A Guide to Agricultural Tractor Rollover Protective Structures

Guide Overview

The rollover protective structures listed in the 1997 guide are organized by tractor make and/or supplier in alphabetical order.

This Guide will support information retrieval by tractor make, and/or supplier.

There may be more than one source for a ROPS for your tractor. We have attempted to list tractor models in numeric order, but there may be some exceptions. Please check the complete list to see if your model is included. After completing a search method listed above, look for your tractor model, and note ROPS availability and price information in the columns to the right of the model information.

Many suppliers prefer that you purchase their ROPS through a dealer. Those preferences are noted on the left side of the page along with contact information and other notes. Some tractor manufacturers have special promotional discount programs for certain ROPS models through their dealerships.

In the event that information in this publication conflicts with more current information from a supplier, the supplier should always be considered the final authority.

How to use this guide

The rollover protective structures listed in this guide are organized by tractor make and/or supplier in alphabetical order.

In the event that information in this publication conflicts with more current information from a supplier, the supplier should always be considered the final authority.

This guide is intended for information purposes and does not constitute an endorsement of any specific product, supplier or manufacturer by the National Farm Medicine Center or Marshfield Clinic.

Information about ROPS Guide publication

All known manufacturers of agricultural tractors and suppliers of ROPS with United States and/or Canadian offices were contacted for information on ROPS available for retrofitting. Only those companies that supply retrofit ROPS frames or cabs to local farm equipment dealers and/or tractor owners appear in this guide. Some companies manufacture ROPS but only sell to a tractor manufacturer. These companies are not listed, since users of this directory could not purchase from them.

Suppliers were asked to provide information on their ROPS for agricultural tractors. There is, however, no uniformly accepted standard that defines these tractors, particularly among tractors with lower horsepower. Therefore, we relied on the judgment and experience of each ROPS manufacturer in determining the appropriate listing of their ROPS in this directory. In the event that information in this publication conflicts with more current information from a supplier, the supplier should always be considered the final authority.

Tractor rollovers

The tractor rollover is the single most common cause of a fatal farm injury. The National Safety Council estimates that the annual death rate due to rollovers in the United States is 5.4 per 100,000 tractors. Rollovers occur in all types of terrain, and operators at all levels of experience have been victims. Tractor rollover deaths can be minimized simply by installing a ROPS and wearing a seat belt.

Preventing death and serious injury from tractor rollovers can be done in two ways: preventing the tractor from rolling over in the first place, and protecting the operator in case of a rollover.

Information on proper tractor setup, balance and operation can be found in each tractor's operating manual or by contacting a county extension agent or farm equipment dealer. Protecting the tractor operator in the event of a tractor rollover requires the use of a rollover protective structure (ROPS). These structures, which include two and four-post frames and roll-protective cab designs, are considered by experts to be the single most effective way to reduce the number of rollover fatalities particularly when used along with a fastened seat belt.

Thanks to standards established in the past 25 years, most new tractors are equipped with factory-installed rollover protective structures. Many older tractors, however, do not have such structures, and their operators have no protection in case of an overturn.

Seat belts

In case of an overturn, ROPS provide a "zone of protection" for the operator. The operator must stay within this zone; if the operator is thrown off the tractor, or is thrown partially off the tractor, he or she may not be protected by the ROPS. Because the operator is only protected from injury if he or she remains securely in the "zone of protection," seat belts must be used when operating a ROPS-equipped tractor. Even inside a cab, seat belts are important to keep the operator from being thrown against the frame, through a window, or out a door.

When retrofitting a tractor with a ROPS frame or ROPS cab, seat belts must also be installed. Persons purchasing retrofit ROPS should ask the ROPS supplier about seat belts for that particular tractor. In some cases, seat belts may be included with the ROPS package.

Seat belts should not be used on a tractor that does not have ROPS.

Properly designed ROPS

It is imperative that a ROPS be properly designed, manufactured and installed due to the dynamic forces which act upon a ROPS during a tractor rollover. Proper materials and mounting hardware, as well as engineering design, are necessary to ensure safe performance. A ROPS is not something to be fabricated in the farm shop.

There are common published standards of engineering design for evaluating ROPS performance in the US and Canada. In the US, these standards are published by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Society for Engineering in Agriculture, Food, and Biological Systems (ASAE), and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Standards for ROPS published by these organizations include OSHA 1926.1000, OSHA 1926.1002, OSHA 1928.51, OSHA 1928.52, OSHA 1928.53, ASAE S383.1 and S581, and SAE J1194 and J2194. The OSHA standards are federal regulations and require labeling of each ROPS, while the ASAE and SAE standards are voluntary standards. The OSHA regulations require that all tractors built after October 25, 1976 and used by employees of a farm owner be equipped with ROPS. OSHA, however, does not have jurisdiction to enforce the regulation on farms with fewer than 11 employees. The Canadian Standards Association (CSA), an independent non-profit testing organization, established voluntary Canadian ROPS standards in 1980. These standards are published by CSA in B352-M1980. Although voluntary, the use of these standards is widespread throughout Canada. European agencies have also established standards for ROPS, but compliance with European standards does not necessarily indicate that a ROPS would meet American standards.

Proper installation

It is important that ROPS be correctly installed. The supplier's instructions must be strictly followed. It is crucial that correct installation hardware be used, because extra-strength bolts and fasteners are required. Purchasers should always inquire about installation hardware.

ROPS should never be modified by drilling, cutting, welding, or any other means. Modifications to a ROPS may seriously weaken the structure and cause it to fail during an overturn.

Overhead protection

Some ROPS frames can be equipped with overhead canopies to protect the operator from the weather and/or from falling objects. Canopies that protect against falling objects - called FOPS (falling object protective structures) - must be properly designed and certified for that purpose. Such canopies are recommended when using front-end loaders, working in the woods, or in other circumstances where falling objects may be a hazard. To be sure that a canopy is a FOPS and provides overhead protection from falling objects, purchasers of ROPS should check with the ROPS supplier.

A ROPS frame or cab should never be modified by the farmer to install an overhead canopy that was not designed for that particular ROPS. The ROPS manufacturer should always be consulted about overhead protection.

Tractor cabs

It is important to note that not all tractor cabs are rollover protective structures. Many older cabs do not offer ROPS protection. Some newer tractor cabs are designed only for weather or chemical protection, and not to protect the operator in case of a rollover. Every tractor owner or operator who has a cab or is considering purchasing a cab should find out from the supplier whether or not the cab of interest is a ROPS cab.