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I caught a small limb with the top of the ROPS on the ZT yesterday, and if I had been going fast I would have done an endo. It's going to get folded down before mowing our yard again. The neighbor took his non folding one off his Kubota ZT after nearly going over backward from a small low limb. Cannot blame him. I'm not using the ROPS again unless I am on a hill or bank.

John Fitzgerald said:

I caught a small limb with the top of the ROPS on the ZT yesterday, and if I had been going fast I would have done an endo. It's going to get folded down before mowing our yard again. The neighbor took his non folding one off his Kubota ZT after nearly going over backward from a small low limb. Cannot blame him. I'm not using the ROPS again unless I am on a hill or bank.

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Ironic isn't it, a hazardous safety feature.

Darryl G said:

Ironic isn't it, a hazardous safety feature.

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ROPS are certainly needed for anyone mowing on a grade but outside if that it can of course get in the way. I keep mine folded down all the time because my yard is as flat as a board. And I will never say that "safety" isn't important or that a safety device isn't needed because they are there for a reason whether it be a kid being injured or killed or a lawyer trying to eliminate liability.

When it comes to cars, I think there are certainly more "useless" safety features. I had a car that had pre-collision braking that twice almost got me rear-ended.

Neither of my zero turn mowers came with a ROPS. I do mow some substantial slopes with them -nothing crazy - but I don't feel I need one. I have a walk-behind for steep slopes and dangerous areas such as along drop-offs and I respect the limitations of my machines.

The center of gravity of most zero turn mowers is such that when traversing slopes the back wheels will slide down a bit rather than the machine tipping sideways. Yes you could still lose control and roll the machine, especially if a tire rolls off the rim, which can happen if not properly inflated or a tire could fall into a hole. But from my study of zero turn accidents, flipping over backwards is usually the biggest concern. This can happen when your tires are spinning going up a hill and you suddenly gain traction, if you rapidly accelerate or if you roll backwards and then suddenly stop.

On the other hand, my compact utility tractor has a ROPS and I wouldn't want to be without it. I buckle up even on level ground when operating it. It's a pretty tippy machine and I've been on less than 4 wheels on it many times. Just last weekend I almost tipped it tending to my compost pile (riding up on top of it while it was uneven) and had to drop my front-end loader bucket quickly to stabilize it.

Bottom line, don't be stupid or over confident when operating equipment and leave a sizeable safety margin, ROPS or not.

Just thought I would add this link for slope indicators (tilt meters/inclinometers) that can be mounted to mowers. I have one mounted on my tractor hood and it works well.

http://www.tiltmeter.com/