The ROPS Police - fact or fiction?

[MadReferee]

There have always been posters who insist that drilling a hole in the ROPS or doing anything to the ROPS will void your new tractor warranty. Based on my investigations (at least for Kubota), this theory is fiction.

Nowhere in the Kubota Warranty Information Guide does it even mention the ROPS. That is a fact.

Warranties typically only cover defects in materials and workmanship. How can drilling a hole in the ROPS for a light fixture void the warranty for say an engine part that fails during the warranty period? The Kubota Warranty Guide specifically says that the warranty does not cover failures CAUSED by unauthorized modifications. Please tell me how drilling the ROPS caused the engine failure.

Liability issues that may arise from drilling the ROPS are an entirely different and seperate issue. Kubota could argue that drilling the hole was an unauthorized modification and deny a claim for all repairs if the ROPS failure caused the damage. There is also the issue of attempting to sue Kubota for damages because of a ROPS failure even though you drilled a hole in it. I think Kubota would cave in rather than going to trial and have engineers testify that drilling the ROPS had no effect.

Comments???

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I'm not taking sides on this one!

BUT----

Some manufacturers look for any reason, good or bad, to dispute warrenty claims. They know that it's cost-prohibitive for most people to fight them. Any old excuse in a pinch.

I know of TWO cases where Dodge truck owners drilled frame rails when installing gooseneck hitch's. One had a front suspention problem, the other a brake problem. Dodge denied their warrenty claims because of tampering with the trucks frame. Absolutely NOTHING to do with front springs or brakes, but they still denied the claim. In BOTH cases, the truck owners were forced to repair their trucks at their own expense. (I used Dodge as an example because of personal knowledge. I'm quite sure other trauck makers, tractor manufacturers, and producers of most any item will use simular excuses)

But I can't rationalize denying a warrenty claim on an engine issue because of drilling a ROPS structure. I would however, EXPECT a fight from the manufacturer should the ROPS structure fail in a roll-over, with the finding of an "non-stock hole" drilled in their product.

I'd also EXPECT my dealer to go to bat for me on an "engine failure/warrenty denial/ROPS structure with hole drilled" dispute

I have the distinct impression this aruement is all about a hypothetical situation. Who actually has "real world experience" with a warrenty denial caused by a hole drilled in a ROPS?

 

[RonR]

I've been one of the naysayers, but like Mad, to me it's a liability issue more than warranty.

No, I don't have any experience, but I really believe I could drill holes for lights in my ROPS, then haul my BX to a Bota dealer for motor or tranny warranty work. Doubt they would even bat an eye at my lights, unless they wanted to see how well I think they work where I installed them.

But, if I haul my BX in with my homemade ROPS on it, showing signs it has rolled over, and ask for the same motor/tranny warranty work, it would at least raise some eyebrows at the dealership. Maybe they'd submit it and maybe not, I don't know. But if I cracked the block in the rollover and asked for a new block, I doubt I would get it for free.

I do have experiences in cars; I had a car in for motor work, and the brakes were bad. The dealer test drove it (after I warned him about the brakes). Before he'd let me drive my bad brakes car off his property, he did a huge stamp on my service ticket and added that the car was UNSAFE and needed immediate brake work. He made me sign where it said I'd been told and understood the warning.

I'll be quiet now and listen. I'd had my say /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

ron

 

[tlbuser]

FICTION. Just who is supposed to be enforcing this anyways?? OSHA, not for personal use. SAE, they wrote the standard, but have no enforcement authority. Any more guesses??

 

[robison]

I'm not a tractor dealer, but I do deal with automobiles and sport utilities and warranty work. Most "denial of warranty" issues start and end with the dealer.

Manufacturers look to their dealers to make reasonable judgements in this area. For example, a dealer who denied warranty for a broken axle when the wheel wells were filled with rubber spatter from drag racing and the diagnostic computer showed a failure at 117mph . . . they would be right to deny a claim because the axle was clearly overstressed in racing.

And there are some dealers who will do anything to deny warranty, including the stories alleged about Dodge elsewhere in this thread. But that does not make it right.

If you ever find warranty denied for something you feel is irrelevant or frivolous I suggest first taking your machine to another dealer. They may see things completely differently. If that fails, get the factory service rep to look at it with you.

 

[cowboydoc]

<font color="green">If you ever find warranty denied for something you feel is irrelevant or frivolous I suggest first taking your machine to another dealer. They may see things completely differently. If that fails, get the factory service rep to look at it with you.
</font>

I'd suggest you talk to a few service managers at the automobile dealerships. Ford, Dodge, GM, etc. are all denying warranties and it's not from the dealers. The dealers are getting squeezed hard from the mfg. to deny warranty for aftermarket mods and modifications to the vehicles. And they are doing it and winning. I wouldn't deviate one bit from what the warranty spells out. In todays computer world if it's denied at one dealer it's denied at all. It gets put into the computer and that's it.

The only one I have no problem with is deere. We recently went through a major lawsuit with the fuel supplier. They delivered a bad batch of fuel that caused the injectors in about everything we owned to go bad. It was big dollars and major headache. Ford flat out denied warranty end of story. Deere not only fixed three tractors for us UNDER warranty but they went to court with us to prove that the fuel was the cause. They got my trucks paid for and their bills, lawyer bills, and damages. I don't know of any other company in the world that would have done that.

 

[beenthere]

Fiction, IMO
My Deere dealer has never had to check my ROPS before completing any warranty work on the tractor. Having been around the Deere shops some, the condition of the ROPS isn't even close to being the subject of inspection. I think it is just the hype some want to spin as it sounds good. The OSHA supporters to the n'th degree. Not that OSHA is all bad, just 'far out' IMO. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif And the regards I have for the ones who are spooked by the liability fears that so many hide behind. Time we stand up and challenge a few of them and straighten out of few of the 'far out' borderline fears.

 

[slowrev]

Rops Cops.

Are they worse than the phone cops ?

Ben

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

We don't check customers rops for service, I have seen plenty of people modify them. The times that we do make a stink about it is when looking at a trade in tractor. If we resell that machine with modified ROPS we are not liable if that modifcation fails. There is a literal ROPS police, we have been called before for posting pictures online of used tractors with out safty equipment.

 

[equipman]

MadReferee
Speaking for our dealership, we wouldn't deny warranty work because you drilled a hole in your ROPS, we would get a signed disclaimer stating that we notified you that you needed to replace that ROPS. But having said that, if you traded that tractor in, the price of a new ROPS would be figured into the trade because we couldn't sell that machine to another customer.
Lewis