as a "real" ROPS. I also understand how to drive carefully, use the FEL correctly, etc. ROPS or not, I don't want my new tractor flipped over and damaged. That being said accidents happen, and there are some hills on my property, so I'm considering how to add an extra margin of safety..

As far as I can tell a "real" ROPS does not exist for this tractor (if it does, please point me in the right direction). So my question is, has anyone tried adapting something like this to a small tractor like the Buck? I'm wondering if it could be bolted to the tops of the fenders and then braced somehow to increase strength. In my thinking, in a true worst case scenario of the tractor rolling over down a hill, even one extra second of time to get out/away from it could save me from injury or worse. So even if this is not going to completely stop a full roll, slowing it down is still better than nothing which is what I've got now.

Thanks in advance for any ideas or intel. I've been wanting a tractor my whole life, super excited to finally have one and get to doing some work.

The Satoh 373D has this one,
https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums...subishi-s373d-beaver-iii.426586/#post-6247183

And another from here,

Used Mitsubishi Satoh Tractor Rops Roll Bar

spwindustrial.com

A Satoh 550G ROPS,

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/threads/s550g-rops-mod.316099/

 

[bmaverick]

You need a nice loop type found on the folding Yanmars or Ford-Shibaura machines.

See attached ROPS drawings,

 

[RayIN]

Definitely a fan of the mid mounted ROPS. Really useful to work under trees. Wouldn't want a tractor with rear mounted anymore.

View attachment 5071939 View attachment 5072294

Due to an European directive where the ROPS have to be easy to raise and lower, the newer tractors (2018 and on) even have gas springs on the ROPS to help raising the ROPS. You can pretty much do it with the tip of your finger. Wouldn't mind having that at all.

How will that prevent the driver from being squashed in a roll-over since loaded rear tires make the back of the tractor heaviest?

 

[RayIN]

The sidenote should be and Never operate a tractor without ROP. A friend broke his back in 3 places when the drag caught on a rock and the old gear tractor came up and over him.

Pulling from the factory underbelly drawbar will not allow that to happen, a tractor will lose traction first.
Massey Ferguson states in the operators manual what I said about the seat-belt. If A ROPS isn't supposed to be lowered by the operator, why do they have pins to allow such?

 

[470d]

Pulling from the factory underbelly drawbar will not allow that to happen, a tractor will lose traction first.
Massey Ferguson states in the operators manual what I said about the seat-belt. If A ROPS isn't supposed to be lowered by the operator, why do they have pins to allow such?

Probably to allow the tractor to clear an obstacle, in my case an enclosed trailer.

 

[ptsg]

How will that prevent the driver from being squashed in a roll-over since loaded rear tires make the back of the tractor heaviest?

The mid mounter ROPS work in conjunction with a smaller/shorter ROPS in the back (see red line in picture). In case of a full roll over, it will more or less create a cage that protects the operator. Will the operator get a bit tight to the steering wheel? Sure but will still protect him.

 

[scootr]

Pulling from the factory underbelly drawbar will not allow that to happen, a tractor will lose traction first.
Massey Ferguson states in the operators manual what I said about the seat-belt. If A ROPS isn't supposed to be lowered by the operator, why do they have pins to allow such?

Maybe for shipping? Tractors should never be operated without ROP in my opinion