ROPS for kubota...

quincy

Member
The more I read about Kubotas and compact tractors in general... the more I'm thinking a ROPS would be a good investment. I phoned my local Kubota dealer quoting my model number and he gave me a price of €725...($1030 or £500)
Is that the typical price for them? Seems a bit high to me but I dont really know... I read about DIY ROPS and even though I know I can fabricate something, Would I be better off buying an approved & tested ROPS...?

Heres a couple of pics of the kind of ROPS I like the look of, but I have no tooling to put in those bends, I would have to cut n weld inherrantly putting a weakness in the structure...

Your thoughts...?

ROPSkubota.jpg


ROPS.jpg
 
B

bczoom

Guest
Heres a couple of pics of the kind of ROPS I like the look of

Your thoughts...?
Offer the dealership $300 to buy the ROPS off that first tractor (assuming that ROPS would fit yours).
 

Mark777

Member
Quincy,

There's a pretty old saying still floating around (this side of the pond) about ROPS ...The cost to build your own is about $10,150. A $150 for parts associated with the build and $10,000 for liability insurance.

We built two different types (ROPS and FOPS) tested them off the tractor by bouncing, dropping, side to side impacting and finally attempting to crush them with a very large excavator bucket. The most damage we could inflict in several minutes of the test...was 4" total out of square with bends in the vertical arms. Needless to say there were several pats on the back, pride in the prototype product and felt it would stand up to anything mass produced and available to the public.

Discovering that we went about this backwards by building the structure and then checking into all the liability issues associated with ROPS + Seat-belts and the responsibilities of "Cradle to Grave", the idea was dropped. There are Loop Holes in the law, such as calling it a 'canopy support' where seat belts aren't required (very dangerous for the operator), or seat belts and canopy support (which legally implies ROPS) and in our situation it just wasn't viable to make them and forever assume the liability for every Tom, Dick and Jane. Confidence WAS high in the beginning, and we had an ME (friend) check our design drawings with controlled deformation zones and who gave us the 'nod'.

I am not familiar with the laws in Great Britain, but here you can build a ROPS legally for your own personal equipment. Should I decide to sell the tractor then the liability of the manufacturer lies on my shoulders regardless of that, or any other owner of the tractor. The best and only decision was to remove the seat belts and ROPS before any of our tractors were sold.

It's obvious that you have the engineering skills to design and build a ROPS for your tractor, but should you decide to sell or trade up without a certified structure (one with an ISO 9000 rating) then removing the items may protect you from the deep pocket issues (and over here, frivolous law suits).

Mark
 

Jim_S

Super Moderator
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Gold Site Supporter
In Marshfield Clinics rops information page they show that Femco in Kansas builds aftermarket rops for Kubotas.

Maybe you can find someone who imports from Femco and check the price.

Jim
 
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