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BDT in Minnesota
05-10-2006 21:47:03
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Re: ROPS for the WD series tractors in reply to Craig in MO, 05-08-2006 08:29:22
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Craig,,Before you even think about building a roll bar for a WD, do yourself a couple of big favors...First , park your tractor on open, level ground so that you can walk around it from a distance of about 20 feet or so..Now have someone sit on the seat and put their hands on the steering wheel and stay seated for a few minutes..NOW , study where his or her body is positioned on that tractor, and add anouther 18 inches or so in all directions for a "saftey zone".. this saftey zone would extend beyond the drawbar, and over the right hand drive tire.!!!!..Lets face the fact that your body is not centered when sitting in a WD, and the seat is to the extreme rear of the tractor..They were built like this in the old days for several reasons, the main one being to be able to reach the levers and controls of much of the older type equipment being pulled...Now, look at the person still seated on your tractor and picture how close their back would come to those levers..usually that is less than 18" or the operator would not be able to reach them for adjusting the implement...Now,more food for thought -- those levers are what the operator will have going through his back if the tractor tips over backwards; ...So the only way to put a good, safe roll CAGE on a WD and maintain the 18" saftey margin would be to make it extend over the rear of the tractor, thus making the Allis harder to climb onto, also the roll cage would interfere with the implement levers..The seat would have to be retrotitted with a seat belt,,and lets face it, you sit goofey on those tractors to begin with, so the seat belt idea could be very uncomfortable...The center of gravity is also high on the Allis, this will become obvious when you look at the final drives and front axle..These tractors were built with row crop clearences in mind, and the seats were offset so the operator could have a better view of the front mounted cultivator..The tractor builders no longer build tractors patterned after the WD..In fact, Allis Chalmers departed from the rear access design when the WD45 was replaced by the D17 in 1958. Let's just call it one of Fords BETTER Ideas..The front mount tractor is much safer to climb onto and operate. ..Well the old WD is still a great tractor, and I can speak from experience as I ran one from the time I was nine years old...The WD belongs on the level ground which it was built for.....Back in the 40s, 50s the highway departments used alot of 9N and newer Ford tractors for mowing road ditches because, with their lower center of gravity, they were the most suited tractor for the job. Depending on how your tractor is going to be used, you may want to conclude whether there is a justifiable need for a roll bar at all..and if the tractor needs to be as big as the WD.If you conclude that the roll bar is needed, your best bet would be looking for a newer tractor with a factory built roll bar or cage, or a Rollover Type Saftey cab. your second best choice may be to find a tractor such as an 8N Ford, with a lower center of gravity.. Just some Ford food for thought..
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