BX 1870 ROPS Question

[indiana guy]

Recently,purchased a 2014 BX 1870.Question I have is this. My property is flat for the most part. what slopes I have are gently rolling.

I have a lot of trees, and the ROPS is giving me fits,being in the way even when folded down.

Wondering if anyone has removed the top half of the ROPS? Would leave the base in place.I know they are there for a reason, but in my situation they just are not practical.

Thanks

 

[kupitz]

They're only there for your safety, if you are OK with removing them, go ahead. You'll see many out there that were removed or modified, mainly to fit in garage openings but it won't hurt your machine at all.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I'm not the safety police, but think long and hard before removing it, it is ultimately a gamble with your life, or sadly someone else's!
Your actions could inadvertently effect someone else, IE "the grandson was just going to do a lap around the trees when it rolled" !

I have seen many an accident where someone was mowing or working around trees, messed up or miscalculated and put a tire up a tree and flipped the tractor in a split second!

 

[skeets]

Your best bet,,, in MHO ,,, is to take your saw with you and cut off the offending branches. I had this problem with the orchard, and this is what I did, and the trees do need a hair cut every so often anyways

 

[CountryBumkin]

I agree that it is there for safety, but my previous lawn tractor didn't even have a ROPs, and I always keep it folded down on my current BX, so I would not be afraid to remove it if that works best for you. I'd also remove the seatbelt too.

Just remember, never use the seat belt without the ROPS up. If the tractor did roll, it's safer to be thrown clear (hopefully you are thrown clear) than to be strapped to the seat when she rolls.

 

[car compulsive]

My previous tractor, JD318, had no ROPS and I had all the branches trimmed up to where I needed them. I trimmed them up further to accommodate the BX with the ROPS folded. The one advantage with the BX is the wider deck allows me to stand off a bit further from the tree trunks.