ROPS details

I am looking into having a folding ROPS fabricated locally for my TE20. the shop will do it provided i provide detailed drawings and spec the materials so they have no design responsibility.

For those who have one folding or otherwise that is tested or certified, I would be very interested in photos and details of construction (e.g., height, steel gauge, type of steel channel used, and whether it is vertical or sloped rearward).

On left column under Research & Info click on "Search This Site" then in the top box type in "ROPS" in the 2nd box scroll down to Ferguson Forum there are a lot of good threads there that talks about the ROPS on Fergys. I believe bare-co.com has them and I am not sure if this site is a bare-co dealer or not and it wouldn't hurt to contact them and find out. Richard

(quoted from post at 07:39:02 07/27/09) On left column under Research & Info click on "Search This Site" then in the top box type in "ROPS" in the 2nd box scroll down to Ferguson Forum there are a lot of good threads there that talks about the ROPS on Fergys. I believe bare-co.com has them and I am not sure if this site is a bare-co dealer or not and it wouldn't hurt to contact them and find out. Richard

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thanks richard. i did search before posting and i looked at the bareco site, which is not very informative visually as to how the lighter version looks. there is also a generic one made by a company called hercules, and something by safety cab. none appear to sell a folding version. as far as i can tell, no one does. i was hoping to get some photos of people's rops and make a design from there.

[b:49994ed668]semlin. [/b:49994ed668]

You can not make your own ROPS in Australia. Every tractor sold must be fitted with an approved ROPS which complies with the Australian Standards.

The BarCo ROPS is compliant with the Australian Standards (I have one on my TEA20).

I suggest you buy an approved and tested ROPS which complies with your country's safety standards. They are not expensive.

I've seen a folding ROPS in a small Japanese tractor, but never on a Fergy. Perhaps none of the folding ROPS complies with the required standard? Certainly the BareCo ROPS for the Ferguson tractors does not fold.

Bob in Oz
'53 TEA20

(quoted from post at 15:17:10 07/27/09) [b:43ac62efe9]semlin. [/b:43ac62efe9]

You can not make your own ROPS in Australia. Every tractor sold must be fitted with an approved ROPS which complies with the Australian Standards.

The BarCo ROPS is compliant with the Australian Standards (I have one on my TEA20).

I suggest you buy an approved and tested ROPS which complies with your country's safety standards. They are not expensive.

I've seen a folding ROPS in a small Japanese tractor, but never on a Fergy. Perhaps none of the folding ROPS complies with the required standard? Certainly the BareCo ROPS for the Ferguson tractors does not fold.

Bob in Oz
'53 TEA20

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bob, i appreciate the advice, and i am no expert, but i am simply asking for the basic dimensions and steel configuration of these bars and i am comfortable that i can take it from there. in another life i have some familiarity with modifying offroad vehicles to add body armour and roll bars. that sport probably would not exist if small fabricators had to meet a government certification standard, but i can tell you from experience that the well thought out roll bars and cages you can buy from good small shops are stronger than factory roll bars (and can and do put up with a lot worse forces than a tractor roll could create).

you do have to be careful in any design, but a rops is not rocket science, especially if i know the basic details of the commercially available models.

since the tractor will run in orchards with overhead branches being folding is non-negotiable. for a folding set up, you could convert an existing rops to do it, but if there will be fabrication anyway, i would prefer to fab the whole thing from scratch so i am not paying for shipping or for a paint job i will wreck. to make the hine, you just sleeve the pillar on three sides at the pivot point so that it overlaps about a foot and drill three horizontal holes on two facing sides of the sleeve, insert one pin for a hinge, and add a couple of removeable shear pins to lock it in place (although just a single shear pin is likely enough to take the force of a fergie flipping over)

if you are skeptical, consider that a 5/8" shear pin is all that holds a standard trailer hitch receiver in place. a 5/8" grade 5 bolt has a 25,000 lbf breaking point, and pinched between two pieces of steel is very strong. i know from experience that in a hitch receiver with the bar removed you can attach it to a snatch line and use it to take a full throttle run to drag a 6500 lb vehicle out of deep mud without any issues. i am quite sure it can handle the force of a tractor pivoting onto it, and just to be sure i will use a grade 8 bolt for the hinge :wink:

OK. I hear you! :lol:

My ROPS is off my tractor. I'll photograph it in the morning and post photos here. It is fabricated from RHS and I'll try to give you the material dimensions but I can't measure the wall thickness. It should not be too difficult to design the same ROPS with heavy hinges and locking pins.

Will try to post photos here tomorrow morning.

Bob in Oz
'53 TEA20

Sorry, forgot to post photos of the ROPs for my TEA20 which meets Australian Safety Standards:











I can give you the dimensions if you need them. Should be easy enough to build as a folding ROPs.

Bob in Oz
'53 TEA20

thanks bob. that helpsa lot. what is the overall height if you don't mind me asking? nice toyota by the way. i have a 93 landcruiser.

Overall height is 1.45 meters. The frame is 100 x 50 (4" x 2") RHS.

Yes, that is my work car - 2007 Toyota Lancruiser Prado 3 liter turbo intercolled diesel. Third Prado I've had in eight years. Wonderful cars on the long trips I do here in the Aussie outback and the 180 liter fuel tank gives me 1,800 kilometers range. It will cruise all day (or until I see a cop) at 140 KPH (87 MPH) and has a governed top speed of 185 KPH (115 MPH). Off road it is unstoppable, low range, constant 4WD, limited slip rear diff, center locking coupling and electric locking front diff. Provided one has traction on one or two wheels, it gets through.

I was surprised to find they do not appear to be available in North America. In Australia they easily outsell the larger Landcruisers.

Bob in Oz
'53 TEA20

(quoted from post at 16:30:38 08/23/09) Overall height is 1.45 meters. The frame is 100 x 50 (4" x 2") RHS.

Yes, that is my work car - 2007 Toyota Lancruiser Prado 3 liter turbo intercolled diesel. Third Prado I've had in eight years. Wonderful cars on the long trips I do here in the Aussie outback and the 180 liter fuel tank gives me 1,800 kilometers range. It will cruise all day (or until I see a cop) at 140 KPH (87 MPH) and has a governed top speed of 185 KPH (115 MPH). Off road it is unstoppable, low range, constant 4WD, limited slip rear diff, center locking coupling and electric locking front diff. Provided one has traction on one or two wheels, it gets through.

I was surprised to find they do not appear to be available in North America. In Australia they easily outsell the larger Landcruisers.

Bob in Oz
'53 TEA20

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thanks for the measurements bob

we don't have outback road conditions here so there is not enough need here for a landcruiser's real purpose to make them sell at the very high sticker prices. the big models are brought in by toyota sell to people who want big luxury wagons with towing ability, and they do well against chevy suburbans and ford excursions because they are so much more reliable.
but a prado would compete against the japanese midsized lighter suvs like the pathfinder here and with the huge sticker differential it would not sell.

the fj cruiser over here does have a lot of prado drivetrain and chassis components though. it is an excellent deal, especially if you get the manual transmission, which has a 6 speed plus the prado fulltime all wheel drive transfer case, axles, a rear locking differential, centre locker and the atrac. you can get them for under $30,000, which is amazing mechanical value if you can handle the styling.

as for the big landcruisers, people like me buy them used off soccer moms and then use them for what they were designed to do. mine has electric front and rear lockers and the previous owner didn't even know what they were! it took me several tries to get them to engage as they had never been used after 120,000 miles.

I saw the FJ Cruiser in Peurto Rico and Texas. Yes, it is a Prado with older style FJ body. The Prado GXL here is Aus$55,000 (around US$45,000) and the Prado Grande - leather seats and all the goodies - is grossly over priced around Aus$70,000. I drive around 30,000 miles per year, mostly on our Outback "highways", and the Prado is a far better proposition than a sedan.

In this Outback town (pop 7,000) half the vehicles would be 4WD, the vast majority Toyota with a few Nissans. The "exotic" SUVs - Honda, BMW. LandRover etc - simply don't sell.

Kangaroos and Emus are a very real problem, particularly at dawn and dusk. A sedan comes off second best, whilst with the Prado and bull bar, the 'Roo usually comes off second best.