You've read about rollover protective structures, or ROPS, for tractors. Maybe this year you'll build one for your old Farmall H.
Don't even consider making your own ROPS.
All ROPS must be crush-tested, a procedure that is extensive and destroys the structure itself. The tests determine if the protection zone around the operator station remains intact in an overturn. Without these tests, you do not know if the homemade structure will protect you during a tractor overturn. The structure gives you a false security, an attitude that may be more dangerous than an attitude that you have no safeguards.
Bars attached to the tractor axle, sun shades, or other devices cannot substitute for a dynamically-tested ROPS.
Many tractors manufactured before 1985 may be retrofitted with ROPS. Check with a local implement dealer for more information about retrofitting ROPS. The County Extension office also has a book compiled by the Marshfield Clinic that lists manufacturers, models and approximate costs.
Retrofitting
can pose a difficult decision because its cost for an older
tractor can exceed the machine's actual value. However, a
homemade ROPS can cost you in other ways.
This news release was distributed by Iowa State University Extension as part of the Safe Farm program. Safe Farm promotes health and safety in agriculture. It is funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Iowa State University, and a network of groups that serve Iowa farm workers and their families. Distribution date: April 1992.
Disclaimer and Reproduction Information: Information in NASD does not represent NIOSH policy. Information included in NASD appears by permission of the author and/or copyright holder. More
