Hi all, I am the proud new owner of a FX20D tractor. This is my first tractor ever! My wife and I own 5 acres and it was getting a "little" overgrown with weeds and we had to do something. So a tractor it was... I have enjoyed reading all the discussions and have learned quite a bit. Keep up the good work as I am sure I will need advice in the future.
Yanmar / Tractor Newbie
- Thread starter mfish
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FL_Jerry
Silver Member
Welcome, this is a great place to find answers,,,and parts
Jerry 2000BD, Koyker 120
Jerry 2000BD, Koyker 120
BruceR
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Welcome, mfish.
Lots of good folks and info here.
Bruce
Lots of good folks and info here.
Bruce
YanmarFever
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Welcome aboard !
Your F20 is a great machine, you will always get good advice here to /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Ernie
Your F20 is a great machine, you will always get good advice here to /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Ernie
roxynoodle
Veteran Member
Well, we haven't actually done it yet, but my neighbor is a welder and he was thinking of making a ROPS for mine. If he does it, I will be sure to post a pic for anyone who wants to see it. Have you checked to see if an OSHA approved one is available for your tractor? One for mine will hopefully be out in the next couple of months. If one becomes available before my neighbor makes one, I will probably buy it. Better safe than sorry is what I'm thinking.
roxynoodle
Veteran Member
Wayne is undoubtedly correct that there is more than strength involved in creating a ROPS. We do have OSHA for reasons. One example I can think of is the number of people who think it is ok to wear a bike helmet for riding horses. Sure, bike helmets are cheaper, but there are a lot of factors that go into helmet design and the simple fact of the matter is that falls from bikes are NOT the same as falls from horses. When you come off a horse you tend to go up before you start coming down! There are important design differences between the 2 types of helmets. Therefore, it is probably a good idea to buy an OSHA approved ROPS, if available. If one is not available for your tractor then a homemade one may be your only option. Anyone out there who has tips on making one if it is necessary?
tpthibodaux
New member
I installed ROPS on my YM-2000 yesterday, I purchased them from Hoyt for $639, very easy to install. A little more than I would have liked to spend, but well worth it for the safety it adds to the Tractor.I thought about building my own, but with limited free time i knew it would never happened.
I understand the critical nature of the ROPS and fully intend to build one strong enough to handle a roll-over. My son builds roll cages for race cars and he will be the one doing the actual design and fabrication. I will be there for moral support and incentive to get it done.
Thank you all for your comments and support!
Thank you all for your comments and support!
RobJ
Elite Member
I think LMTC's post is well intended but I can say the ROPS on my L doesn't bend very much if any. It's 2x3x1/4" square tubing working on a 2300# tractor. If you read the article, you can wsee the way they mounted the ROPS was incorrect. Support was from the top of the axle housing only. Looking at the correct drawing the bolts and brackets should have surrounded the axle housing. Things are only as strong as their weakest link.
You can also factor in inexpierence in the driver in this one IMO.
Good Luck and welcome.
You can also factor in inexpierence in the driver in this one IMO.
Good Luck and welcome.
normde2001
Elite Member
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"You can also factor in inexpierence in the driver in this one IMO."
I agree, I can't help but wonder what the boy was doing that he couldn't jam in the clutch and drop the front end back down. I have, on several occasions, caught my boxblade on a root that caused the front to raise, but there was plenty of time to jam the clutch? (or is that not possible on an HST tractor)?
I agree, I can't help but wonder what the boy was doing that he couldn't jam in the clutch and drop the front end back down. I have, on several occasions, caught my boxblade on a root that caused the front to raise, but there was plenty of time to jam the clutch? (or is that not possible on an HST tractor)?
RobJ
Elite Member
normde2001 said:
Norm I'll have to quote you on this one to. On Saturday something caught my BH and the tractor starting easing up. I never found what it was which is even more strange.
Soundguy
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The one thing about comercial rops is the certification.
As long as your son has real good excess and umbrella liability insurance.. not to mention good homeowners.. and if aplacable, good comercial liability insurances..... should anyone die while riding your tractor -if- the rops failed, and -if- it was determined it was the rops.. then perhaps the financial debt might not be too overwhelming.
Just seems easier to stick with rops certified for the tractor in question... even if the home-made ones are stronger and 'better' in every way...
Soundguy
As long as your son has real good excess and umbrella liability insurance.. not to mention good homeowners.. and if aplacable, good comercial liability insurances..... should anyone die while riding your tractor -if- the rops failed, and -if- it was determined it was the rops.. then perhaps the financial debt might not be too overwhelming.
Just seems easier to stick with rops certified for the tractor in question... even if the home-made ones are stronger and 'better' in every way...
Soundguy
PAB_OH
Platinum Member
What if a commerically available rops isn't available? Is it better to have nothing than a home made one? That ain't a rhetorical question, I'd like to know peoples opinions.
I have done mechanical design on some very complicated projects but nothing approaching the brutality of a tractor roll-over so I won't pretend to understand the loading and stress factors.
I will venture to say (and this is my OPINION only) that if you can't afford a ROPS but have the means to build a structure worthy of a tank then I think you are better off than with nothing at all. Will you be protected in every instance? Probably not, I don't think you would be with an OSHA approved ROPS either though.
I can completely understand the theory that it is better to have a ROPS that gives slightly than one that is ridgid beyond belief (same conept as wrinkle zones in autos) but some folks can't afford the OSHA ROPS, if it is available. If they are able to make one themselves then I think it is at least a step in the right direction.
One other poster alluded to what I think is one of the real issues here, liability. Somehow we have come to believe that everyone else is responsible for our actions. So if you build one for your tractor and you lend it to someone or allow them to ride on it, period, and they are injured, even though you attempted to make the machine safer with a homebuilt ROPS, you will likely be held over the barrel if the ROPS is found to have contributed to the injury or simply failed to do what it was intended to do. If you put a home made one on it, I suggest not letting anyone else on it, ever, until the ROPS is replaced by one "approved by OSHA", like that means something!
Good luck and post pics if/when you get it done.
I have done mechanical design on some very complicated projects but nothing approaching the brutality of a tractor roll-over so I won't pretend to understand the loading and stress factors.
I will venture to say (and this is my OPINION only) that if you can't afford a ROPS but have the means to build a structure worthy of a tank then I think you are better off than with nothing at all. Will you be protected in every instance? Probably not, I don't think you would be with an OSHA approved ROPS either though.
I can completely understand the theory that it is better to have a ROPS that gives slightly than one that is ridgid beyond belief (same conept as wrinkle zones in autos) but some folks can't afford the OSHA ROPS, if it is available. If they are able to make one themselves then I think it is at least a step in the right direction.
One other poster alluded to what I think is one of the real issues here, liability. Somehow we have come to believe that everyone else is responsible for our actions. So if you build one for your tractor and you lend it to someone or allow them to ride on it, period, and they are injured, even though you attempted to make the machine safer with a homebuilt ROPS, you will likely be held over the barrel if the ROPS is found to have contributed to the injury or simply failed to do what it was intended to do. If you put a home made one on it, I suggest not letting anyone else on it, ever, until the ROPS is replaced by one "approved by OSHA", like that means something!
Good luck and post pics if/when you get it done.
mark777
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After building two sets from .0250 wall 2"X3" mandrel bent tubing, welding, assembly and utilizing grade 8 hardware, we mounted the finished projects on two different models. The design incorporated controlled deformation to include a side roll over and rear end-over accidents that utilized shear and diagonal stresses at the strongest points...other than just the axle housing sandwich design.
Personally I was thrilled with the ROPs and lap belts design, and the costs were less than $200. excluding labor.
For us, it ended this way: If I sold, rented or lend the tractor we assumed all liability for operators personal and property injury and damage.
If I sold the tractor and intimated that the add-on structure was a canopy support only, and not a ROP's - BUT left the seat belts installed, all the liability would (still) be with the seller.
And finally, if I sold the tractor with the structure and removed the seat belts....well, a death wish for sure and I couldn't live with guilt of an injury or loss of life regardless of how irresponsible the new owner had been. A ROP's without seat belts is much more dangerous that a tractor with neither.
Both sets were removed and the vertical (and diagonal) supports cut off. One was given to a neighbor and used as a drag line weighted down with cinder blocks. The other is buried in the side of my shop retaining wall.
Mark
Personally I was thrilled with the ROPs and lap belts design, and the costs were less than $200. excluding labor.
For us, it ended this way: If I sold, rented or lend the tractor we assumed all liability for operators personal and property injury and damage.
If I sold the tractor and intimated that the add-on structure was a canopy support only, and not a ROP's - BUT left the seat belts installed, all the liability would (still) be with the seller.
And finally, if I sold the tractor with the structure and removed the seat belts....well, a death wish for sure and I couldn't live with guilt of an injury or loss of life regardless of how irresponsible the new owner had been. A ROP's without seat belts is much more dangerous that a tractor with neither.
Both sets were removed and the vertical (and diagonal) supports cut off. One was given to a neighbor and used as a drag line weighted down with cinder blocks. The other is buried in the side of my shop retaining wall.
Mark
RobJ
Elite Member
I just want to add regarding that article, I remember when I first saw this last year I wondered how the engineers designed for this type of roll "back". Plus with a BH or BB I would think it would be harder to do. You would think that most roll overs would be to the side, completely different stresses on the axles. And in a side roll over even a so so rops would stop the tractor (especially a small CUT). they are not round and are low to the ground. I've rolled my ATV a couple times while slow moving on a hill, just one of those smow motion things. It his it's side and stopped. If I were moving faster and the hill was steeper it could have started to tumble, but a 2-3' piece of angle bolted to the rear rack would have easiely stopped it. It;s a 600#ATV.
Rob
Rob
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Previous posters have pointed out that due to liability a noncertified ROPS can only be used by its builder and must be removed when the tractor is sold.
Here's a previous thread
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/showthread.php?p=839780#post839780
with technical details of the OSHA standard. I was surprised that one of the OSHA tests is a 10 mph rollover.
My post there has a dead link referencing installation of a certified ROPS from Hoye. Here's a corrected link:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75272
Here's a previous thread
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/showthread.php?p=839780#post839780
with technical details of the OSHA standard. I was surprised that one of the OSHA tests is a 10 mph rollover.
My post there has a dead link referencing installation of a certified ROPS from Hoye. Here's a corrected link:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75272
