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Confident in your FOPS?

A harvester driver on a site got a fright recently when a large diameter tree they were felling turned off the stump and came straight down and struck the middle of the cab roof.

  • As I am sure you can imagine it shook the machine when it hit, but there was no damage to the cab. The Falling Object Protective Structure (FOPS) on this particular machine protected the operator from injury or worse.

The machine in question was a modern machine made to the most recent standards. How confident would you be in your FOPS, especially in an older machine? We are
sometimes asked what strength does a FOPS system need to be compliant?There is an internationally agreed standard for FOPS on Forest Machinery. Anyone building a FOPS system should obtain a copy of the standard, read and understand it. ISO 8083:2006 Machinery for forestry — Falling-object protective structures (FOPS).

The photo shows a retrofitted FOPS cage on an older machine and the damage caused by something falling on it in the past. Would you be comfortable felling large trees whilst sitting under this for your protection?

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