Online guide simplifies retrofitting tractors for rollover protection

Research shows that rollover protective structures, when used in combination with a seatbelt, are 98 percent effective in preventing death and serious injury in the event of a tractor overturn. Nevertheless, more than a third of tractors in use today – and perhaps as many as 50 percent in Kentucky – still do not have these lifesaving structures.

“We know that rollover injuries are preventable,” said Mark Purschwitz, extension professor and agricultural safety and health specialist for the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture. “We just need to help farmers see the importance of having ROPS on their equipment and then provide information that helps them do it.”

To that end, Purschwitz and his colleagues at UK developed The Kentucky ROPS Guide to help farmers locate retrofit ROPS for older tractors or even “gray market” tractors. The guide is now available online at http://www.ca.uky.edu/rops.

The guide offers a full search capability, enabling any tractor owner, equipment dealer or technician to find timely, detailed information about ROPS suppliers and types. Guide users also may determine the availability, source and ordering procedures for retrofit ROPS for any domestic or imported agricultural tractor in the United States for which a retrofit is available.

Several features of the new online guide are particularly easy to use. The guide’s database includes makes and models frequently sold in the U.S. market today.