To rops or not to

Davie Sprocket · Post by **Davie Sprocket** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 5:52 pm

My 420c has a ROPS system that has been lowered and has some damage to it. What does everyone think about just removing it? I'm going to redo the sheet metal and a few other things, well after i get the right side clutches working.

Dave

jdemaris · Post by **jdemaris** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 6:12 pm

Davie Sprocket wrote:My 420c has a ROPS system that has been lowered and has some damage to it. What does everyone think about just removing it? I'm going to redo the sheet metal and a few other things, well after i get the right side clutches working.

Dave

It depends on what you want to use it for. ROPS is a problem if you need a low machine that can get into low-clearance places. On the other hand, it comes in handy if you decide to roll over, and . . . if it has a closed top it keeps tree branches from falling on your head.

townlineterry · Post by **townlineterry** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:21 pm

If you have ever rolled anything over you wouldn't even ask that qeustion. All my equipment has rops, I fabricated one for my 1010. Not having it is just asking for trouble.

Terry

JD440ICD2006 · Post by **JD440ICD2006** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 5:56 am

I would think that it depends on usage also. I have not seen ROPS on many collector tractors for obvious reasons. However, if you are going to be tempted to use the machine and there is a remote chance of a limb hitting you or rolling over, then either put a safe ROPS on it or decide that it is for play in the yard or at shows ONLY.

jdemaris · Post by **jdemaris** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 2:04 pm

JD440ICD2006 wrote:I would think that it depends on usage also. I have not seen ROPS on many collector tractors for obvious reasons. However, if you are going to be tempted to use the machine and there is a remote chance of a limb hitting you or rolling over, then either put a safe ROPS on it or decide that it is for play in the yard or at shows ONLY.

Having a machine with no ROPS is a pleasure and a necessity at times. I have several dozers and backhoes - some with, and somewithout. I get many jobs with low overhead clearance where a machine with a ROPS or cab cannot fit - and I'm glad to have them. In fact, I just bought a Deere 300B backhoe-loader and the ROPS is coming off tomorrow.

digitup2 · Post by **digitup2** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 5:24 pm

It depends on the State or Provence's local labour board and the rules very from one to an other . I can not ask any one to run a machine [Of a certain age ] if it dose not have a speck built ROPS instaled on it.Or was built before a certain date .Even if I pay them or offer the machine to them for assistance .Some places you have to realy watch others it is no big thing .As a contractor I have to be very careful about putting a man on a non ROPS equiped machine but Others don't . Look up your local laws if your machine was made since 1968 or 69 I think is the manditory ROPS point .Older machines are exempt but I can not ask others to operate these machines . Digitup.

Davie Sprocket · Post by **Davie Sprocket** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:09 pm

For me the machine is more of a working restoration, but i do get what a rops is for and that the machine pretty much makes a huge mess of someone in a roleover without one, the crawler is from 58 and i haven't seen any pics of a rops being on one, lots on 1010 and so on. If i was clearing brush with it then i would have one for sure, i'll have to take it off and see how much work its going to be to restore it. Thanks for the input i think i will sleep on it somemore.

Dave

jdemaris · Post by **jdemaris** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 6:51 am

Davie Sprocket wrote:For me the machine is more of a working restoration, but i do get what a rops is for and that the machine pretty much makes a huge mess of someone in a roleover without one, the crawler is from 58 and i haven't seen any pics of a rops being on one, lots on 1010 and so on. If i was clearing brush with it then i would have one for sure, i'll have to take it off and see how much work its going to be to restore it. Thanks for the input i think i will sleep on it somemore.

Dave

You can get killed just as easy with a ROPS as without one if you don't have a good seat-belt and use it.

The fact is - you can get killed doing just about anything and I don't need anybody telling me what to do to stay safe. Running a business and having employees use equipment is a whole different story. Owning and using your own machine - it ought to be personal choice - period. I've had many dirt moving jobs that could not be done with a ROPS or cab attached.

Post by **Lavoy** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 8:49 am

The other consideration not being mentioned is to be a true ROPS, it has to be certified. If it is not, you are dealing with a canopy or FOPS, not a ROPS. In the case of any of the old Deere crawlers prior to the 350/450 series, the so called ROPS is just a canopy, it may or may not have been built by a manufacturer, and most times has been built by a previous owner. These canopies will keep branches off your face, and stop smaller falling branches, but I would not necessarily trust them to keep a crawler from rolling over. I have seen more of these than I can think of on a 440 that are just bolted to the top of the fender. If you have this type setup and roll the crawler, the only thing that the canopy will do is cause the rescue squad more of a delay getting your dead body out from under the crawler and the crushed canopy. If you feel the need for roll over protection, you need to take a serious look at what you have on your crawler. If it is made with anything less than a 2" heavy wall square tube or pipe, well braces and plated, mounted securely to the frame and finals with heavy plate and good bolts, you do not have rollover protection, and are just fooling yourself. There are no certified ROPS available for any of the two cylinder crawlers that I know of, and I doubt that there are any for the 1010, although there are some good aftermarket canopies for the 1010 around once in a while.
Lavoy

jdemaris · Post by **jdemaris** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 9:41 am

Lavoy wrote: the so called ROPS is just a canopy, it may or may not have been built by a manufacturer, and most times has been built by a previous owner. These canopies will keep branches off your face, and stop smaller falling branches, but I would not necessarily trust them to keep a crawler from rolling over.

I'm guilty as charged with many of my machines. Here are - my AC HD4, AC HD6, Deere 1010 crawler-loader, Deere 300B loader-hoe, Cletrac HG dozer, and Pettibone backhoe - all with upper structures that will NOT bear the weight once upside down. They all keep rain, snow, and branchs off my head though. The idea though, of a good ROPS is not to stop you from rolling over - it's to LET you roll over and live through it.

Davie Sprocket · Post by **Davie Sprocket** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 5:20 pm

Heres a pic of the crawler and rops as it sits.

Also if the rops is not rated is it better to just have something or does that lead to false security?

Dave

jdemaris · Post by **jdemaris** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 6:14 pm

Davie Sprocket wrote:Heres a pic of the crawler and rops as it sits.

Also if the rops is not rated is it better to just have something or does that lead to false security?

Dave

Anything overhead is good for something, e.g. keeping rain off your head, keeping tree limbs from crushing your skull, etc. And the crawler in your photo also has the added benefit of limb-risers, to guide tree branches up over your head as you drive under low cover.
ROPS is an old acronym for something like "roll over protection structure" - so if it's not strong enough to protect you from a roll over, I guess it's not a ROPS.

Lu47Dan · Post by **Lu47Dan** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:33 pm

ROPS , One other thing about ROPS once they have been over once they are considered to be ruined , you have to scrap them and replace them with a new one . I stood a Cat D-7F on its back when a bank collapsed behind me and we had to remove the ROPS and cut it up for scrap and put a new one on it . That was Army policy at the time . The Rops prevented the dozer from doing a back flip with me under it , so it was worth having it on there . I still can feel the dozer sliding down the bank and hitting the road surface but do not remember much about it other then when everything stopped , I shutdown the engine and unbuckled my seatbelt and had one heck of a time climbing out of the seat . Not fun and I had lost a very good camera . We never did find it . Dan

Davie Sprocket · Post by **Davie Sprocket** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:35 pm

No doubt, i guess when its a near miss then the device did its job. Mines been cut down which bothers me cosmetically, but i wasn't thinking about if it had been damaged, i can't see the crawler being used heavily or in any other capacity then to push snow and winch things around. I think i'll restore the rops system then see how it looks.

Dave

Lu47Dan · Post by **Lu47Dan** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:21 pm

Davie , just use the right materials for the job . I do not know what your ROPS looks like or what it was originally built of . Cost and weight are an issue here , as your crawler probably does not make you money , but no one ever expects to be upside down in one of these . Build it with heavy (thick wall) material and add a heavy cable guard to the rear of it as before no one expects to break a cable but it happens . I broke a 1" winch cable on the same D-7F in the Army winching a M817 five ton dump out of a ravine , cable was old but looked good . I had to clean my shorts on that one . No rear cable guard on that dozer because there were not tabs installed on the ROPS from the factory

. I was on the floor operating the winch controls with two guys signaling me what to do when the cable went slack and pulled a kink in it and when the winch caught up 50.000 lbs of pull snapped that cable like a toothpick . No one was hurt , left a dent in the 1/4" steel plate that was the roof of the ROPS . New ROPS was ordered with the correct tabs for the cable guard . And as Lavoy said it has to be supported from the frame and the final drives not just the fenders . The brackets should be built to withstand the same loading as the ROPS is . I have a project in my shop right now that is a small four wheel drive loader , the plans do not include any roll over protective system other than a seat belt , I am in the final stages of the figures to add a ROPS to it as I have to figure on the final weight of the loader to size the tubing for it . It is looking to be overkill on it but 3" square tubing with 1/4" wall is what will support the weight of the loader with a sizable safety margin . Everyone should be cautious when operating equipment , but stuff does go wrong

Dan

JDcrawlers Messageboard

To rops or not to

To rops or not to

Re: To rops or not to

Who is online