ROPS for WD 45

Is it possible to fit a ROPS to a WD 45?

Stan IL&TN wrote: Others will correct me if I'm wrong about this but I don't think one was ever made for the WD45.  One could build one from scratch or modify one from a later model but how would you test it and know it would do the job.  There could be no guarantee that it would hold if needed.

hey Stan you in tn this summer?

god please dont build your own. it's not original and they never look right. if your tat concerned about it, buy a newwer trctor with rops

correct me if i'm wrong but aren't there universal ROPS for most tractors? seems to me they could clamp around the final drive housings and bolt to the fenders. place I worked last couple summers was state-run and they had ROPS retrofitted onto all their older tractors, even a little 140 farmall. big u-bolts around the final drives and a big bracket through the fender with a support bracket on the other side


Edited by Bill_MN - 20 May 2012 at 9:45am

DougS wrote: I'm no engineer, but how do you know what kind of strength your have at your clamping point?  I wouldn't trust u-bolts to be tight enough.  There would be a lot of stress at that point.  In addition to the ROPS, you need a properly designed seat belt system.  I wouldn't undertake a safety item like that on my own.

It's not just the U-bolts, but also the axle housing that can be a concern.  In addition, as Doug points out, the protection of a ROPS is significantly reduced if you haven't also installed and are using a seat belt.

One relatively easy thing that can be done to improve safety is add a wide front-------although a WD45 probably has one to start with.


Edited by 427435 - 20 May 2012 at 10:34am

well the ROPS that clamp on to the final drives must have some merit to them seeing as farmall and john deere both used this system for their factory ROPS. agree with injpumpEd that you're not asking a whole lot of the ROPS especially on an unweighted WD45. another good reason to use weights, particularly filled tires, in addition to a wide front and common sense and you should be plenty stable anyway

here is a picture of the one that was on my wd

CTuckerNWIL wrote: I would like to know why people think the wide front end makes a tractor more stable on sidehills. If the front axle pivots like it is supposed to, the wide front has a very miniscule effect on the possibility of tipping.

Edited by DougS - 20 May 2012 at 11:59pm

I like the last one shown. I'm thinking you could attach it to the frame. Easier to mount/dismount the tractor. We are trying to prevent the tractor from rolling on it's top and crushing the driver. Tipping the tractor on it's side isn't the concern, it's rolling completely on it's top.

I agree with Coke.  Mine I would consider more of a brush guard and if I put something over the top, it would definetly keep the sun off.  I'm thinkin that with some type of cover and a heater cab would make it tollerable for moving snow in the winter!!  Even if you had a seat belt arrangement, the week point on the one I have, I believe, is where it is bolted to the the axle at the fender bracket mounts.  It has a plate that mounts to the fender bracket tabs and the down tubes are welded to those plates.  Then he added plates further up the tube and that is where the fenders are mounted now.  It is kind of neat having it on there, but I don't want to put myself in a position of having to rely on it.  Take Care, Rick W.

DougS wrote: CTuckerNWIL wrote: I would like to know why people think the wide front end makes a tractor more stable on sidehills. If the front axle pivots like it is supposed to, the wide front has a very miniscule effect on the possibility of tipping. When a tricycle tractor tips, it doesn't tip 90 degrees to the side.  It tips somewhat forward and to the side.  The front axle pivot will only allow a sideways tip, so a wide front will help. There is also a limit to how much the front end will pivot, but I can't say how much.   As far as a ROPS is concerned, I imagine that even an inferior ROPS is no worse than no ROPS.  The only problem might occur if the operator feels a false sense of security and is a little less careful while operating the tractor.   Edit: I suppose the center of gravity will be slightly higher with a heavy ROPS attached. In theory the tractor will be slightly less stable with a ROPS, all other things the same.

Correct.  The stops on a wide front axle come into play before a tractor tips very far, moving the tipping axis out considerably.  In addition (before the stops are hit), the tipping axis is through the wide front pivot point instead of the bottom of the front tires.  This raises the tipping axis and reduces the tendancy to tip to start with.

427435, Your right.  There is no seat belt.  I hope to not have to have it come into play as an ROPS.  Actually, I could put a piece of plywood on top and use it for a "ground hog stand".  Drive down to the field and sit on top and wait!!!! Rick W.

 

I'm not going to get into the argument over the ROPS, but as to the tipping over, I have been on a WFE with a bucket full of dirt raised up when one front tire went into an unseen rut. I had a pallet of cinderblocks on the back for "counterweight" so I could get a full bucket and keep the back rice paddy tires on the little Yanmar on the ground(another dumb move). When it sarted going over, I locked up the brakes and shoved the bucket lift lever forward as fast as I could. The only thing that saved it was the bucket hit before it went over. The cinderblocks fell off the back when it started to tip also, which didnt help my problem. I'm pretty sure it would have gone on over, as the other front tire and the back one on the high side were both off the ground when everything finally came to a stop. I agree that a NFE is easier to tip because they tip forward and over as has been said, but thinking that a WFE will save you is false hope. Just my .02.

DougS wrote:   When a tricycle tractor tips, it doesn't tip 90 degrees to the side.  It tips somewhat forward and to the side.  The front axle pivot will only allow a sideways tip, so a wide front will help. There is also a limit to how much the front end will pivot, but I can't say how much.

CTuckerNWIL wrote: DougS wrote:   When a tricycle tractor tips, it doesn't tip 90 degrees to the side.  It tips somewhat forward and to the side.  The front axle pivot will only allow a sideways tip, so a wide front will help. There is also a limit to how much the front end will pivot, but I can't say how much. So the back end of a narrow front tractor is somehow lighter than the back of a wide front tractor letting it tip forward?

What they are saying is the narrow front will tip slightly forward not because the rear is lighter but because the pivot point(tires on the ground) is in the middle.  Compare 2 toy tractors flipping them over or compare a triangle shaped piece of wood vs. rectangle.

Driving with loaded bucket raised up is not a good idea.