ROP and Canopy build

4getgto

4getgto

Bill from Northampton County, Pennsylvania
Member
This is for my Yanmar 147D. Disclaimer: This was not built to be a ROP but more of a of a framing for a canopy... This is a copy and paste that I had on another forum and thought I'd share it here..

Wanted to get a canopy for sun and rain protection but had nothing to attach anything to. So went to work to make something up so I'd have somewhere to start. The tractor had mounting holes for the factory ROP.



Used 1 1/2x 2 1/2 x 11ga. tubing. Only size I could comfortably fit up thru and around fenders. Still hadn't decided what I'm going to do for canopy but at least this much is done. Photos below..



 
I made a canopy for Alice back at the old forum. Might get some ideas from there.
 
Been looking at a few canopy's on line and at $250+ it make my decision a little easier. Biggest thing was what I was going to use for the top. I found a bottom out of an old bed liner I think will work. Trying to make this work and that it looks somewhat presentable.



Got the fork on top of it to take a little bow out of it.
 
4getgto said:
Been looking at a few canopy's on line and at $250+ it make my decision a little easier. Biggest thing was what I was going to use for the top. I found a bottom out of an old bed liner I think will work. Trying to make this work and that it looks somewhat presentable.



Got the fork on top of it to take a little bow out of it.
Click to expand...
That could work with the right frame.
 
I'm lucky in that my tractor is not as high as most others. One thing I had in mind from the start was to keep everything under 7' ( garage door height). But I had to keep head room..!

My idea is to make brackets that attaches to the uprights. It will be self supported on the brackets and not simply bolted to the top cross bar. This way I should have some adjustment up and down.

Still don't know if I'm going to be happy with my top. We'll see. Hopefully get some time today to cut some brackets out and work on the support that the top will actually lay on.. It all sounds good in my head now I just got to make it work..
 
Got some side brackets made up to attach to ROP uprights. Next think is to figure what to go up and out to hold top in place.
I know I wasn't going to call it a ROP
thumbsup.gif








 
These are the brackets that are pictures above with angles welded to them to extend out over the seat/steering wheel..Hope to have everything put together soon to get a better picture..

 
I had a Kubota with a 6' deck and ROP. First time that ROP caught a limb and the tractor rared up and spun around that hunk of iron came off. Only time I wanted something for sun protection was making hay in an open field.
 
chieffan said:
I had a Kubota with a 6' deck and ROP. First time that ROP caught a limb and the tractor rared up and spun around that hunk of iron came off. Only time I wanted something for sun protection was making hay in an open field.
Click to expand...
I know what you're saying. But I have no branches I gotta worry about. Use it for plowing snow mostly and it will help keep the lousy weather off. Sure as heck not cutting it off now..!
 
Got the top on yesterday. The bedliner I used for the top turned out ok. I did have to add 3 /4" aluminum angle to the front and back edge as it wanted to bow in the middle a little. Everything seems like it should be good.
BUT... No sooner than I monkey'ed around for a 1/2 hour installing it and making all adjustments I thought boy what a pain in the butt that's going be if I want to take it on and off.

I'm not changing it right now but I think I'm going to cut the angles off that rise up to tubing that will slide into one another. Might make it more floppy but if the fit is right it shouldn't be bad if at all...







 
The final product..



All in all it came out well. The biggest single expense being what I had to spend for the "ROP" which I needed to attach something on. That was 1 1/2"x 2 1/2" tubing that cost me about $150. But I had to buy a 24' piece. Ended up using about 15' .
The top itself didn't cost anything as I cut it out of an old bedliner. Made that 37" wide x 40" long. Worked pretty good for that. Misc. hardware, paint, some small pieces of steel some of which I had laying around I probably got another $50 in it. Took some time to make but I don't count that... Ended up being 78" high and can be adjusted so I got room to spare.
As I mentioned above I might change the mounts but that will be later.
 
KennyP said:
Looks good on there!
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Thanks Kenny... "and all the other likes".
I had some extra time this winter and figured I'd try to put something together. More like I was tired of a getting a wet butt and thought this would at least help a little which it does..

Thought I would post up some of the things I did with the intent of helping someone else if they wanted to do something similar. Always nice to see what others have going around in their head when their building something.
 
I need to build a ROPS bar for my Kubota F3060, as I mow some pretty steep banks. The mower has the heavy steel bracket behind the seat. I have a ROPS bar from a JD F935 I can modify to fit. Your thread here is a good reminder for me to get that done!
 
4getgto said:
Been looking at a few canopy's on line and at $250+ it make my decision a little easier. Biggest thing was what I was going to use for the top. I found a bottom out of an old bed liner I think will work. Trying to make this work and that it looks somewhat presentable.



Got the fork on top of it to take a little bow out of it.
Click to expand...
That's likely your best option. Old car hood would look cool but more supports would be required for the weight.
 
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